Many people in their seventies have taken a cholesterol pill for years. For some, it was started as a precaution long before any sign of heart trouble. Most never think about stopping.
A new trial presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2026 in Chicago suggests a different approach. For a narrow group of older adults, stopping may be a reasonable option to raise with a doctor.
The group is specific. It covers people aged 70 and older who take a statin for primary prevention, meaning they have never had a heart attack or stroke.
How the researchers tested it
The trial is called STREAM. Researchers led by the University of Bern enrolled 1,880 adults with an average age of about 77, all with at least two chronic conditions and no known heart disease.
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Half were randomly assigned to stop their statin. The other half continued. The participants were followed at 24 clinics in Switzerland, France and the Netherlands.
What the trial found
After a median follow-up of about two years, stopping statins did not significantly raise rates of heart attack, stroke or death. The groups also looked similar on muscle pain, falls and quality of life.
Researchers still flagged a small signal. In the group that stopped, 12.7 percent had a heart attack, stroke or died. In the group that kept taking the pill, 9.2 percent did.
Put another way, for every 40 people who discontinued, one extra cardiovascular event occurred over two years. The full results were published in the New England Journal of Medicine on November 7, 2026.
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Why the researchers urge caution
Study co-author Rita F. Redberg, a cardiologist at the University of California, San Francisco, said the result does not support a blanket change in practice.
"This small, increased risk of cardiovascular events means that one cannot make a general recommendation about stopping statins in this patient population," she said in the AHA announcement.
Lead author Nicolas Rodondi, a professor at the University of Bern in Switzerland, said patients and doctors should decide together. He added that the trial's safety board advised people in the discontinuation group to discuss restarting the drug with their care team.
Who the finding does not cover
The trial did not include people with existing heart disease. Anyone who has had a heart attack, a stroke or a stent is in a different category and is almost always kept on a statin.
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Younger adults were also outside the trial. The authors looked specifically at primary prevention in people over 70, a group that the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force already flags as short on evidence.
In 2022, the task force concluded the current evidence was insufficient to recommend starting a statin for primary prevention in adults 76 and older.
What to do before changing anything
Any change should go through a doctor first. Many people already stop statins on their own, often because of muscle complaints or other side effects. The research so far suggests most of those complaints are not caused by the drug itself.
For adults over 70 who have never had a cardiovascular event, the STREAM findings give a doctor new data to work from. The results are preliminary, and the trial team has asked clinicians to weigh them case by case.
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This article is made and published by Mie Hermansen, who may have used AI in the preparation.