Health And healing Therapy

Statins are just as beneficial for women in reducing the risk of CVD as they are for men, according to an Australian analysis of evidence published in The Lancet.

Both women who have had a cardiovascular event and those at increased risk of disease can benefit, say Sydney University researchers.

The analysis resolves long-standing uncertainty, says lead investigator Dr Anthony Keech, Professor of Medicine, Cardiology and Epidemiology at the university.

This means recommendations to treat women should be included in national and international guidelines, he says, adding the analysis “shows beyond any reasonable doubt” that women gain the same benefits from statins as men.

Overall, the study shows statin treatment reduces the risk of a major vascular event by 21% for each 1 mmol/L reduction in LDL cholesterol achieved. The percentage risk reductions are similar in women and men, irrespective of any history of CVD.

Such benefits from statin treatment translates into a 9% risk reduction for each 1 mmol/L reduction in LDL-cholesterol –  a finding for women which has not been previously reported by any individual trial, Prof Keech says.