VOA常速英语:研究表明，斯达汀可以降低心血管疾病风险

More than 17 million people will die from diseases of the heart and blood vessels this year.Even more have these diseases which are collectively called cardiovascular disease.

“The risk factors for cardiovascular disease include high cholesterol, high blood pressure, smoking, diabetes and your age.”

Family history is also a factor. To combat the disease, many doctors recommend taking a daily cholesterol-lowering drug called a statin.

“A statin is a drug that helps reduce the production of cholesterol in the liver. It primarily works by lowering the LDL cholesterol, which is the so-called bad cholesterol.”

Ovens works on the US Preventive Task Force that continuously reveals information on a host of diseases.

The task force now recommends that adults age 40 and older at risk for cardiovascular disease take a daily statin.The recommendations appear in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

But it’s not just Americans who can benefit from statins.

An earlier study published in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that most people at risk for cardiovascular disease would be better off taking one.

The study involved a racially diverse group of people on six continents, living in 21 countries. And it included both men and women.

All were at risk for developing cardiovascular disease. In a five-year period, those taking a statin reduced their risk of heart attacks, strokes or heart-related deaths by 24 percent.

“The benefits of statins are a reduction in heart attacks, strokes and death.The harms of statins we judge base on our very comprehensive reviews of allergy to be small.And in patients who are at elevated risk for cardiovascular disease, the benefits outweigh the harms.”

The researchers say this shows a very simple approach to treatment that can be provided around the world:Have older adults at risk of developing cardiovascular disease take a daily statin.

Carol Pearson, VOA news, Washington.