Statins
Are you taking a statin or have been offered one recently? Statins are drugs that lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
How often do you need blood tests?
- Cholesterol blood tests
Only patients with previous heart disease need to have an annual cholesterol check as they have a target to achieve in lowering cholesterol. New guidelines advise that this does not need to be a fasting blood test.
If you do not have heart disease but are taking a statin to lower cholesterol and help prevent heart disease then you only need cholesterol checked at the start of treatment, you do not need a routine annual blood test.
- Liver function tests
For everyone taking statins it is important to check your liver function at the start of treatment, after 3 months and then again after 12 months but further routine blood tests are not needed beyond the first year.
You can find more information on statins at
http://www.patient.co.uk/health/statins-and-other-lipid-lowering-medicines
You can find a good and balanced view about the extended use of statins from Dr Sarah Jarvis at
http://www.patient.co.uk/blogs/sarah-says/2014/05/the-great-statin-debate.
It is important that you help lower your risk of heart disease, even if you have not been offered or prescribed a statin. The most important things we would advise you to do to lower your risk are;
• Eat well (low fat ‘Mediterranean’ diet ideally; see http://www.patient.co.uk)
• Get regular exercise (aim for two and a half hours of exercise weekly)
• Don’t smoke (at all) and please ask for help on this if you need it - if you are a smoker and stop you may reduce your risk significantly
• Drink alcohol only moderately (less than 21 units a week for men and 14 units for women)
Taking a statin to reduce the risk of coronary heart disease and stroke