Stopping Statins After 70: What a New Trial Shows

Your mother is 78. She takes a statin every night, plus five other pills, and she has never had a heart attack or a stroke. At her last checkup she asked a simple question: does she still need it?

Until this month, nobody could answer that well. The research behind statins mostly enrolled middle-aged people, and the evidence on stopping statins after 70 was thin. That left many older adults taking a daily drug out of habit.

A large randomized trial published in November finally puts numbers on that choice. Below you will find what it tested, what it found, what the headlines left out, and how to use the results in a conversation with your own doctor.

What the STREAM Trial Tested

STREAM enrolled people from 24 clinical centers in Switzerland, France and the Netherlands between November 2021 and April 2025. Everyone was at least 70, had taken a statin for at least a year, and had no known cardiovascular disease. In other words, they were on the drug for primary prevention, to stop a first heart attack or stroke rather than a repeat one.

Participants were not healthy outliers. Each had at least two chronic conditions, such as a past cancer or lung disease. The average age was about 77, close to half were women, and roughly a third had diabetes.

Researchers split the group in two. Half (938 people) stopped their statin. The other half (942 people) kept taking it. Both groups were followed for a median of about two years, and a blinded committee judged each heart attack, stroke and death.

Why "noninferior" is the key word

The trial did not ask whether stopping was better. It asked whether stopping was not meaningfully worse. Before the study began, the team set a limit: if stopping cost people less than 5.2 weeks of event-free time over two years, it would count as acceptable.

A noninferior result means the harm stayed under a preset line. It does not mean the harm was zero.

What Stopping Statins After 70 Actually Did

Here are the main numbers, as published in the New England Journal of Medicine and presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions in Chicago:

• Event-free time over two years: 96.5 weeks for people who stopped versus 98.5 weeks for people who continued. The gap of 2.0 weeks stayed inside the 5.2-week limit.
• Total events over full follow-up: 119 of 938 people who stopped (12.7%) had a heart attack, stroke or death, versus 87 of 942 who continued (9.2%).
• Relative risk: the hazard ratio was 1.38, meaning events ran roughly 38% higher in the group that stopped.
• Serious adverse events: at least one occurred in 43.0% of the stopping group and 39.8% of the continuing group.

So the trial passed its test, and it also showed a real signal of harm. Both statements are true at once. The American Heart Association's summary captured the tension, describing stopping as safe for most people in this age group while noting a slight increase in cardiovascular events over time.

Cholesterol came back fast

In a subgroup of 235 people who had their blood tested, LDL cholesterol at 12 months averaged 176 mg/dL among those who stopped, compared with about 99 mg/dL among those who continued, according to trade outlet HCPLive's report on the paper. That is a rise of roughly 77 mg/dL in one year. The drug was doing its chemical job right up until people stopped taking it.

A Worked Example: What the Numbers Mean per 1,000 People

HCPLive reported these two-year event rates from the paper. Here they are, scaled to a group of 1,000 adults like those in the trial:

• Heart attacks: 1.4% versus 0.6%, so about 14 among people who stopped and 6 among people who continued. That is 8 extra.
• Ischemic strokes: 1.9% versus 0.8%, so about 19 versus 8. That is 11 extra.
• Deaths from any cause: 8.2% versus 6.9%, so about 82 versus 69. That is 13 extra.

Now look at the full follow-up figure. If 1,000 people stop, 12.7% means about 127 of them have a heart attack, stroke or death. If 1,000 continue, 9.2% means about 92. The difference is roughly 35 people per 1,000, or about one extra serious event for every 29 who stop over the whole study period.

The researchers' own two-year estimate was gentler: about one extra heart attack, stroke or death for every 40 people who stop. Most people who stopped did fine, and nobody can tell in advance who will not.

Read it this way: stopping is unlikely to harm any one person in two years, but across a large group it adds a small, measurable number of heart attacks and strokes.

The Benefits of Stopping That Did Not Appear

Older adults often want to stop a statin to cut pills or side effects. STREAM measured the side-effect question directly.

Researchers surveyed participants about quality of life, muscle pain, falls and sarcopenia (age-related muscle loss). They found no meaningful differences between the groups on any of them. People who stopped did not report less pain, did not fall less, and did not keep more muscle.

That finding cuts against a common assumption. Statin muscle aches are real for some people, but in this trial, quitting did not make the average participant feel better. Your own case can still differ, which is why a clinician should review it.

