Keeping an eye on your cholesterol is usually seen as something to start doing as we get older.
But people as young as 30 could also consider taking cholesterol-lowering drugs, as the medicines can do most good if they are started earlier, according to new research.
The NHS usually recommends people have a cholesterol test only once they are over 40, as part of a “mid-life MOT”. However, an analysis has found that more heart attacks can be prevented by people starting the lifelong medication in their thirties, even if their risk of a heart attack is quite low.
“I’m not saying we should neglect the high-risk people – but we need to focus on low-risk people equally,” said Dr Irene Karungi, a research physician at Imperial College London, who was involved in the research, published in the American Journal of Preventive Cardiology.
Statins lower cholesterol in the blood, and aim to slow the growth of plaques on artery walls. Plaques can cause heart attacks and strokes if a small piece breaks off and forms a clot that blocks important blood vessels.
