ALMOST two million people are being advised to take the controversial drug statin despite being at no greater risk of heart disease, research suggests.
By LUCY JOHNSTON, EXCLUSIVE
PUBLISHED: 00:01, Sun, Dec 27, 2015
Millions are being advised to take controversial drug statin
The study analysed the heart health of almost 6,000 patients using CT scans to detect calcium in their arteries.
The results, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, found that up to half of those who would be recommended as suitable for statins were not in fact at greater risk of heart disease because they had no calcium build-up.
Now experts say that the traditional methods of deciding who is at risk, by assessing factors such as age, sex and blood pressure, may be inaccurate.
This would mean patients are being prescribed statins unnecessarily.