In a new study, researchers found that half of the people on statins fail to reach healthy cholesterol levels after two years of using the drugs.
The finding suggests that it is important to find personalized medicine to lower high cholesterol and reduce risks of future heart disease and stroke.
Heart disease and stroke are the leading causes of death in the world.
Previous research has shown that reducing LDL (‘bad’) cholesterol could help reduce the death risk of heart disease and stroke.
However, it has been unknown how well patients respond to statins, a type of drugs that help lower blood cholesterol levels effectively.
In the current study, the team examined data from 165,411 patients, who had not been treated for heart disease or stroke.
These people had had their cholesterol measured at least once in the year before statin treatment and at least once within two years of starting it.
The researchers found that during an average monitoring period of six years, about 14% of people developed heart disease or stroke.
More than 50% of the people did not reach healthy blood cholesterol levels.
They also found that people who failed to reach healthy cholesterol levels after two years were 22% more likely to develop heart disease and stroke.
Two main reasons for the failure of reaching healthy cholesterol levels are genetic factors and an inability to stick to the statin treatment.
The team suggests that the high rate of poor responders is very alarming and that it is important to develop personalized medicine in cholesterol management for patients.
In addition, there should be an effective implementation of guidelines among healthcare practitioners.
The study is published in the journal Heart.
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