A progressive accumulation of atherosclerotic lesions beginning early in life puts elderly persons at a greater absolute risk of cardiovascular disease and coronary events than other segments of the population. HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor (statin) therapy has been shown to be both efficacious and well tolerated in most elderly patients. Among the statins, rosuvastatin has advantages in treating older patients: at low starting doses it is very efficacious compared with other statins, and thus more likely to enable patients to reach their low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol goals without the need for titration or combination therapy. Lack of clinically significant interactions with most drugs metabolised by cytochrome P450 enzyme 3A4 may also make rosuvastatin safer for patients taking multiple medications. Furthermore, rosuvastatin has shown efficacy in treating patients with many of the co-morbidities common in the elderly, including renal impairment and diabetes mellitus. As yet, however, cardiovascular endpoint data for rosuvastatin are not available.