Researchers at University of Sydney have found that cholesterol lowering drugs are beneficial even to those who have a low risk of heart attack and said that such drugs should be distributed widely in order to cut down the rate of strokes and heart attacks in the country.
The researchers analyzed data from 27 different studies and found that the risk of death through heart attacks or strokes could be reduced by 15 percent among the low risk patients if they had access to cholesterol lowering drugs.
Stating that the new evidence suggests there is a necessity to make changes in the guidelines, writing in The Medical Journal of Australia, the researchers said, "While there is no substitute for lifestyle modification, the capacity for statin pharmacotherapy to assist in the treatment of individuals at lower risk has now been shown. This new evidence must be urgently considered, with appropriate economic analyses, for incorporation into clinical and PBS [Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme] guidelines."
