Controversial Statin Drugs Are Making Headlines Again

The cholesterol-lowering statin drugs debate… It’s like watching a tennis match.

On the one side we have the pro-statin mainstreamers who are vehemently promoting these drugs – wanting to put every single person that has a remote (albeit how small) chance of cardiovascular disease on a statin.

And on the other side, we have a growing number of medical experts supported by thousands of patients who know all too well that statin drugs are far from the “wonder drugs” they are made out to be.

Needless to say, we are siding with the latter group.

Statins benefits underestimated

The latest pro-statin news headline proclaims that the benefits of statin drugs are “underestimated and the harms exaggerated”.

According to a review, published in The Lancet and led by Prof Rory Collins from the Clinical Trial Service Unit at the University of Oxford, if more people were to take statin drugs 1,000 “major cardiovascular events” such as heart attacks, strokes and coronary artery bypasses would be prevented in people who have existing vascular disease… and 500 more in people who are at risk due to age or other illnesses such as high blood pressure or diabetes.

I’m not sure how these statins zealots’ argument works because one of the known side effects of statin drugs – even the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recognises it – is the increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Then there’s also the fact that the efficacy of these drugs is based on the results of major studies that in many cases have been exposed as being biased – under-reporting the potential side effects of statin drugs and with numerous researchers and so-called experts involved in these trials appearing to receive Big Pharma incentives for doctoring the results.

…And yet, the pro-statin camp continues to push these drugs at a frightening pace, even going so far as to suggest that these drugs are under-prescribed, whilst ignoring the thousands of patients complaining about serious complications as a result of taking these drugs.

For example:

“I had terrible muscle and hip pains and they affect my sleep my doctor gave me new ones all the time and they all had the same effected so stopped taken them all turned back to normal.” – Helen (recent comment on The Daily Health’s Facebook page)

“I have had every type available and with all of them I had unbearable leg pain, especially at night and when I did sleep I suffered intense nightmares from which I could not wake up. I kept taking them as I thought that my body might get used to them but it didn’t and had to stop them as I was exhausted from sleep deprivation. I have totally changed my diet and now exercise every day, this has brought down my levels though not to the levels required so until a new drug is introduced I just have to have high levels.” – Gail (recent comment on The Daily Health’s Facebook page)

“I too was prescribed statins and was diagnosed with fatty liver disease and type 2 diabetes needless to say I stopped the statins.” – Alison (recent comment on The Daily Health’s Facebook page)

These are just 3 examples of the horror stories we hear about on a daily basis from people who are taking statin drugs… and in the ten years that I have written about this topic I can tell you without a doubt today that there are thousands of people who are suffering with potentially severe side effects associated with these drugs, including muscle pain, fatigue, memory loss, hair loss and type 2 diabetes.

So you have to ask yourself, even if (big ‘if’) statin drugs show some benefit for some patients, why are the side effects affecting many others kept under wraps?

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Disclaimer: Bear in mind the material contained in this article is provided for information purposes only. We are not addressing anyone’s personal situation. Please consult with your own physician before acting on any recommendations contained herein.

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Sources:

Statins benefits underestimated, review says, published online 08.09.16, bbc.co.uk