Stopping Statins for Heart Failure Is Risky

I reported in 2006 that only 70% of heart disease patients consistently take their meds over the 7 years following their attack. As many as 30% of patients discontinue statins within a year of their prescription. Now there’s a report in the European Heart Journal about the dangers of stopping statin medications after a heart attack.

McGill University scientists used patient data from a British database, the UK General Practice Research Database, which included patients surviving 90 days after a first heart attack. Four groups of subjects were recognized: patients who never took statins, continuous statin users, starters (those who started statin after the heart attack), and stoppers (those who stopped statins after their heart attack). The mortality rate at 1 year after the heart attack was measured to allow the risk (hazard ratio) to be calculated.

There were almost 1,000 enrollees; their average age was 68 and 60% were men. Using the non-user group as the ‘standard’, the risk of death within a year was 84% for users, 72% for starters, and 188% for stoppers. That is to say, those who discontinued prescribed statin medication after a heart attack were 88% more likely to die within the year, compared with those who had never taken statins.

This is further evidence, if more was needed, that one should take one’s medications as prescribed, unless side effects emerge that require discontinuation. If in doubt, consult your doctor.