HEAL - Harnessing Nature's Wisdom: Gene-Editing Therapy For Cardiovascular Disease

2025-09-12 01:10:00 ET

By Shea Wihlborg

Introduction

Cardiovascular disease is the world’s leading killer and one of the most economically damaging, as its prevalence and costs have been rising. ¹ While statins can reduce the risk of heart attacks by ~29%, ² residual risk and poor long-term adherence—roughly half of patients discontinuing after a year—have left millions of people vulnerable. ³ The most common reasons for discontinuing statin treatment include experiencing or fear of developing side effects like muscle pain, perceived lack of benefit, and treatment fatigue from chronic dosing. ⁴ Not unique to statins, this pattern of poor adherence is widely observed in treatments for other chronic diseases and reflects the broader challenge of sustaining long-term medication use when benefits are not immediately felt and barriers to adherence persist. ⁵ ...

For further details see: