TIME (12/22, Park) reports that physicians can assess patients’ “10-year risk by plugging certain information into a web-based calculator formulated by the” AHA and ACC. Two years ago, “the two groups debuted” a “revised algorithm, along with their recommendation that people with a 7.5% or greater risk of heart events in the next 10 years consider taking a statin to reduce that risk.” The USPSTF, however, “concluded that people with a 10% or greater risk of heart problems in the next 10 years, based on the 2013 AHA-ACC calculator, and who have diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure or who smoke, can lower their risk of having a heart attack or stroke by a ‘moderate amount’ by taking a statin.”
HealthDay (12/22, Thompson) reports that the “panel added that people with a 10-year risk of heart attack and stroke between 7.5 percent and 10 percent might also benefit from statins, and should discuss the matter with their” physician.