"Treating more Americans with statins is worth the small risk of sideeffects and would be costeffective a new report finds. New guidelines http from the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology in  broadened the definition of who should get cholesterollowering statins which are among the most widely prescribed drugs in the world. One of the recommendations was that statins should be prescribed to anyone with a . percent risk or higher of developing heart disease over the next  years. Patients and doctors alike complained that the new guidelines were confusing. http But in the new report Dr. Thomas Gaziano of the Harvard School of Public Health and colleagues say theyre in fact simpler than the old guidelines which advised people to aim for a total cholesterol level of less than  keeping bad LDL cholesterol to  for average people and under  for those considered at risk of a heart attack. You have to be at extremely low risk before the risk of statins outweighs their significant profound benefits. Theres an online tool httpclincalc.comCardiologyASCVDPooledCohort.aspx that people or their doctors can use to calculate their risk of heart disease which is based on age sex blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Gaziano and colleagues created a computer simulation to see if giving statins to more people would be worth the risk of sideeffects and the extra cost. It would be they report in the Journal of the American Medical Association.  You have to be at extremely low risk before the risk of statins outweighs their significant profound benefits Gaziano said. Experts estimate that another  million to  million Americans would get statins if everyone used the new criteria  with just under half of all adults aged  to  eligible. Statins which include Lipitor Mevacor Crestor and Zocor are extremely popular. Theyre prescribed to about  percent of U.S. adults at a cost ranging from about  a month for the cheapest generic version to  for a pricey namebrand. There is no longer any question as to whether to offer treatment with statins. They can damage muscle in  to  percent of patients. In  the Food and Drug Administration updated labeling on statins to http include warnings about confusion and memory loss elevated blood sugar leading to Type  diabetes and muscle weakness. But even with those risks its worthwhile Gazianos team found. And if even more people were given statins  if they were given to people with a  percent risk of developing heart disease over  years  another  heart attacks and strokes would be prevented they estimated. Limiting factors should be a patients own preference about taking a daily pill price and the risk of diabetes they said. There is no longer any question as to whether to offer treatment with statins for patients for primary prevention and there should now be fewer questions about how to treat and in whom Dr. Philip Greenland an expert in preventive medicine at Northwestern University and a senior editor of the journal and Dr. Michael Lauer of the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute wrote in a commentary."