Don't Increase Use of Anti-cholesterol Statin Drugs, Experts Warn

Ministers and health regulators were urged by academics and senior doctors to stop plans to extend the use of anti-cholesterol drug statin in a low risk population.

Royal College of Physicians president Sir Richard Thompson was among signatories of a letter sent to Westminster and regulator The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), which warns against the medicalisation of fit people.

Statins - The New Wonder Drug
Statins are new wonder drugs that are proving to be efficacious, not merely in relieving symptoms but also offering several health benefits.

NICE published draft guidance in February that suggested up to five million people could benefit from taking the drugs, in addition to the seven million that already do.

But Wednesday's letter claimed that the report's findings were too dependent on industry-sponsored trials that "grossly underestimate adverse effects".

"The benefits in a low-risk population do not justify putting approximately five million more people on drugs that will then have to be taken lifelong," it added.

High Doses of Statins Better for Regression of Heart Disease
Intensive statin treatment led to coronary artery disease regression with few adverse events.High doses of rosuvastatin and atorvastatin reduced the amount of coronary artery plaques.

Proponents argue that the drug reduces the risk of heart attack and stroke by targeting cholesterol in the blood stream.

Source-AFP

Do Statins Increase The Risk Of Incident Diabetes?
Statin therapy is associated with a slightly increased risk of development of diabetes. The benefit of statins for reduction of cardiovascular events is much high, and this outweighs the risk.

Statins Taken For Reducing Cholesterol Found To Reduce Death Rate Associated With Heart Attack As Well
For most of history, the human heart has been regarded as a forbidden organ too delicate to tamper with. It might have remained so, were it not for World War II.