If staying strong is your goal, the evidence points elsewhere. Our breakdown of how much strength training links to a longer life covers a habit that does build muscle at any age.

Who These Results Do and Do Not Apply To

People who have already had a heart attack or stroke

STREAM excluded anyone with known cardiovascular disease. If you take a statin because you already had a heart attack, a stroke or another heart or blood vessel problem, this trial says nothing about stopping. Do not use it as a reason to quit.

People deciding whether to start

STREAM studied stopping, not starting. The US Preventive Services Task Force currently says the evidence is insufficient to judge the benefits and harms of starting a statin for prevention at 76 and older. The task force also notes that its statement covers starting a statin, not continuing one you already take.

Sicker versus healthier older adults

STREAM participants carried more illness than those in an earlier French trial of 1,160 adults aged 75 and older, which also found stopping noninferior for death. Three-year mortality was 7.5% in that trial versus 15.1% in STREAM, HCPLive noted. That suggests the new results speak most directly to older adults juggling several conditions and medications.

A note on crossover

About 14% of participants switched groups during the study. The researchers ran extra analyses accounting for this and reported that the conclusions held.

How to Talk to Your Doctor About It

Every major voice on this trial landed in the same place: this is a shared decision, not a rule. Study author Rita Redberg of the University of California, San Francisco said that "one cannot make a general recommendation about stopping statins in this patient population." Presenter Nicolas Rodondi stressed shared decision-making because events rose after people stopped.

One detail deserves attention. The trial's data and safety monitoring board recommended that participants in the stopping group discuss restarting their statin with their care team.

Questions to bring to the appointment

1. Why was I started on this statin, and have I ever had a diagnosis of heart or blood vessel disease?
2. What is my estimated risk of a heart attack or stroke over the next few years, with and without the drug?
3. Are any of my symptoms (aches, weakness, fatigue) plausibly linked to the statin, or to something else?
4. Which of my other medications could be reduced first, if the goal is fewer pills?
5. If I stop, how will we track my cholesterol, and what result would make us restart?

Never stop a prescribed drug on your own because of a news story. Call your clinician sooner if you notice new muscle weakness, dark urine, chest pain, or sudden weakness or numbness on one side of the body. The last two need emergency care, not an appointment.

Cost can also shape the conversation, especially on a fixed income. Many generic statins are inexpensive, but your plan's drug tier still matters. Our guide to checking your Medicare drug costs during open enrollment walks through how to compare what your prescriptions will actually cost next year.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it safe to stop taking statins after 70?

For older adults with no history of heart disease, the STREAM trial found stopping was not meaningfully worse over two years. Over longer follow-up, though, heart attacks, strokes and deaths ran higher in the group that stopped (12.7% versus 9.2%). Safety depends on your own risk, so decide with your clinician.

What happens to cholesterol when you stop a statin?

It rises. In a subgroup of STREAM participants, LDL cholesterol averaged 176 mg/dL a year after stopping, versus about 99 mg/dL in people who kept taking the drug.

Does stopping statins help with muscle pain in older adults?

Not on average in this trial. Researchers found no meaningful difference in muscle pain, falls, muscle loss or quality of life between people who stopped and people who continued. If you have muscle symptoms, ask your doctor to check whether the statin is the cause.

Should I stop my statin if I have had a heart attack?

This trial does not answer that. STREAM excluded people with known heart or blood vessel disease, so its results do not apply to anyone taking a statin after a heart attack or stroke. Do not stop without talking to your cardiologist or primary care doctor.

What is the STREAM statin trial?

STREAM is a randomized trial of 1,880 adults aged 70 and older across Switzerland, France and the Netherlands. It compared stopping versus continuing statins in people taking them to prevent a first heart attack or stroke, and its results were published in November.

The Bottom Line

STREAM gives older adults something they lacked: a real randomized answer about quitting a statin. Stopping did not cause a wave of harm in two years, and it also did not deliver the relief many people expect. Over time, events crept up in the group that stopped.

If you or a parent are over 70 and taking a statin with no history of heart disease, book a medication review and bring the questions above. And if you are weighing other daily pills in the name of healthy aging, our look at which longevity supplements have real evidence applies the same test: what the trials show, not what the label promises.

This article is for general information and does not replace advice from a doctor or pharmacist who knows your medical history.