Amid growing incidents of heart disease, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has put together new guidelines for the use of cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins.

According to the new guidelines, people between the ages of 40 and 75 years should use statins if they have at least one of these risk factors: high cholesterol level, high blood pressure, diabetes.

Smokers and those who have a 10 per cent or higher risk of heart attack or stroke over the next ten years should also use statins.

Dr. Vivek Goswami, a cardiologist of Heart Hospital of Austin, said the new recommendations headed in the right direction as the risks of heart disease are now more personalized than ever before.

Referring to changing low-density lipoprotein (LDL) numbers, he added, “I remember years ago when they had an absolute of an LDL of 160, that was considered high. Years later, they revised that to 130 is too high. Eventually, they got to 100 and even 70. And now with the latest recommendation, we are getting away from targeting specific LDL levels.”

Statins are a special class of drugs that typically used to bring down cholesterol levels in the blood. By trimming cholesterol levels, one can prevent potentially deadly diseases like heart attacks and stroke. Recent studies statins capable of reducing the risk of heart attack, stroke and even death by around 25 to 35 per cent.