Statins cut the risk of heart attacks by nearly half in low-risk people by lowering bad cholesterol, even if they’ve never had heart trouble before.
Scientific Claim
Statin therapy reduces the risk of major coronary events by 39–43% per 1.0 mmol/L LDL cholesterol reduction in individuals with a 5-year vascular risk below 10%, primarily through prevention of non-fatal myocardial infarctions.
Original Statement
“The reductions in risk of major vascular events among the two categories of participant at lowest risk reflected reductions in major coronary events (RR per 1.0 mmol/L LDL cholesterol reduction 0.57, 99% CI 0.36–0.89, p=0.0012, and 0.61, 99% CI 0.50–0.74, p<0.0001), mainly non-fatal myocardial infarction...”
Evidence Quality Assessment
Claim Status
appropriately stated
Study Design Support
Design supports claim
Appropriate Language Strength
definitive
Can make definitive causal claims
Assessment Explanation
The RCT-based meta-analysis with individual data supports causal language. The reported RRs and p-values confirm statistically significant reductions, justifying definitive verbs.
Evidence from Studies
Supporting (1)
The effects of lowering LDL cholesterol with statin therapy in people at low risk of vascular disease: meta-analysis of individual data from 27 randomised trials
This big study found that even people with very low risk of heart problems benefit from statins: lowering their 'bad' cholesterol by 1 mmol/L cut their risk of heart attacks by about 40%, which matches the claim perfectly.