12,000 strokes could be prevented if patients eligible for statins and other drugs were prescribed pills

12,000 strokes could be prevented if patients eligible for statins and other drugs were prescribed pills Half of people who are eligible for statins are not prescribed the drug in a ‘missed opportunity’ which is contributing to 12,000 needless strokes a year, a study has shown.

Around one third of strokes could be prevented in Britain annually if cholesterol busting pills, anti-clotting drugs and medication to lower blood pressure were prescribed as intended.

Current recommendations by the health watchdog Nice suggest that anyone with a 20 per cent risk of developing cardiovascular disease in the next 10 years should take statins. But research by the University of Birmingham found that just 49 per cent of those eligible were prescribed the drugs. The Daily Telegraph