Many people are prescribed statins to lower their likelihood of cardiovascular disease. They may be told these drugs will be needed for the rest of their lives.
Limited Life Expectancy
But what if their life expectancy is short? Statins are usually thought of as preventing catastrophe over the long term, so a group of investigators decided to try discontinuing statins in some people who had been taking them but whose life expectancy was no more than a year. Nearly half of these mostly elderly individuals in palliative care had cancer. More than one fifth had cognitive impairment. Although they were at risk for heart disease, none had active heart disease.
The 381 participants were randomly assigned to continue their statin or to stop taking it. There was no difference in the two-month death rate between the groups, nor was there a significant difference in cardiovascular events.
Improved Quality of Life
The people who were no longer taking a statin reported an improved quality of life and fewer medicines needed overall. We hope this study inspires other thoughtful evaluations of deprescribing medicine that may no longer be necessary.
