4 ms·
My dad would disagree--he's 84, was on statins for years and they did terrible things to his body. I'm sure the drugs kept him alive, but the side effects, as
by lisbbb 11mo ago
My dad would disagree--he's 84, was on statins for years and they did terrible things to his body. I'm sure the drugs kept him alive, but the side effects, as he describes them, particularly to his legs and kidneys, were pretty severe. He only got better when he stopped taking them.
- Buttons840 11mo agoI believe statins reduce risk by about 30%, so there's a roughly 30% chance the statins have done good things for your dad. (I think that's what the stats mean, right? I'm open to correction on this. I do believe the statin studies, I'm not a science denier. I think what I've said matches the science, as far as I understand.)
- AstroBen 11mo agoThe risk reduction is relative risk not absolute
- Buttons840 11mo agoYou're right. The absolute risk reduction would be more appropriate here.
- pstuart 11mo agoObviously we all differ in how we respond to medications -- apparently it's 10% - 15% that have issues with statins. I think a pragmatic approach would be to try them if warranted by testing and be prepared to stop or change them if it has issues. We're learning more and more about the mechanisms of cholesterol and there's a variety of medications out there: https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/cholesterol/prevention-and-treatment-of-high-cholesterol-hyperlipidemia/cholesterol-medications https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/cholesterol/preventio... And that doesn't address the role that fiber plays in managing it (and the virtues of fiber for health in general that are coming to light at a rapid clip)