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DOUBLE EFFECT OF STATINSIN ELDERLY MENOPAUSAL FEMALES
OP KAPOOR
Ex. Hon. Physician, Jaslok Hospital and Bombay Hospital, Mumbai, Ex. Hon. Prof. of Medicine, Grant Medical College and JJ Hospital, Mumbai 400 008.
Once the menopause sets in, the females are as prone to ischaemic heart as males because of loss of the protective effect of the hormones. Thus, at the age of 70 or 80, the incidence of ischaemic heart disease is more or less the same in male and female patients.
Similarly, severe menopausal osteoporosis sets in about 20 years after menopause for which they will possibly need Alendronate. I want to draw the attention of the family physicians that recently HMGCOA Reductase Inhibitors known as "statins" are routinely prescribed in elderly patients having ischaemic heart disease, diabetes mellitus and hypertension in addition to Aspirin - more or less permanently.
It is now known that these statins also prevent menopausal osteoporosis. Thus I will not hesitate to start statins in any menopausal woman who has slightest cardiac indication. Till now, the statins were very costly. But with the introduction of provastatin the cost of statin therapy has come down to (about Rs. 200/- per month) as against (Rs. 600/- per month) in the past.
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