• What is the role of statin medications in preventing heart attacks and strokes?

I have a family history of heart attacks and strokes. What is the role of statin medications in preventing heart attacks and strokes?

7 Answers

  • Family Nurse Practitioner,

Statin medications help lower cholesterol levels, especially LDL bad cholesterol, which can reduce the risk of plaque buildup in your arteries. For people with a family history of heart attacks or strokes, statins may be recommended as a preventive measureeven if your cholesterol isnt extremely high.

They work by lowering inflammation and helping keep blood vessels healthy, which reduces the risk of heart attacks and strokes over time. Your doctor can help decide if a statin is right for you based on your overall risk.

  • Population Health Nurse,
  • NJ

The statin drugs are prescribed in order to lower cholesterol build up in arteries to prevent plaque and decrease. Clean eating habits can help avoid this as well. Cholesterol is created in the liver and the foods we eat contain fats therefore the combination with other contributing factors can influence heart health and brain health

  • Family Practitioner
  • Houston, TX

Statins lower your LDL cholesterol thus reducing the potential for the increase in cholesterol in the arteries in your heart.

  • Registered Nurse,
  • PA

Statins are a class of medications that primarily work by lowering LDL "bad" cholesterol levels in the blood, reducing inflammation, and improving blood vessel function. .

  • Internist | Obesity Medicine
  • Fort Worth, TX

It depends on age and other factors but yes starting statins can help reduce heart attack and strokes

  • Emergency Physician
  • Fort Myers, FL

Statins are quite a unique medicine in that they accomplish many things. 1) they decrease ldl cholesterol (bad cholesterol) thus reduce plaque build up in arteries in the heart and leading to the brain, 2) they help blood flow better through blood vessels, 3) prevent existing cholesterol plaque on vessels from rupturing and causing a stroke or heart attack. All of these combined help decrease the chance of cardiac and cerebrovascular events. Whether you need it or not depends on your age, weight, risk factors.

  • Family Practitioner
  • Plantation, FL

Statins play an important role in the prevention of strokes and heart attacks by lowering the high levels of LDL cholesterol or vulgarly called bad cholesterol in our system. Statins also are said to stabilize plaques (fatty deposits) that accumulate in our arteries and diminish the caliber of those arteries, decreasing the diameter of those arteries and increasing the risk of heart attacks and strokes. More importantly we have to remember that statins have an anti-inflammatory effect in our system and statins do prolong life. Please for medical advice or diagnosis consult a medical professional for help. Yves M. Jean Joseph, MD

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