Statin-fortified drinking water? This was proposed on the 1st August 2004
By Michelle Roberts
BBC News Online health staff
Statins are now available to buy in pharmacies
This week, cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins have become available to buy at UK pharmacies.
Doctors have known for a long time that statins reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease - the biggest cause of death in the UK.
Studies show they can cut the risk of a heart attack and stroke by a third.
Statins are given to patients who are known to be at high risk of heart disease, such as those with inherited high cholesterol or people who have already had a heart attack.
This is called secondary prevention.
Increasingly, doctors are suggesting statins should be given to people with risk factors but no obvious disease, which is called primary prevention. This is to prevent disease occurring in the first place.
But is the threat of cardiovascular disease so great that statins may as well be added to the water supply?
This was the debate held recently by doctors at the annual meeting of Heart UK - a patient and science charity for cholesterol.
Mass treatment
Dr John Reckless, chairman of Heart UK and a consultant endocrinologist at Bath University, put forward the case.
"The whole point of the debate is to bring out the fact that we are under-treating and the fact that a lot more people could benefit....
8th Sept 2015
By BEN SPENCER MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT FOR THE DAILY MAIL
Fewer than one in every 200 healthy patients who take statins actually benefit, doctors have warned.
Reigniting the debate over the cholesterol-busting drugs, the experts warn that too many patients are given statins without proper information about their drawbacks.
They say people should stop using them if they are suffering side effects - and call for patients to have a greater choice over taking the pills in the first place.
People should be advised to take up more exercise and improve their diet before they are directed towards statins, the experts say.
Their editorial, published last night in the Prescriber medical journal, points to industry-sponsored studies which found that only 0.5 per cent of healthy people avoided a heart attack or stroke by taking statins for five years.
While accepting that those with a history of heart disease can benefit from statins, they say that a tiny minority of people who take it as a ‘preventative’ medicine will actually live longer.
The authors - London cardiologist Dr Aseem Malhotra, Canadian pharmacist Professor James McCormack, and US physician Professor David Newman - called for a complete rewrite of British and American guidance.
Their editorial will add fuel to the controversy raging over the use of statins.
Many cardiologists say that prescribing statins to people at risk of heart attack or stroke saves countless lives, reducing cholesterol and preventing deaths.
But others are concerned about the over-prescription of statins, which some say needlessly exposes people to side effects such as muscle pain and diabetes.
Between 8million and 10million Britons take statins, and they are the most widely prescribed drugs in the UK.
BBC News Online health staff
Statins are now available to buy in pharmaciesThis week, cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins have become available to buy at UK pharmacies.
Doctors have known for a long time that statins reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease - the biggest cause of death in the UK.
Studies show they can cut the risk of a heart attack and stroke by a third.
Statins are given to patients who are known to be at high risk of heart disease, such as those with inherited high cholesterol or people who have already had a heart attack.
This is called secondary prevention.
Increasingly, doctors are suggesting statins should be given to people with risk factors but no obvious disease, which is called primary prevention. This is to prevent disease occurring in the first place.
But is the threat of cardiovascular disease so great that statins may as well be added to the water supply?
This was the debate held recently by doctors at the annual meeting of Heart UK - a patient and science charity for cholesterol.
Mass treatment
Dr John Reckless, chairman of Heart UK and a consultant endocrinologist at Bath University, put forward the case.
"The whole point of the debate is to bring out the fact that we are under-treating and the fact that a lot more people could benefit....
8th Sept 2015
Healthy patients using statins are 'more likely to suffer side-effects than gain health benefits'
- Most healthy patients should 'exercise more rather than be given the drug'
- Anyone suffering side-effects should stop using cholesterol-busting drug
- Warning reignites debate over statins which are taken by 10million Britons
By BEN SPENCER MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT FOR THE DAILY MAIL
Fewer than one in every 200 healthy patients who take statins actually benefit, doctors have warned.
Reigniting the debate over the cholesterol-busting drugs, the experts warn that too many patients are given statins without proper information about their drawbacks.
They say people should stop using them if they are suffering side effects - and call for patients to have a greater choice over taking the pills in the first place.
People should be advised to take up more exercise and improve their diet before they are directed towards statins, the experts say.
Their editorial, published last night in the Prescriber medical journal, points to industry-sponsored studies which found that only 0.5 per cent of healthy people avoided a heart attack or stroke by taking statins for five years.
While accepting that those with a history of heart disease can benefit from statins, they say that a tiny minority of people who take it as a ‘preventative’ medicine will actually live longer.
The authors - London cardiologist Dr Aseem Malhotra, Canadian pharmacist Professor James McCormack, and US physician Professor David Newman - called for a complete rewrite of British and American guidance.
Their editorial will add fuel to the controversy raging over the use of statins.
Many cardiologists say that prescribing statins to people at risk of heart attack or stroke saves countless lives, reducing cholesterol and preventing deaths.
But others are concerned about the over-prescription of statins, which some say needlessly exposes people to side effects such as muscle pain and diabetes.
Between 8million and 10million Britons take statins, and they are the most widely prescribed drugs in the UK.
posted by Bill at
7:18 PM
1 Comments:
Probably wont need doctors in the future as all ills will be treated via the water supply...
By
rcannard, at 09 September, 2015
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