4 ms·

Statins are quite safe and have decades of postmarketing data demonstrating this. This is not the class of drugs that deserves scary language. If you have a pa

Statins are quite safe and have decades of postmarketing data demonstrating this. This is not the class of drugs that deserves scary language. If you have a particular concern about statins, you should state it precisely.

ams6110 13y ago
Liver damage, diabetes, memory loss, muscle problems.... http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/statin-side-effects/MY00205 http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/statin-side-effects/MY00205 Clearly the medical community has decided that the benefits outweigh the risks for most people, i.e. lower cholesterol. However while statins are shown to lower blood cholesterol, benefits in terms of reduced heart disease are not necessarily clear, especially in people with no other history of heart disease. A recent study found that "Statin use is associated with an increased prevalence and extent of coronary plaques" http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22981406 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22981406 There is even disagreement that cholesterol levels alone are really predictive of heart disease: http://www.minnpost.com/second-opinion/2012/05/latest-thinking-controversial-statins-cholesterol-and-heart-disease-risk http://www.minnpost.com/second-opinion/2012/05/latest-thinki... No silver bullets....
- carbocation 13y ago
  > However while statins are shown to lower blood cholesterol, benefits in terms of reduced heart disease are not necessarily clear, especially in people with no other history of heart disease. That's simply not a balanced summary of the literature. On balance, statins reduce both secondary events (heart attacks after your first one) and primary events (first-ever heart attacks). Even conservative groups such as Cochrane agree that, based on the scientific literature, statins are both efficacious and cost-effective for primary prevention [1]. Also, trying to throw away the cholesterol/heart-disease hypothesis is sort of like trying to throw away evolution. If you're right, that's Nobel worthy; but you're not right. > A recent study found that "Statin use is associated with an increased prevalence and extent of coronary plaques" That's not clear from the article you've cited, despite quoting a part of the abstract. You have left off an important qualifier that ends the sentence. Here is that full sentence, emphasis mine: "Statin use is associated with an increased prevalence and extent of coronary plaques possessing calcium." The abstract does not state that statin use is associated with an increased prevalence and extent of coronary plaques overall. (I don't have access to the rest of that article from my hotel room, so if the article itself does state so, please feel free to quote it in reply.) Also, this appears to be, effectively, a case/control study. The studies supporting statins are randomized, controlled trials -- the strongest form of evidence. Case/control studies suggest follow-ups, but are by no means equivalent to studies of highest-grade evidence. 1 = http://summaries.cochrane.org/CD004816/statins-for-the-primary-prevention-of-cardiovascular-disease http://summaries.cochrane.org/CD004816/statins-for-the-prima...

ams6110 13y ago

Liver damage, diabetes, memory loss, muscle problems.... http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/statin-side-effects/MY00205 http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/statin-side-effects/MY00205 Clearly the medical community has decided that the benefits outweigh the risks for most people, i.e. lower cholesterol. However while statins are shown to lower blood cholesterol, benefits in terms of reduced heart disease are not necessarily clear, especially in people with no other history of heart disease. A recent study found that "Statin use is associated with an increased prevalence and extent of coronary plaques" http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22981406 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22981406 There is even disagreement that cholesterol levels alone are really predictive of heart disease: http://www.minnpost.com/second-opinion/2012/05/latest-thinking-controversial-statins-cholesterol-and-heart-disease-risk http://www.minnpost.com/second-opinion/2012/05/latest-thinki... No silver bullets....

carbocation 13y ago
> However while statins are shown to lower blood cholesterol, benefits in terms of reduced heart disease are not necessarily clear, especially in people with no other history of heart disease. That's simply not a balanced summary of the literature. On balance, statins reduce both secondary events (heart attacks after your first one) and primary events (first-ever heart attacks). Even conservative groups such as Cochrane agree that, based on the scientific literature, statins are both efficacious and cost-effective for primary prevention [1]. Also, trying to throw away the cholesterol/heart-disease hypothesis is sort of like trying to throw away evolution. If you're right, that's Nobel worthy; but you're not right. > A recent study found that "Statin use is associated with an increased prevalence and extent of coronary plaques" That's not clear from the article you've cited, despite quoting a part of the abstract. You have left off an important qualifier that ends the sentence. Here is that full sentence, emphasis mine: "Statin use is associated with an increased prevalence and extent of coronary plaques possessing calcium." The abstract does not state that statin use is associated with an increased prevalence and extent of coronary plaques overall. (I don't have access to the rest of that article from my hotel room, so if the article itself does state so, please feel free to quote it in reply.) Also, this appears to be, effectively, a case/control study. The studies supporting statins are randomized, controlled trials -- the strongest form of evidence. Case/control studies suggest follow-ups, but are by no means equivalent to studies of highest-grade evidence. 1 = http://summaries.cochrane.org/CD004816/statins-for-the-primary-prevention-of-cardiovascular-disease http://summaries.cochrane.org/CD004816/statins-for-the-prima...