A study published in JAMA Network Open looks at long-term exposure to particulate air pollution in California and cardiovascular events. … read more

Research, published in The Lancet, reports on long term estimates which suggest links between cholesterol levels and risk of heart … read more

Researchers, publishing in the BMJ, have reported that statins do not have a protective effect against cardiovascular disease in healthy adults between the ages of 75 and 84. read more

Statins are safe for children living with genetically high cholesterol reports a new study, published in the Journal of Clinical Lipidology. read more

A new study, published in BMJ Open Diabetes Research & Care, examines the increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes from long-term statin use.  read more

Publishing in JAMA Neurology, researchers reported an association between statin use and lower Alzheimer’s disease risk. They reported variation in lowering disease risk across race and ethnicity and type of statin. read more

A conference paper, presented at the Frontiers in CardioVascular Biology, looked at high cholesterol and survival in people with cancer. read more

An observational study published in JAMA Internal Medicine reported that, in patients with pre-existing ischemic heart disease, those with ‘moderate’ levels of LDL (bad) cholesterol had lower risk of adverse cardiac outcomes when using statins compared to those with ‘high’ levels of LDL cholesterol, but no additional benefit was seen for those with levels defined as ‘low’. read more

The contribution which different types of cholesterol make to risk of death from cardiovascular diseases is the subject of a paper published in the BMJ Open, which reports an inverse association between levels of ‘bad’ (LDL) cholesterol and mortality in most people over 60 years old. read more

A study published in the journal Science reported the discovery of a rare genetic variant associated with high levels of HDL cholesterol (HDL-C), normally termed ‘good cholesterol’, and also associated with an increased risk of heart disease. read more

Publishing in The Lancet Neurology journal, researchers have published their work looking for current therapies that may have an impact on Alzheimer’s. They report a secondary analysis of the DOMINO trial (announced in 2012)which suggests an off-patent drug may be able to delay the need for Alzheimer’s patients to enter nursing homes. read more

An independent panel decided the BMJ did not need to retract two articles on statins – one opinion piece and one analysis – both of which made claims about side effects which were subsequently withdrawn. read more

NICE published its final updated guidance on starting preventive treatment of cardiovascular disease (CVD) advising that the threshold for starting treatment should be halved from a 20% risk of developing CVD over 10 years to a 10% risk, and that once lifestyle factors have been addressed high intensity statin therapy should be offered. read more

Authors of two articles published in The BMJ in 2013 have withdrawn statements about the adverse effects of statins. Editor-in-Chief, Dr Fiona Godlee has also asked an independent expert panel to decide whether the articles should be retracted. read more

A large observational study in the journal BMJ Open found current and recent use of painkillers may be linked to a heightened risk of an irregular heartbeat among older adults. read more