Motion: Vascular Disease in Elderly People and the Findings of PROSPER

Vascular Disease in Elderly People and the Findings of PROSPER

Lodged by Brian Fitzpatrick Standard Motion 25 supporters

The motion

That the Parliament welcomes the findings of PROSPER, the prospective study of pravastatin in the elderly at risk, undertaken by a team of leading international scientists from the University of Glasgow, University College Cork, Ireland, and Universiteit Leiden, the Netherlands, and their examination of the hypothesis that pravastatin will reduce heart attack and stroke events in elderly subjects with existing vascular disease or at high risk of developing the condition, presented at the American Heart Association Conference on 18 November 2002 in Chicago, USA; recognises that cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death and disability in elderly people and is also a major contributor to cognitive decline and dementia, both important public health issues for medical care for older people; notes that, while the benefits of statin therapy in reducing cardiovascular events such as heart attack and stroke in middle age are already recognised, its value for citizens in the over–70s age group had never previously been closely scrutinised, and calls on the Scottish Executive, working together with NHS boards, to assess the potential effects of a statin in reducing the risks of coronary heart disease, stroke and their consequences in patients at high risk aged 70 and older, so that current vascular risk management strategies for the middle-aged might be extended to elderly people who currently represent the largest group of undertreated individuals in our communities.

Supporters (25)