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Statin wars: have we been misled about the evidence? A narrative review

Statins have now cemented their place in cardiovascular medicine. They are effective at lowering cholesterol and therefore perceived to be the most valuable tool in the prevention of heart disease. But the scientific data have not convinced everyone. Proponents have described them as one of ‘the most important advances in medical history and have prevented untold heart attacks and strokes'. Yet other cardiologists say statins ‘serve no purpose in lowering cholesterol to prevent cardiac problems’ and even labelled them ‘unnecessary and toxic’, pointing out the methodological flaws contained within the early statin trials. Now, a chasm has formed between doctors who prescribe…

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 Rethinking Statins: Inside the Fierce Debate Over Cholesterol and Heart Health

Statins lower cholesterol, but do they always protect against heart disease? Weighing the risks, benefits and side effects.

Articles of Interest

'Wonder Drug' Statins May Be Dangerous

With the help persuasive drug companies, it wasn’t long before statins were prescribed as a preventative measure even for people who didn’t show signs of heart problems.

America’s Most Popular Drug Has a Puzzling Side Effect. We Finally Know Why

The reason statins can make your muscles sore or weak was unclear—until scientists accidentally stumbled upon an answer.

Cholesterol Drugs May Raise Risk Of Diabetes A Little

Now there's some more evidence that taking cholesterol-lowering drugs can raise the risk for diabetes. But doctors say the small increase seen doesn't mean people at risk for serious heart trouble should stop taking the medicines.

Controversial New Study Reports Statins Useless

A controversial new study found that high cholesterol does not shorten life span and that statins are essentially a “waste of time,” according to one of the researchers. Previous studies have linked statins with an increased risk of diabetes.

Do Statins Increase the Risk of Diabetes?

These cholesterol-lowering medications have gotten a bad rap. Here’s why.

Do You Really Need That Statin? This Expert Says No

There is no question that many doctors have swallowed the Kool-Aid. Big Pharma has consistently exaggerated the benefits of statins and some physicians used scare tactics so that patients are afraid that if they go off the statins, they will have a heart attack immediately.

Got muscle pain from statins? A cholesterol-lowering alternative might be for you

When the FDA approved bempedoic acid, marketed under the brand name Nexletol, back in 2020, it was clear that the drug helped lower LDL — "bad" cholesterol. The drug was intended for people who can't tolerate statin medications due to muscle pain, which is a side effect reported by up to 29% of people who take statins. What was unknown until now, is whether bempedoic acid also reduced the risk of cardiovascular events. Now, the results of a randomized, controlled trial published in The New England Journal of Medicine point to significant benefit. The study included about 14,000 people, all of whom were statin intolerant.

Playing The Odds With Statins: Heart Disease Or Diabetes?

I hit pay dirt with the Statin Diabetes Safety Task Force 2014 Update, which stated that statins lower the relative risk of heart attack, stroke and death by 25 to 30 percent. They increase diabetes by a relative risk of 10 to 12 percent compared to placebo or usual treatment. So if you are at high risk for diabetes, a statin will get you there faster. Boiled down: one excess case of diabetes in 255 people who took a statin, balanced against 5.4 heart events avoided over an average of 4 years.

Risks Seen in Cholesterol Drug Use in Healthy People

Statins have been credited with saving thousands of lives every year with relatively few side effects, and some medical experts endorse the drug’s broader use. But for healthy people who would take statins largely as prevention — which would be the case for the new category of Crestor patients — other experts suggest the benefits may not outweigh any side effects.

Statin Therapy: Review of Safety and Potential Side Effects

Overall, statin drugs appear to be safe for use in the vast majority of patients. However, patients with multiple medical co-morbidities are at increased risk of adverse effects from long-term statin use.

Statin Toxicity: Mechanistic Insights and Clinical Implications

The major reason for statin discontinuation is because of the development of statin-associated muscle symptoms, but a range of other statin-induced side effects also exist. Although the mechanisms behind these side effects have not been fully elucidated, there is an urgent need to identify those at increased risk of developing side effects as well as provide alternative treatment strategies.

Statins: Is there any need for us to worry?

The supposed risks of taking cholesterol-busting drugs have been under the spotlight, but common fears are unfounded, says epidemiologist Rory Collins.

The big fat debate on cholesterol and statins

This means 97 people have to take pills for 10 years in order that three people benefit. The big problem with statins is not whether they benefit those at very high risk (they do), but the uncritical mass medication of people at low risk, 97% of whom will get no benefit at all. Those who do not benefit are nonetheless exposed to potential side effects, which include an increase in the rate of diabetes. What drives these recommendations for medicating large numbers of people for the benefit of very few?

The Big Problem With Statins That Medicare Patients Need to Know About

The statins did what we thought they would do. They stabilized the scarring process that results in atherosclerosis and lowered the likelihood of more heart problems, and the people who couldn’t take them couldn’t get that benefit. No surprises here — except for one thing: taking a statin didn’t seem to lengthen lifespans.

The Dark Side of Statins

The most common is certainly muscle soreness, ranging from mild to severe, and affecting some 10-15% of statin users. The primary cause of this is likely mitochondrial dysfunction secondary to low CoQ10. Since the heart is also a muscle, statins have also been associated with cardiomyopathy, leading to heart failure. This effect is reversible upon discontinuing the statins and initiating CoQ10 therapy.

The Dark Side of Statins: Plus: The Wonder of Cholesterol

The full range of statin side effects includes cognitive dysfunction, behavioral and emotional disorders, chronic nerve and muscle damage and an ALS-like neuromuscular degenerative process, as major categories of damage.