{"title":"Preventive cardiology for the aging population: how can we better design clinical trials of statins?","authors":"Anthony S Wierzbicki","doi":"10.1080/14779072.2024.2302122","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Older adults form a fast-increasing proportion of the world population. However, gains in increasing quantity of life have not been accompanied by similar gains in quality of life. Older people frequently experience frailty, memory problems, and chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease (CVD) and neurodegenerative diseases. Recent trials have demonstrated the efficacy of anti-hypertensive therapy in older populations but failed to show benefits for aspirin.</p><p><strong>Area covered: </strong>Statins clearly reduce CVD events in middle-aged populations. There seems to be evidence that the effect is similar in primary prevention older populations based on meta-analyses mainly from sub-groups in large trials, but this becomes less clear with increasing age. However, given differences in drug metabolism and possibly efficacy, competing co-morbidities, their effects on mortality, disability, and dementia in this age group remain to be determined.</p><p><strong>Expert opinion: </strong>Two large trials are now underway to clarify the role of statin therapy in people aged over 70 years using endpoints of mortality, disability, and neurocognitive endpoints as well as standard cardiovascular disease outcomes. They may provide also provide more evidence on how to approach the over 80 year age group.</p>","PeriodicalId":12098,"journal":{"name":"Expert Review of Cardiovascular Therapy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.8000,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Expert Review of Cardiovascular Therapy","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14779072.2024.2302122","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2024/1/23 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"CARDIAC & CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEMS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Introduction: Older adults form a fast-increasing proportion of the world population. However, gains in increasing quantity of life have not been accompanied by similar gains in quality of life. Older people frequently experience frailty, memory problems, and chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease (CVD) and neurodegenerative diseases. Recent trials have demonstrated the efficacy of anti-hypertensive therapy in older populations but failed to show benefits for aspirin.
Area covered: Statins clearly reduce CVD events in middle-aged populations. There seems to be evidence that the effect is similar in primary prevention older populations based on meta-analyses mainly from sub-groups in large trials, but this becomes less clear with increasing age. However, given differences in drug metabolism and possibly efficacy, competing co-morbidities, their effects on mortality, disability, and dementia in this age group remain to be determined.
Expert opinion: Two large trials are now underway to clarify the role of statin therapy in people aged over 70 years using endpoints of mortality, disability, and neurocognitive endpoints as well as standard cardiovascular disease outcomes. They may provide also provide more evidence on how to approach the over 80 year age group.
期刊介绍:
Expert Review of Cardiovascular Therapy (ISSN 1477-9072) provides expert reviews on the clinical applications of new medicines, therapeutic agents and diagnostics in cardiovascular disease. Coverage includes drug therapy, heart disease, vascular disorders, hypertension, cholesterol in cardiovascular disease, heart disease, stroke, heart failure and cardiovascular surgery. The Expert Review format is unique. Each review provides a complete overview of current thinking in a key area of research or clinical practice.