The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has issued a draft recommendation statement on Statin Use for Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease in Adults: Preventive Medication. The guideline builds on the “risk-based” statin treatment recommendations rather than the previous “treat-to-target” method of treating to a specific LDL cholesterol. The new draft recommends low- to moderate-dose statins for adults 40 to 75 years of age without a history of cardiovascular disease and who have at least one cardiovascular disease risk factor (dyslipidemia, diabetes, hypertension, or smoking), with a calculated 10-year risk of a cardiovascular event of ≥ 10%. For those individuals with one risk factor and a calculated risk of 7.5-10%, a low- to moderate-dose statin should be considered. There is insufficient evidence to assess the risk vs harm for adults ≥ 76 years of age without a history of myocardial infarction or stroke. Low-dose statins include lovastatin 20 mg, pravastatin 10-20 mg, and simvastatin 10 mg. Moderate-dose regimens include atorvastatin 10-20 mg, lovastatin 40 mg, rosuvastatin 5-10 mg, and simvastatin 20-40 mg (uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org).
