The effects of lowering LDL cholesterol with statin therapy in people at low risk of vascular disease

Article Type: Reviews of effectiveness From: Clinical Governance: An International Journal, Volume 17, Issue 4

Cholesterol Treatment Trialists’ (CTT) CollaboratorsThe effects of lowering LDL cholesterol with statin therapy in people at low risk of vascular disease:meta-analysis of individual data from 27 randomised trialsLancet2012Published online May 17

This meta-analysis of individual patient data concluded that in individuals with five-year risk of major vascular events lower than 10 per cent, each 1mmol/L reduction in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol produced an absolute reduction in major vascular events of about 11 per 1,000 over five years. The authors’ conclusions are likely to be reliable.