Q. I work in the pharmaceutical industry and find your articles on statin side effects scare people unnecessarily. You fail to mention the benefits of lowering cholesterol. Patient stories do not qualify as evidence.
A. Your perspective is echoed by a recent analysis in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology (online, March 12, 2014). The authors analyzed data from randomized controlled trials comparing cholesterol-lowering statin treatment to placebo. They concluded: “Only a small minority of symptoms reported on statins are genuinely due to the statins: almost all would occur just as frequently on placebo.”
People who have had a heart attack reduce their risk of premature death by taking statins. For healthy people whose only risk factor is elevated cholesterol, taking a statin does not seem to offer a noticeable survival advantage.
A different analysis of clinical trial data concluded: “statin therapy prevents one serious cardiovascular event per 140 low risk people…treated for five years. Statin therapy in low risk people does not reduce all cause mortality or serious illness and has about an 18 percent risk of causing side effects that range from minor and reversible to serious and irreversible” (BMJ, Oct. 22, 2013).
These authors state that muscle pain and weakness in statin users is not imaginary; it appears to be far more common than clinical trial data suggest. Clearly, experts do not agree about the benefits and risks of statins.
If you would like to consider some ways to lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart attacks without statins, you may wish to read our book, Best Choices From The People’s Pharmacy, available in libraries and at www.PeoplesPharmacy.com.
