The results showed a 9 percent increased chance of survival for patients taking high-intensity statins compared to those receiving moderate-intensity treatments. So the researchers assigned each patient a score for the propensity to receive high-intensity statins and adjusted the results of the study accordingly. Patients had different severities of cardiovascular disease, making some more likely to be prescribed higher-intensity statins than others. The researchers also followed one group that wasn't taking any statins. Patients were taking high-intensity, moderate-intensity or low-intensity statins in many different but commonly prescribed forms, such as rosuvastatin and atorvastatin. 'These are basically the three main areas affected by plaque buildup-the heart, the brain and the large arteries of the rest of the body,' Heidenreich said. They included patients with coronary artery disease, cerebrovascular disease and peripheral artery disease.

The primary purpose was to look at overall patient death rates from 2013 to 2014, the researchers said. 'In addition to defining this large, national patient population, we also had access to their detailed clinical data, including comorbidities and cholesterol values.' 'This is a very large patient population rich in cardiovascular disease,' said Rodriguez. The researchers studied the medical records of 509,766 patients across the country receiving care from the Veterans Affairs Health Care System. Large sample size reduces possibility of chance 'The results show that high-intensity statins confer a survival advantage for patients with cardiovascular disease, including older adults.'

'The greatest strength of this study is that we used a very large, well-defined clinical cohort,' said Fatima Rodriguez, MD, a cardiology fellow at Stanford and the study's lead author. They determined that high-intensity statins do in fact increase rates of survival, not only in younger and middle-aged patients with cardiovascular disease, but also in a patient population not well-studied: adults over 75. In their study, Heidenreich and his team found evidence to support the ACC/AHA guidelines. The ACC/AHA guidelines differed, however, from guidelines established in 2014 by the Veterans Affairs Health Care System, which recommended only moderate-intensity statins, noting the lack of conclusive evidence that higher-intensity statins are more beneficial than those of moderate intensity. In 2013, the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association jointly recommended high-intensity statin therapy for patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease who were no older than 75. Some studies have shown an increased risk of side effects, such as diabetes or muscle damage, associated with higher-intensity statins. 'Previously, there was definitely a certain amount of fear on the patient's part because most people don't like taking medication,' said Paul Heidenreich, MD, professor of cardiovascular medicine and the study's senior author. Patients, in turn, have been hesitant to take them because of equivocal messages from their doctors and internet searches of patient and doctor perspectives. Health-care providers have long debated the benefits of prescribing high-intensity statins to their patients with cardiovascular disease. Statins, a class of drugs that lowers cholesterol levels in the blood, are commonly prescribed for preventing the acceleration of cardiovascular disease caused by the buildup of plaque in the arteries, which can lead to heart attacks and stroke. Over the duration of a year, the researchers found that patients taking high-intensity statins had an increased chance of survival over those on moderate-intensity statins.

High intensity statin list