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STAREE

Statins for Reducing Events in the Elderly

SZPresenting authorSophia ZoungasGeneral / Preventive / Lipids · The George Institute for Global Health, Australia

Professor Sophia Zoungas is Executive Director of The George Institute for Global Health Australia and a practising endocrinologist. She previously served as Head of the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine at Monash University and holds clinical appointments at Alfred Health and Monash Health, including the Victorian Heart Hospital. Her research centres on large-scale clinical trials and cohort studies of diabetes, cardiorenal disease and cardiovascular prevention.

Overview

Statins for Reducing Events in the Elderly

Discussion

Expert reaction lands here the moment STAREE reports.

Expert takes

STAREE (Statin Therapy for Reducing Events in the Elderly) is a large Australian randomized, placebo-controlled trial aiming to enroll ~10,000 healthy adults aged 70+ to determine whether daily statin therapy prolongs disability-free survival, prevents cardiovascular events, dementia, and maintains independence. Results are not yet available; the trial is still in progress. Most available quotes come from the recruitment phase and from researchers discussing related ASPREE observational analyses that underscore the need for STAREE's randomized data. There is no meaningful controversy yet, as this is a pre-results trial.

Sophia Zoungas

Professor, School of Public Health, Monash University

“Overall the balance of risks and benefits remains unclear in older people. Almost all of the research into statins and health has been done in younger people. While recommendations are for people up to 75 to take statins, there is no evidence that the these drugs are beneficial, or indeed harmful, in the older age group.”

Monash University

Mark Nelson

ASPREE Chief Investigator, general practitioner, University of Tasmania

“GPs have a dilemma. As their patient gets older their risk of heart and stroke gets higher. Should they give them medications such as statins to protect them even if they have no symptoms of disease? There is a paucity of clinical trials in the elderly to indicate what is the best thing to do.”

University of Tasmania

Mark Nelson

ASPREE Chief Investigator, general practitioner, University of Tasmania

“Randomised controlled trials designed to investigate the neurocognitive effect of statin in an exclusive older population, such as the STAREE trial, will provide the definitive answer.”

University of Tasmania

Zhen Zhou

Research fellow, University of Tasmania

“The Australian STAREE study led by Monash University, the world's largest primary prevention trial of statins in the elderly, should inform clinicians on whether giving daily doses of a statin to healthy elderly Australians will help them live longer and healthier.”

University of Tasmania

Key Points

Results pending.

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Sophia Zoungas (Thu,) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a8fbb6217152b56e6b64813 https://doi.org/10.synapse/conference/esc-2026/staree

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