Many people who could benefit from medicines to reduce their cardiovascular risk aren’t getting them, Elizabeth Tracey reports

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A large number of people who could benefit from medicines to reduce cholesterol and consequent cardiovascular risk aren’t taking them, a study by Caleb Alexander, a drug efficacy expert at Johns Hopkins, and colleagues has shown. Alexander says this has turned out to be a persistent problem.

Alexander: I certainly can remember doing studies 10, 20 years ago looking at under treatment of this condition or diabetes. The numbers were shocking then too. I do think that some of these challenges are perennial but these numbers can be affected by different trends in health policy, trends in clinical care, the evolution of drug development. There are a lot of factors not the least of which are the increasing availability of safe and effective treatments that I think we will continue to see over the coming years.   :31

Alexander notes that as better agents come into the marketplace to lower cholesterol while not having a host of side effects it’s even more imperative to educate people on why they should be taking them. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.