Should I Take Statins to Reduce My Risk of Heart Disease? 

Statin are medications that lower cholesterol with minimal side effects for most patients, and they “should be used for primary prevention in patients who have no symptoms but have the risk of developing heart disease,” says Aneta Dimova, MD, a cardiologist at HealthAlliance Hospital: Mary’s Avenue Campus.

A doctor’s decision to start these drugs in a patient is based on the patient’s individual heart-disease risk, combined with other risk factors, such as family history, diabetes, inflammatory diseases and smoking, which compound the initial risk assessment.

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To make an appointment with a member of the cardiology team at the WMCHealth Heart and Vascular Institute at HealthAlliance Hospital: Mary’s Avenue Campus, call 845.339.3663 or visit HAHV.org/cardiology for more information.

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A calcium score (a low-radiation CT scan) also can guide therapy in primary prevention. Statin therapy is obligatory for patients who have already had some form of vascular disease, such as a mini-stroke, angina or a heart attack.

“The only question for these patients is the dose and the potency,” says Dr. Dimova. “Doctors may sometimes prescribe additional therapies, such as injectable, non-statin medications.”

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Do you have a health-related question for a WMCHealth physician or specialist?

Email your questions to [email protected], with “Just the Facts” in the subject heading. Your question may be featured in a future issue.

Visit us at HealthAlliance Hospital, a member of Westchester Medical Center Health Network, to learn more. Advancing Care. Here.