It is one of the most frequently prescribed medications in Germany: statins lower LDL cholesterol and are considered standard therapy for preventing heart attacks and strokes. Many patients have been taking the medication for decades. But is this really medically beneficial? There is now, for the first ti…
It is one of the most frequently prescribed medications in Germany: statins lower LDL cholesterol and are considered standard therapy for preventing heart attacks and strokes. Many patients have been taking the medication for decades. But is this really medically beneficial?
There is now, for the first time, an answer to this question: A French research team led by Fabrice Bonnet of Bordeaux University Hospital studied 1,160 people aged 75 and over in a randomized trial. They were taking statins purely for preventive purposes, without having previously suffered a heart attack or stroke. The result: Those who stopped taking the medication did not die more frequently within three years than those who continued taking it. The findings were published in the medical journal The Lancet Healthy Longevity.
A total of 297 French general practices were involved in the study. The participants had an average age of 80, and two-thirds were women. Seventy-seven percent had high blood pressure, 30 percent had diabetes, and around two-thirds were considered high-risk patients. All had been taking a statin for at least one year, and most for more than five years. According to the study protocol, people with dementia, severe inherited lipid disorders, and seriously ill patients with a life expectancy of less than three months were excluded.
Cholesterol rises, but mortality does not
The study was not designed to show that stopping statins is better, but rather that it is not significantly worse. The researchers set a threshold whereby mortality in the discontinuation group could be no more than five percentage points higher.
When the medication was stopped, the effect was immediately apparent in the blood. According to the US health news outlet Stat News, citing the study data, LDL cholesterol in the discontinuation group rose within three months from an average of 115 to 171 milligrams per deciliter, equivalent to an increase from approximately 3.0 to 4.4 millimoles per liter. That represents an increase of about 50 percent. In the comparison group, levels remained unchanged.
After three years, 35 of the 484 people in the discontinuation group had died, or 7.2 percent. In the group that continued taking their statin, 48 of 604 had died, or 7.9 percent. The Bonnet team also found no significant difference between the groups in serious cardiovascular events such as heart attacks and strokes.
One detail is noteworthy: Quality of life, measured using a standardized questionnaire, remained virtually identical in both groups over the three years—both physically and psychologically.
Why the results should be interpreted with caution
However, the study has a significant weakness, which the authors themselves acknowledge. The original study protocol, published in the medical journal Trials in 2020, called for the recruitment of 2,430 people. Fewer than half that number were actually enrolled. Fewer participants and fewer deaths than expected mean a high degree of statistical uncertainty.
There is also the issue of time. Three years is a short period for a vascular disease that develops over decades. The study cannot answer whether the 50 percent increase in LDL levels might have consequences only after five or ten years.
The open questions may soon be answered. A larger study is currently underway, with its study protocol published in BMJ Open in May 2025. Centers in Switzerland, France, and the Netherlands are participating. Fabrice Bonnet, the first author of the newly published French study, is also among the authors.
What does the study mean for Germany?
According to the Bern-based research team, this is currently the largest ongoing study investigating whether older people can safely stop taking statins. A total of 1,800 participants aged 70 and over are being randomly assigned either to discontinue or continue taking statins; recruitment is taking place both in hospitals and medical practices.
The French study cannot simply be applied to Germany. It was conducted entirely in France. According to Stat News, France is among the wealthy countries with the lowest cardiovascular mortality and an above-average life expectancy.
