Statins and telomere length: risk assessment and management for coronary heart disease

Cornoary heart disease (CHD) is identified as one of the diseases characterised by biological ageing as one of the important risk factors in several epidemiological studies. Premature biological ageing is distinct from chronological ageing and may predispose the individual to myocardial infarction, atherosclerosis and CHD in particular. The mean telomere length serves as a marker for the biological age at the cellular level, with shorter telomeres defining the increased biological age. Telomere length, therefore, correlates with the risk of CHD and atherosclerosis. Statins serve as the drugs of obvious choice based on their well established efficacy and safety profiles for the treatment of CHD and associated atherosclerosis. A present clinical study states that the treatment with a statin is associated with a reduction in the number of clinical events but only in individuals with increased risk based on their telomere length. This suggests a positive relationship of telomere length with the risk of CHD and, therefore, would help clinicians to categorise the patient populations based on their leucocyte telomere length for treatment with statins.