You may have been sent a link to this page as you have recently had a blood test for Cholesterol and the result is higher than recommended.

If this is so you may benefit from a cholesterol lowering drug e.g statins or if you are already on one of these drugs then this may need to be increased or changed.

Specific drug treatment (e.g. Statins) to reduce the risk of developing a cardiovascular disease is usually offered to people with a moderate or high risk. That is:

• People with a Qrisk assessment score of 10% or more. That is, if you have a 1 in 10 chance or more of developing a cardiovascular disease within the following 10 years. Those in the moderate or high risk - see above.
• People with an existing cardiovascular disease (to lower the chance of it getting worse, or of developing a further disease).
• People with diabetes. If you have diabetes, this will be discussed at you annual review with our Diabetic nurse.
• People with certain kidney disorders.

What does my QRisk assessment score mean?

We use your cholesterol levels along with other things (e.g. age, sex, blood pressure and smoking status) to calculate your risk of heart disease and stroke.

We use a calculator called QRisk2, and it gives a percentage risk of you having a heart attack or stroke over the next 10 years.

You are given a score as a % chance. So, for example, if your score is 30% this means that you have a 30% chance of developing a cardiovascular disease within the following 10 years. This is the same as saying a 30 in 100 chance (or a 3 in 10 chance). So in this example, 3 in 10 people with the same risk factors that you have will develop a cardiovascular disease within the following 10 years.

Note: the score cannot say if you will be one of the three. It cannot predict what will happen to each individual person. It just gives you the odds. You are said to have a:

• High risk - if your score is 20% or more. This is a 2 in 10 chance or more of developing a cardiovascular disease within the following 10 years.
• Moderate risk - if your score is 10-20%. This is between a 1 in 10 and 2 in 10 chance.
• Low risk - if your score is less than 10%. This is less than a 1 in 10 chance.

Statins are useful drugs and can significantly reduce your Cholesterol levels and hence your risk of heart disease. They should not be seen as a replacement for taking other lifestyle measures listed above but can be a useful addition. If you would like to consider a statin please contact us requesting a telephone consultation with our pratice pharmacist.

For more information

Reducing your Cholesterol- Heart UK, 

Statin information from NHS and Heart UK