Some causes of poor adherence to long-term statin therapy and their solution

Abstract

Statins are among the most important drugs in preventive cardiology because they greatly improve the prognosis of risk patients in both primary and secondary prevention of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Adherence to long-term statin therapy is poor and decreases with the duration of statin use. A number of fake news about adverse effects of statins disseminated on the internet, such as damage of the brain, liver or kidney, contribute to worsening adherence. Statins therapy is sometimes unnecessary discontinued before planned surgery. The worse adherence to statin therapy may be also due to the fact that the patient does not know the connection between cholesterol lowering and improving his cardiovascular prognosis.