Heart Medications Archive

Cholesterol-lowering statins seem to have long-lasting benefits against heart disease, according to a 20-year follow-up of a landmark Scottish study.

In the original study, published in 1995, more than 6,500 middle-aged men with high levels of harmful LDL cholesterol took either 40 milligrams of pravastatin (Pravachol) or a placebo daily for an average of nearly five years. For the follow-up, published in the March 15 Circulation, researchers used electronic medical records to analyze health-related events among the same men over the following two decades. They also tracked the men's use of statins after the original study ended. After five years, more than a third of the men in both groups were taking statins, but no further data on statin use was available after that.

The FDA has withdrawn its approval for two older cholesterol-lowering medications, niacin and fenofibrate, for use in combination with a statin. Several large clinical trials found no heart-related benefits from the drugs. 

Statins can lower heart disease risk dramatically, but certain cautions apply.

Nearly a quarter of all adults over age 40 take medication to treat high cholesterol, and most often, it’s a statin drug. However, with such widespread use, especially among people who may have other cardiovascular risk factors, an un-wanted interaction between a statin and another medication can occur. For this reason, the American Heart Association recently issued a statement to help doctors better navigate medication choices for their patients.

What is a drug interaction?

The term “drug interaction” is somewhat misleading. Typically, drugs do not chemically react with each other in the body. Instead, a drug, supplement, or food may affect how long a medication stays in the body, often by stimulating or inhibiting the production of specific enzymes in the liver or intestine (see “The truth about grapefruit juice”).