Starting hyperlipidemia treatment, even at the age of 75 or later, can lower the risk of cardiovascular disease, a local study showed.

Professor Lee Sang-hak of the Cardiology Department at Severance Hospital

A research team, led by Severance Hospital Cardiology Professor Lee Sang-hak, found that hyperlipidemia drug statin reduced the chance of cardiovascular disease among the elderly aged 75 or more by 41 percent, and mortality by 44 percent. The study has been published on the latest issue of Atherosclerosis, an authoritative journal in the field of cardiovascular and metabolism disorder.

Lee’s team investigated 6,414 patients who visited the Severance Hospital’s Cardiology Department from 2005 to 2016 without a history of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease before the hospital visit. The researchers divided 1,278 patients into two groups – 639 statin users and the other 639 statin non-users – and conducted a follow-up for 5.2 years.

The results showed that statin users had 1.25 major adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events (MACCE) per 100 person-years, 41 percent lower than 2.15 MACCE among statin non-users. Statin users’ mortality, at 0.65, was 44 percent lower compared to 1.19 of the non-users.

The Kaplan–Meier estimator, which measures the survival function from lifetime data, indicated that the statin users had 41 percent lower cardiovascular disease risk and 44 percent lower death risk than those who did not take it.

Besides, statin users had lower low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) and reduced incidence of myocardial infarction or coronary revascularization.

“The study supports evidence that the elderly aged over 75 years need an active use of hyperlipidemia treatment to prevent cardiovascular disease,” Lee said.

lhs@docdocdoc.co.kr

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