For people with heart disease who are on cholesterol-lowering drugs, adding a drug called evolocumab doesn’t raise their risk of serious side effects like diabetes or memory problems — the only real downside is a slightly higher chance of soreness at the injection site.

For people with heart disease who are already taking cholesterol-lowering drugs but still have high bad cholesterol, adding a drug called evolocumab can cut their risk of heart attack, stroke, or dying from heart problems by 20% over about two years.

Adding a drug called evolocumab to cholesterol-lowering statins can lower the chances of serious heart problems by 20% in people who already have heart disease.

For people with clogged arteries who are already taking cholesterol drugs, adding a medicine called evolocumab can help lower their chance of having a stroke.

For people with diabetes who are at high heart risk but don’t yet have major artery blockages, adding a drug called evolocumab to their usual cholesterol medicine cuts their chance of heart attack, stroke, or heart-related death by about a third over nearly 5 years.

For people with heart disease who are already taking cholesterol-lowering statins but still have high LDL, adding a drug called evolocumab can lower their chances of having a heart attack, stroke, or other serious heart problems by about 15% over two years.