Bordeaux University Hospital Trial Assesses Statin Discontinuation in People Over 75

Researchers from Bordeaux University Hospital monitored 1,160 patients aged 75 and older across French general practices between June 2016 and January 2020 to evaluate the effects of stopping statins taken for primary prevention, as reported by lomazoma.com lomazoma.comlomazoma.comlomazoma.comOpen source ↗. Participants, with an average age of 80 and no prior vascular disease, were randomized either to continue their statin regimen or to discontinue it. Nearly 30 percent had diabetes and over 75 percent had hypertension, with both cohorts tracked for 36 months lomazoma.comlomazoma.comlomazoma.comOpen source ↗.

Mortality and Cardiovascular Outcomes

Statins inhibit HMG-CoA reductase in the liver to reduce LDL cholesterol, mitigating atherosclerosis risk. Over the three-year trial, 48 out of 604 individuals who continued therapy died (7.9 percent), compared to 35 out of 484 participants in the discontinuation group (7.2 percent) lomazoma.comlomazoma.comlomazoma.comOpen source ↗. Severe cardiovascular events occurred in 4.4 percent of patients continuing treatment and 5.0 percent of those who stopped lomazoma.comlomazoma.comlomazoma.comOpen source ↗. The authors noted limitations: target enrollment was 2,430 individuals, but only 1,180 enrolled, alongside a lower-than-anticipated overall mortality rate.

Symptoms and Quality of Life

Stopping the medication yielded no measurable improvements in subjective health. Adverse events occurred in 73.1 percent of patients who continued therapy and 74.0 percent of those who ceased it, with identical quality of life scores recorded after three years lomazoma.comlomazoma.comlomazoma.comOpen source ↗. Investigators noted that participants had already demonstrated long-term drug tolerance, making symptom relief unlikely upon withdrawal. These primary prevention findings do not apply to patients with established coronary artery disease or preexisting arteriosclerotic conditions.