New Delhi– Prescribing a combination of statins and the cholesterol-lowering drug ezetimibe soon after a heart attack could prevent thousands of subsequent heart attacks, strokes, and deaths over the next decade, according to a new international study.
Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death worldwide, with heart attacks—also known as myocardial infarctions—being the most common acute event. Survivors of a heart attack are at the greatest risk of another cardiac event within the first year, as their blood vessels remain especially vulnerable, making clot formation more likely.
Researchers from Lund University in Sweden and Imperial College London found that lowering LDL—or “bad”—cholesterol soon after a heart attack can stabilize blood vessels and significantly reduce the risk of future cardiovascular events.
Under current guidelines, patients are typically prescribed statins following a heart attack. However, many fail to achieve the recommended cholesterol levels with statins alone and may require an additional medication, such as ezetimibe.
“The study shows that we could save lives and reduce further heart attacks by giving patients a combination of two low-cost drugs,” said Professor Kausik Ray of Imperial College London’s School of Public Health, a co-investigator of the study. “But at the moment, patients across the world aren’t receiving these drugs together. That’s causing unnecessary and avoidable heart attacks and deaths — and it’s also placing added strain on healthcare systems.”
“This research points the way forward. Post-heart attack care protocols must evolve,” he added.
The researchers analyzed outcomes for 36,000 patients who suffered a heart attack between 2015 and 2022. They found that patients who received both statins and ezetimibe within 12 weeks of their heart attack were more likely to reach target cholesterol levels and had significantly lower risks of additional cardiovascular events or death.
The study team estimates that if all patients were prescribed ezetimibe early, approximately 133 heart attacks could be avoided per 10,000 patients over a three-year period.
They emphasize that updating treatment strategies could prevent countless heart attacks, strokes, and deaths globally each year. (Source: IANS)
