Why have I received this message?
Your medical records show that you have previously been diagnosed with a cardiovascular disease such as a stroke, TIA (mini- stroke), heart attack, ischemic heart disease, peripheral vascular disease or chronic kidney disease (CKD).
In these conditions taking a statin tablet helps to reduce the chance of stroke or heart attack (your ‘cardiovascular risk’) as per NHS guidelines.
A statin can reduce your chance of a stroke and heart attack by approximately up to 25%.
What is a statin?
Statin is a medication that lowers your cholesterol and stabilises unhealthy blood vessels (plaque stabiliser).
What if I have a normal cholesterol?
Even with a normal cholesterol, studies have shown that statins will have a positive effect on your blood vessels and reduce your cardiovascular risk. We also look at the cholesterol / HDL ratio and LDL on the blood tests.
Will there be any side effects?
Statins are very safe medications. Patients often worry about muscle aches due to statins, but big studies have found they are no more likely to cause aches than a placebo. Nevertheless, if you do experience side effects, we can explore alternative treatments.
What is the next step?
If you agree, we would like to start you on Atorvastatin taken once at bedtime (it works best taken at this time).
We will need you to come in for a blood test first. Please respond ‘Yes’ to your text message questionnaire, one of our Care Coordinators will be in contact to book this blood test for you.
We then ask that you book a follow up blood test in 2-3 months to make sure the dosage is optimised.
Want some more info?
If you’d like to discuss statins further we can book you in with our team of pharmacists to discuss. Please let us know if you’d like to proceed with this.
If you’d like to read some more info available follow the link below to NHS website