For years, doctors have prescribed statins to manage cholesterol in people up to around 75, without solid evidence of how well they actually work for older patients specifically. A landmark Australian clinical trial has now settled that question, with genuinely significant results for anyone over 70.
The Statins in Reducing Events in the Elderly (STAREE) trial, led by researchers at Monash University and published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine, found that statin therapy reduces the risk of a first major cardiovascular event, such as a heart attack or stroke, by 30 per cent in adults over 70 who are living independently.
It’s the first randomised controlled trial of statin therapy specifically designed to test whether the medication genuinely helps older people, a group historically underrepresented in cardiovascular research. Conducted over ten years and tracking the outcomes of almost 10,000 participants who took either a statin or a placebo, it’s now one of the largest cardiovascular disease prevention trials ever conducted in older adults anywhere in the world.
Age alone places people over 70 into a high-risk category for cardiovascular events, regardless of lifestyle or other individual factors. An estimated 21,000 older Australians experience a major cardiovascular event, such as a heart attack or stroke, every year, and the global burden is only set to grow – cardiovascular disease is projected to affect more than one billion adults worldwide by 2050, almost double the 600 million affected in 2025.
Lead researcher Adjunct Professor Sophia Zoungas, from Monash’s School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, said the risk of heart attack and stroke remains a major concern for older people, and that having solid evidence for a safe, effective way to reduce that risk will offer real reassurance to older Australians and their families. She said anyone who has watched a loved one affected by cardiovascular disease understands just how important genuine prevention is.
Professor Zoungas said the findings are strong enough that she hopes to see treatment guidelines updated so clinicians can properly apply this new evidence in practice.
Co-author Professor Mark Nelson, a practising GP and Adjunct Professor at Monash’s School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, said the trial’s community-based design gives it particular weight, having been conducted with more than 3,400 GPs taking part across Australia. He said the new evidence means older patients now have good reason to raise the topic directly with their own GP, to discuss whether statins are an appropriate part of their own cardiovascular health plan going forward.
Professor Zoungas said the trial positions Australia at the forefront of global healthy ageing research, noting that with the world’s population ageing at an unprecedented rate, answering fundamental questions about healthy longevity has become a genuinely universal priority. She described STAREE as a benchmark for the kind of international clinical trials capable of directly informing preventive care worldwide.
Professor Derek Chew, Chief Scientific and Medical Officer at the National Heart Foundation of Australia, which helped fund the trial, welcomed the results. He noted statins have played a major role in reducing cardiovascular events for decades, and that this study demonstrates they can still make a real difference even when started much later in life.
If you’re over 70, or caring for a parent or loved one who is, this research offers genuine, well-evidenced reassurance that starting statin therapy later in life can still meaningfully reduce the risk of a first heart attack or stroke. It’s well worth raising with your GP at your next appointment, particularly given how directly this trial’s community-based, GP-involved design was built to translate straight into everyday clinical practice.
This article reports on published research and is general in nature. It isn’t personalised medical advice — talk to your GP about whether statin therapy is appropriate for your individual circumstances.
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