0 a drug that reduces the level of cholesterol (= a substance containing fat in your blood that can cause heart disease) --
Antihypertensives showed lower costs and better efficiency than statins but also lower effectivity.
Furthermore, it is known that the clinical benefit from statin treatment is related to baseline risk rather than to actual lipid levels (20).
Traditional drugs (oral contraceptives, clomiphene and antiandrogens) have been supplemented by novel pharmaceutical modalities (insulin sensitisers and statins).
The only statin non-user had discontinued her statin treatment because of side effects.
Lowering cholesterol by taking statins presents a somewhat better picture, because statins seem to have effects beyond lowering cholesterol.
However, in an incremental cost-effectiveness analysis, the cheapest statins still cannot compete with smoking cessation or aspirin.
In those cases, attention to haemodynamic status is imperative alongside medical therapy (aspirin, statin, beta-blocker).
The hospital-based statin expenditure pattern is echoed in primary care but to a considerably greater degree.
