We were shocked when we saw the recent headlines about a group of UK and Australian researchers who are currently pushing to raise the dose of cholesterol-lowering statin drugs in an attempt to prevent more heart attacks and strokes.

What on earth are these guys thinking?
 
At the current dosage amounts, these drugs are linked to a long list of dangerous side effects, such as muscle weakness and liver damage. Add to that the shocking results of a study recently conducted at Nottingham University, which revealed that the side effects of these drugs are far worse than previously thought.

The researchers found that statin users are much more likely to suffer liver dysfunction, acute kidney failure, cataracts and a kind of muscle damage known as myopathy. For some patients, the risk is eight times higher than for people not taking statins. Overall, the risk of myopathy – which may be irreversible – is six times higher for men on statins and three times higher for women.

This risk is very much dosage dependent. At a low dose, 0.03% patients developed myopathy after taking simvastatin, but when a higher dose of this statin drug was prescribed, this jumped to (0.9%).

So imagine how many more statin-related casualties there would be if doctors routinely prescribed higher doses?

Commenting on the former study, carried out at the universities of Oxford and Sydney, two academics, Professor Bernard Cheung and Professor Karen Lam, from the University of Hong Kong, said that people with a ‘substantial’ heart or stroke risk should have intensive statin treatment. They also add that even those with apparently low LDL cholesterol could benefit.

Let’s not mince our words here – that’s basically the entire population! Can you imagine the profit margins?

Big Pharma must be cracking open the champagne already.

Things get even more worrying when they add: “At the population level, statins are underused, so the urgent priority is to identify people who would benefit most from statin therapy and to lower their LDL cholesterol aggressively, with the more potent statins if necessary.”

Underused? Almost two million people in the UK alone are prescribed cholesterol-lowering statin drugs, and one type is even available over the counter at pharmacies to patients assessed as at ‘moderate’ cardiovascular risk...

It would seem that behind the Big Pharma statin-craze, lies a massive profit-turning monster and definitely not the interests, health and safety of the poor patients.

Until Next Time,

The Cholesterol Truth

Sources:

Statin increase 'will save lives', published online, bbc.co.uk/news/health-11712569

More potent statins 'could save thousands' , published online health.ukplurk.com/2010/11/more-potent-statins-save-thousands.html