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Statins

Preventing CHD in high risk patients

The CHD NSF and now the new GMS contract state that general practitioners and primary care teams should develop a register of CHD patients, through which they can review medication, offer advice on diet and lifestyle, and maintain the necessary contact with patients most at risk of suffering renewed heart problems.

Those at risk should be prescribed statins; these are drugs that reduce the levels of cholesterol (also sometimes called lipids) in the blood. High cholesterol levels are a significant risk factor for coronary events. Reducing cholesterol levels in a patient at high risk will make a major contribution to reducing their chance of having a heart attack or other coronary event and also reduce the likelihood of them dying prematurely.

Spending has increased to £0.73 billion a year on statins. Around 2.3 million people - that is over 3% of the population - are now receiving statins and that number is still increasing rapidly.  Statins are thought to save many thousands of lives a year, as well as reducing the number and severity of heart attacks.