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Statins are drugs used to lower cholesterol. Your body needs some cholesterol to work properly. But if you have too much in your blood, it can stick to the walls of your arteries, narrowing or even blocking them.

New guidelines urge earlier cholesterol treatment to prevent heart disease

Doctors should consider treating high cholesterol much earlier and more aggressively than they have in the past, according to a new perspective by Weill Cornell Medicine, NewYork-Presbyterian and Yale School of Medicine investigators.

19 May 2026

Evolocumab trial could reshape how doctors treat high-risk cholesterol patients

A new ACC/AHA dyslipidemia guideline and editorial argue that guideline development is rigorous but can lag behind fast-moving science, using the VESALIUS-CV trial as a clear example. The trial showed that intensive LDL cholesterol lowering with evolocumab reduced cardiovascular events in high-risk patients without prior heart attack or stroke, with implications for future guideline updates.

6 Apr 2026

Intensive LDL cholesterol-lowering shows major benefits for heart disease patients

Using cholesterol-lowering medications more intensively to achieve a more aggressive target for low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) reduced the rate of major cardiovascular events by one-third among patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD), according to a study presented at the American College of Cardiology's Annual Scientific Session (ACC.26).

28 Mar 2026

Evolocumab reduces cardiac events in high-risk diabetic patients

The cholesterol-lowering therapy evolocumab reduced the risk of major adverse cardiac events by nearly one-third among patients who had no known significant atherosclerosis and had diabetes, according to a study presented at the American College of Cardiology's Annual Scientific Session.

28 Mar 2026

Updated heart guidelines urge earlier screening for high blood cholesterol

For the first time since 2018, a clinical guideline from the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association for screening and managing blood cholesterol levels has been updated and jointly published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology and Circulation.

27 Mar 2026

New cholesterol guidelines emphasize earlier risk assessment and prevention

New national guidance for managing cholesterol and other blood lipids emphasizes earlier risk assessment, more personalized treatment, and long-term prevention—including, in some cases, treatment beginning as early as age 30.

23 Mar 2026

Clinicians show modest response to elevated lipoprotein levels in low-risk patients

Elevated Lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] is an independent, genetically determined risk factor for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD), with levels >50 mg/dL affecting 20–30% of the global population.

16 Mar 2026

Updated guideline emphasizes earlier treatment for high cholesterol

The American College of Cardiology (ACC), the American Heart Association and nine other leading medical associations, today issued an updated guideline for the management of dyslipidemia-abnormal levels of one or more types of lipids or lipoproteins in the blood, including cholesterol and triglycerides.

13 Mar 2026

Redefining cardiovascular care for women

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the leading cause of death for women across the globe, yet significant progress has been made in prevention, diagnosis and management thanks to more sex-specific research, as noted in a special Go Red for Women issue of Circulation, the American Heart Association's flagship, peer-reviewed scientific journal, published today.

17 Feb 2026

Most statin side effects are not backed by trials

Research indicates that many statin therapy side effects are not supported by evidence, suggesting a need for revised labeling to improve treatment decisions.

9 Feb 2026

Large trials show statins rarely cause reported side effects

Cardiovascular disease results in around 20 million deaths worldwide and causes around a quarter of all deaths in the UK.

5 Feb 2026

Study offers a practical strategy to enhance effectiveness of immune checkpoint inhibitors

Cancer immunotherapy has transformed modern oncology by harnessing body's own immune system to combat malignant disease.

29 Jan 2026

Study finds major gaps in cholesterol management among adults with cardiovascular disease

The Family Heart Foundation, a leading research and advocacy organization, published new research in the American Journal of Preventive Cardiology revealing significant gaps in cholesterol management during 2022-23 among U.S. adults with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD).

3 Dec 2025

UBC researchers reveal how statins trigger muscle damage

Statins have transformed heart health, saving millions of lives by lowering cholesterol and reducing the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

26 Nov 2025

Study highlights limitations of current cardiac screening tools

Current cardiac screening tools used to prevent heart attacks fail to identify nearly half of the people who are actually at risk of having one, according to a new study led by Mount Sinai researchers.

22 Nov 2025

New data supports earlier use of evolocumab in high-risk diabetes

Adding the PCSK9 inhibitor evolocumab to a high-intensity, cholesterol-lowering regimen reduced the risk of a first major cardiovascular event among adults with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) or diabetes , according to a preliminary late-breaking science presentation today at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2025.

11 Nov 2025

Daily oral medication matches injectable therapies in reducing bad cholesterol

Among people with a previous heart attack or stroke, or who are at high risk for one, a daily oral medication may offer an effective alternative to injections of PCSK9 inhibitors to lower low-density lipoprotein (LDL or "bad" cholesterol), according to a preliminary late-breaking science presentation today at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2025.

10 Nov 2025

PCSK9 inhibitor combined with a statin may help reduce LDL cholesterol after heart transplant

The cholesterol medication alirocumab, a PCSK9 inhibitor, combined with a statin appeared to reduce LDL cholesterol levels by more than 50% among patients after a heart transplant, according to a late-breaking science presentation today at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2025.

10 Nov 2025

Proactive cardiac CT scans may be useful to identify other health problems

Coronary artery calcium (CAC) CT scans are becoming a more commonly used tool to effectively determine a patient's future risk of heart disease and heart attack.

10 Nov 2025

Major gaps found in cholesterol management for young adults

Fewer than half of young adults with severely high low-density lipoprotein (LDL-C), or "bad" cholesterol, levels start taking a statin within five years of first high LDL-C measurement, according to a study published in JACC, the flagship journal of the American College of Cardiology, and presented at the American Heart Association's 2025 Scientific Sessions.

6 Nov 2025