By Joe Elia
The calculator that accompanies new guidelines on lowering cardiovascular risk could mistakenly make “millions more people” candidates for statins, according to a New York Times story.
Overestimating Cardiovascular Risk
The root of the problem may be that the numbers used to calculate patients’ risks come from studies done in the 1990s when, for instance, more people smoked. Researchers using data from other cohorts found that the calculator overestimated risk by between 75% and 150%. Those results are due to appear in the Lancet on Tuesday, according to the Times report.
Whatever the cause, cardiologist Steven Nissen told the Times: “We need a pause to further evaluate this approach before it is implemented on a widespread basis.”
Link(s):
New York Times story (Free)
Physician’s First Watch coverage of new guidelines (Free)
Risk calculator (Free)
