Dr Frankenstein’s monster, carefully constructed from the bones of charnel houses, was endowed with life in the early 19th century by a lightning strike. In the 21st century my own and many tens of thousands of other ageing bodies — and some not so old — are powered by statins, beta-blockers (or should it be the new option, calcium antagonists?) and a daily glass or two of red wine.

The statins are as essential to a life-sustaining cocktail suitable for many, if not most older people, as galvanism was to Mary Shelley’s monstrous student; but fortunately, statins are more readily available. There is no longer any question of hanging around waiting for a suitable lightning strike, or even a surgery appointment, for now the life-preserving statin doesn’t even have to be prescribed by a doctor but can be obtained over the counter at the chemist.

Zocor (simvastatin) was the first statin and was available in the UK from May 1989. The innate conservatism of the medical profession resulted in a comparatively slow start and in the first three years only 300,000 prescriptions were issued. However, its dramatic effect on cholesterol levels, and an obvious reduction in the incidence of heart disease and stroke, ensured that sales of Zocor soon rocketed.

Undeterred by reports of sleeplessness, gut problems, blurred vision, and the fortunately rare but worrying effect on muscle, and even occasional accounts of impotence and loss of palate, I took statins myself and prescribed them for my patients. We were rewarded by tumbling cholesterol levels, and neither I nor any of my patients had significant side-effects.

The British have one of the poorest levels of awareness of their cholesterol levels in the Western world (which may help to account for the UK’s high death rate from heart disease and stroke). By the time they are in their twenties, people should know their cholesterol level and then have it checked regularly. By middle age this means every year or two. A GP will do a full lipid profile; if this test is not available, ask your chemist to test your levels for you. As a last resort buy DIY cholesterol tests.

I first took a statin after a dinner at the Royal Brompton Hospital, a shrine to the study of heart and lung disease, soon after the introduction of Zocor. The speaker, a well-known cardiologist, asked me if anyone in my family — “I mean anyone, even a second cousin” — had suffered heart disease, high blood pressure or other cardiovascular problems. When I said that there was a scatter of grandparents, uncles and cousins in the family tree who had cardiovascular disease he said that anyone with a family history and raised cholesterol as I had should be taking a statin. He implied that without statins, it wouldn’t be so much a case of not seeing my grandchildren, but not even being around to see my hair turn white.

About five years ago I was back at the Royal Brompton having lunch with the same cardiologist but à deux rather than at a formal meeting. I reminded him of our earlier talk about statins. He said that he didn’t take back any of his comments and that research over the intervening years had proved that statins were life-saving. The cardiologist added that he had another word of advice: having reviewed the literature, and from his own experience, it was his opinion that the choice of statin lay between Lipitor (atorvastatin) and Crestor (rosuvastatin). I assured him that I was taking Lipitor. These two statins have the advantage not only of lowering the blood level of cholesterol efficiently but also that of another blood fat, triglyceride, that can be a precursor of cardiovascular disease.

A month or two ago the Medical Research Council team at Oxford University, working with a clinical trials unit at the University of Sydney, published reports in The Lancet assessing the effects of statins. Their extensive surveys showed that statins reduced the death rate from heart attacks and strokes by around a third.

The Oxford and Sydney report also eased any anxieties about a possible adverse association between lowering cholesterol and malignancy. The reverse may be true: it is possible that statins reduce the incidence of some cancers. If cholesterol levels of patients with cancer are low this is a consequence rather than a cause of the malignancy.

Statins are not only for those a few steps away from the charnel house. In some families cholesterol levels are raised from an early age and people need treatment when still young, even in their teens and twenties. One of my sons, although comparatively lean, needed to start statins in his thirties because of a high cholesterol level. It has been well controlled ever since.

Recent work supported by the British Heart Foundation suggests that two thirds of British adults have cholesterol levels that exceed the new recommended limits. Better control could be obtained either by using a different statin, higher doses, or combining the statin with Ezetrol (ezetrimibe). Ezetrol inhibits the production of cholesterol in the liver and its absorption of cholesterol from the diet through the intestine. Crestor, the other best option from Lipitor, is highly potent, very effective and as yet is the only statin never to have been blamed for causing a death. It needs careful monitoring when it is first started.

What about the plan to offer older people a cocktail of drugs including simvastatin in a relatively small dose? When joining the Army we lined up and were issued with uniforms that vaguely fitted — not quite one-size-fits-all but not far off. The clothes were better than going naked, but not very smart. As with uniforms, so with statins: to achieve the best effects statins have to be individually tailored.

Statins don’t work only by lowering cholesterol and triglycerides; they also increase the adherence of the plaque composed of the fatty material to the arterial wall; strengthen the envelope around the plaque so it doesn’t rupture; alter the nature of the fat in the plaque; reduce its size; and, above all, reduce the inflammatory process in the artery. Statins may also benefit the patients with, or in danger of developing, macular degeneration of the eye, Alzheimer ’s, multiple sclerosis and probably other troubles.