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Study: Statins needed to fight cholesterol

Posted on: Monday, 2 February 2009, 10:42 CST

Drugs called statins that can help lower an individual's cholesterol levels are needed by up to 11 million older U.S. residents, a new study suggests.

Yale University researcher Dr. Erica Spatz said her JUPITER study of 18,000 people found that older individuals said to have normal low-density lipoprotein levels should be taking statins to significantly reduce their risk of a stroke or heart attack, USA Today said Monday.

If Spatz's cholesterol warning were heeded by those millions of U.S. residents, an estimated 80 percent of U.S. women above the age of 60 and U.S. men over the age of 50 would be taking the medication.

A study by researcher Dr. Gregg Fonarow of University of California-Los Angeles reinforced that recommendation.

Fonarow found by studying 131,000 heart disease-related hospital admissions that current doctor-recommended LDL levels are unacceptable.

The UCLA researcher said half of the heart attacks he studied occurred in individuals whose LDL levels were safely below the level that doctors typically begin prescribing statins, USA Today reported.

Source: United Press International

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