The Stats on Statins: Should Healthy Adults Over 50 Take Them?
Monday, May 21, 2012 - 06:00
in Health & Medicine
Everyone over 50 should take statins to lower their cholesterol, an editorial argued last week in The Lancet . The piece based its recommendation on a meta-analysis of 27 clinical trials published in the same issue that concluded statins significantly reduce the risk of heart attacks and other cardiovascular events in healthy people without posing substantial risks. Subsequent articles heralding the meta-analysis's findings were published in the Guardian , Forbes and the U.K. Telegraph . But based on the numbers, many experts still aren't convinced that the drugs' benefits outweigh their risks. [More]