Statin benefits questioned in low-risk patients

[Celebration]

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE70I19120110119

People without heart disease should think twice before taking cholesterol-lowering statins, British researchers warn in a report out Wednesday.

............snip.....................

In a review of the medical literature, they found the drugs did appear to slash deaths ever so slightly in patients at low risk of heart disease. But many of the reports they looked at -- all but one funded by drugmakers -- were flawed.

In particular, while all the studies focused on benefits, only half provided information on the side effects of the drugs, said Dr. Shah Ebrahim, whose group's findings are published by the Cochrane Collaboration, an international organization that evaluates medical research.

"There is evidence that the reports cherry-picked the best outcomes for presentation," he added, "which will tend to inflate apparent benefits of treatment."

[grasswire]

1. wot a surprise!

:eyeroll:

I've changed doctors three times because of their insistence on statins.

[snagglepuss]

2. When my wonderful doctor had to retire suddenly she was replaced by an absolutely

dreadful doctor (so bad that within months the clinic replaced her given the number of complaints) Anyway she wanted me on statins. She freaked out that my cholesterol was high and refuse to acknowledge that I've always had low cholesterol and low blood pressure but life events were such that diet and exercise went out the window. I didn't want to start the relationship on a bad note so I relented. My pharmacist asked if the doctor did some sort of test for liver enzymes and was shocked that my doctor hadn't ordered the test before prescribing statins. Well that did for me. I decided not to take them and within 4 months my numbers had dropped to acceptable levels with just diet and exercise.

That said,I have a friend who is a psychiatrist who takes statins to prevent heart disease that runs in his family. Given his dim view of medications, I was shocked he took them but he said he and his doctor both believe that in certain instances statins part of prevention.

[jwirr]

3. Okay - please name some of the drugs we are talking about?

[salvorhardin]

4. Just a few names...

Altocor, Altoprev, Crestor, Lescol, Lipex, Lipitor, Lipostat, Livalo, Torvast, Mevacor, Pitava, Pravachol, Selektine, and Zocor.

[jwirr]

5. Thanks, I am on there - crestor.