from British Medical Journal
In high-income countries, a growing proportion of heart disease and stroke occur in the oldest people. In France, for instance, people eighty-five and older accounted for forty-nine percent of death from stroke. A research team based in France used cholesterol-lowering medications on older men and women with no known history of heart attacks or strokes. After an average follow-up time of nine years, they found participants using cholesterol-lowering medication had one-third lower risk of stroke compared to non-users. The authors acknowledge this was an observational study, but if replicated, the results suggest that the class of medications including statins and fibrates might be considered for prevention of stroke in older people. The study was published in The British Medical Journal (BMJ).