Does Continued Intensive Statin Therapy Mean Additional Benefit?
By Kevin Self Reviewed by Elizabeth Klodas, MD, FACC December 11, 2009–A new analysis suggests that continued intensive statin therapy may be effective in reducing not only the first occurrence of a heart attack, but also subsequent heart-related events in high risk individuals with coronary artery disease. It has long been known that stains lower cholesterol and help prevent subsequent heart related events in patients who have already experienced either unstable angina or a heart attack (collectively referred to as ACS or acute coronary syndrome). This fact, however, has led to questions about whether additional benefits of using intensive statin therapy can be realized over the long term in such patients. “Intensive statin therapy” refers to prescribing enough medication to reduce the LDL (“bad cholesterol”) to very low levels, usually below 70 mg/dL. The original PROVE IT-TIMI 22 trial showed that, as compared to standard therapy, intensive statin therapy following ACS significantl
