Statin Drug - The Billion Dollars Drugs With Many Damaging Side Effects

Statin Drug

Millions of people the world over are taking statin drug 'needlessly'. This is the conclusion from a comprehensive study that suggests they are ineffective in many cases and could be doing more harm than good.

Doctors are cautioned to stop giving patients the statin drug unnecessarily. An authoritative review shows there is little evidence that the cholesterol-lowering drugs protect people who are not already at a high risk of heart disease.

As a result, they are wasting their patients' money by prescribing the drugs to the “worried well” unnecessarily, the researchers warned. In some cases, the side-effects of taking statins could outweigh the benefits, they cautioned.

A number of studies have proven that linked statins to liver problems, acute kidney failure and muscle damage.

What you need to know about statin drugs side effects (animation)

Statins are thought to be taken by one in three people over 40. Up to seven million people in England take them. A large proportion of these are at a low risk of heart problems. They take the drugs to ward off future disease.

A wide-ranging review of previous studies, published today in the journal The Cochrane Library, urges “caution” among GPs who prescribed them. It concluded that there is no “strong evidence” to suggest that statins reduce coronary heart disease deaths among those who have not suffered a heart attack or other cardiovascular event in the past.

Just one life is saved for every 1,000 people who take statins each year, it was reported.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) recommends that doctors prescribe statins to those whose chance of suffering a heart attack, stroke or heart disease over the next 10 years is at least 20 per cent higher than normal.

Previous studies have also indicated statins could increase the chance of liver problems, acute kidney failure and a type of muscle damage in some people, and can increase the chance of haemorrhagic stroke, bleeding in the brain, in stroke patients.

The authors also accused pharmaceutical companies of cherry-picking studies on statins that showed a positive impact for the sake of profit.

Truth About High Cholesterol & Statins Drugs like Lipitor

“We know that industry-sponsored trials are more likely to report favourable results for drugs versus placebos.”

Prof Ebrahim added: “Their aim is to get the maximum number of people on the drugs. It’s an old game.”

Last year, analysis of clinical trial data found that taking high doses of a statin called simvastatin, used by millions of Britons, could lead to fatal kidney failure and muscle damage. The study published today reviewed data from 14 trials involving 34,272 patients, comparing statins against placebos.

Be aware that you do not need statin drug to prevent heart disease!

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