Statin decision · BRAN card
For anyone weighing a statin — for themselves, or helping someone they love think it through.
A statin is a daily tablet that lowers cholesterol to reduce the chance of a heart attack or stroke. How much it helps depends almost entirely on one thing: whether you've already had heart disease, or not. The benefit is much bigger — and includes living longer — for people who already have. For people who haven't, the benefit is real but smaller. This page sorts you into the right group, hands you the honest absolute numbers for it, and gives you the four questions to bring to your GP — so you can walk in to decide, not just nod.
It isn't a calculator that says "yes take it" or "no don't" — that's your call, and your GP's, together. It never works out your personal heart-risk score, names a specific medicine, or tells you what to do.