should you take a statin to lower your
cholesterol a new study in the New
England Journal of Medicine found
statins can lower your risk of heart
attack or stroke even if you don't have
cardiovascular disease they gave
patients a statin to lower their
cholesterol receive a statin and they
based it on their risk for heart attack
over the next 10 years Mayo Clinic
cardiologist dr. Stephen kopetski says
the study assessed risk in a new way we
normally have things like blood pressure
we have things like diabetes smoking
this study also looked at waist to hip
ratio family history slightly elevated
blood sugars and mild kidney dysfunction
study participants were required to have
a 10 percent risk of having a heart
attack in 10 years even though that risk
doesn't seem very high the statins
indefinitely lowered their risk of
needing a bypass stent having a stroke
having a heart attack or dying over five
years
dr. kopetsky says lifestyle changes such
as moving more and eating right are key
to lowering your risk of cardiovascular
disease even if you do take a statin for
the Mayo Clinic News Network I'm Vivien
Williams