New Heart Guidelines Would Qualify 12.8M More for Statin Therapy

More than half of adults between ages 40 and 75 who need help managing cholesterol would be eligible for statin therapy for the prevention of heart disease on the basis of the newest American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association guidelines, finds an analysis published Wednesday. The new guidelines have the potential to increase the net number of new statin prescriptions by 12.8 million.

Extrapolating from a data sample pulled from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, researchers estimated the number of Americans for whom statin therapy would be recommended on the basis of new ACC/AHA guidelines released in November, and compared that with the number that would qualify under the previous guidelines from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute's National Cholesterol Education Program. The guidelines differ substantially, the report noted.

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Source: Modern Healthcare