Statins may be doing you less good than you think

A new Harvard Study has brought to light, that cholesterol lowering statins have become one of the world's top "just in case" drugs, "handed out to anyone who may be at risk from developing heart disease".

Apparently that includes pretty much everyone over the age of 50! As a result, the use of statins is increasing at the rate of 12% each year and as it is believed that as most of us are deemed to be at risk by the medical profession, this level will continue to rise. The current quoted usage in the USA, is in the region of 36 million taking statins every day. Interestingly, this level of uptake annually generates 15billion dollars worth of revenue for manufacturers…. (some of which will go to the Government?!)

The Study revealed that merely 8 per cent of people taking a statin actually had diagnosed heart conditions. The remainder were considered "to be at risk". Whilst evidence remains that those with a diagnosed heart condition may benefit from statins; overall, this is a small fraction compared to the number of people currently taking them. The researchers also discovered that the statins didn't reduce the number of deaths, even among those with a known heart condition. They concluded that medical judgements were therefore "subjective and based on very little evidence".

(Source: The Lancet, 2007; 369: 268-9).

Sunday, 28 January 2007