should older people take statins to
lower cholesterol for years there was
this controversy whether or not other
people would benefit from statins but
the controversy was mostly based on the
fact that clinical trials did not
include many older people Mayo Clinic
cardiologist dr. Francisco Lopez Jimenez
says there's a growing body of research
that shows statins do benefit this age
group and he says older people at risk
of heart attack who take the medication
should consider staying on it getting
off the statins essentially puts people
at risk for heart attacks because they
lose the protection of what lowering the
cholesterol gives or provides some
people are leery of taking statins
because of potential side effects but
dr. Lopez Jimenez notes that life
threatening side effects from statins
are extremely rare he recommends older
people talked to their health care
providers about the risks and benefits
of statins for the Mayo Clinic News
Network I'm Jason Allen