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Statin News.

  • Thread starter Thread starter catherinecherub
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catherinecherub

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An article on the BBC website today suggests that more people should be put on cholesterol lowering statin drugs to protect them against heart attacks and strokes according to draft guidelines for NHS in England.

The bill for prescribed statins stands at £450 million
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-26132758
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This is an interesting article although not strictly news and I do not know if there have been any follow ups from this to ascertain more information. This was published in August 2012.

Plasma HDL Cholesterol and risk of myocardial infarction. A mendelian randomisation study.

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(12)60312-2/fulltext

This is a summary for those of us who want a simpler explanation.

HDL, Good cholesterol found not to cut heart risk. Doubt cast on the "good" in good cholesterol.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/17/h...esterol-found-not-to-cut-heart-risk.html?_r=0
 
Thanks for the links last was best for me to inderstand. Overall l will stick to no statins as to my mind drugs companys make lots of my tax money l get no benefit..
l read the bbc article and the thought l had was well politicans can get richer they are struggling for money.
 
No matter what happens, you can always find two studies on everything for drugs and diets.
One that proves you're 100% right, and one that proves you're 100% wrong.

Who knows what to choose?
Do the best you can, be happy with it, and make every day a good one!
 
Came across this news piece also but can't remember the source. But....
1. Uk is statin capital of the world.
2. Pushing pills increases GP salary's
My conclusion.... Thanks but no thanks. I'll wait until I'm absolutely sure they are safe.
What if, all of a sudden, the statin supply dried up? Example... People put on omeprazole find it almost impossible to get off the drug.



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Joe Sweatthang said:
Came across this news piece also but can't remember the source. But....
1. Uk is statin capital of the world.
2. Pushing pills increases GP salary's
My conclusion.... Thanks but no thanks. I'll wait until I'm absolutely sure they are safe.
What if, all of a sudden, the statin supply dried up? Example... People put on omeprazole find it almost impossible to get off the drug.



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I haven't seen anything that proves they're unsafe, (but see my previous post), and if they suddenly dry up, I won't be any worse off then if I didn't take them at all.

But, I take them on the balance of probabilities they may do some good, they probably won't do any harm.

(and Australia is the top prescriber, we're in joint second, with Slovakia)
 
douglas99 said:
I haven't seen anything that proves they're unsafe, (but see my previous post), and if they suddenly dry up, I won't be any worse off then if I didn't take them at all.

But, I take them on the balance of probabilities they may do some good, they probably won't do any harm.
Click to expand...
Hey Douglas . My experience with omeprazole has made me very cautious about taking up any more/new drugs. Omeprazole killed myheartburn...great!..so after 35 years, I was able to drink and eat what I wanted. ... Result... Weight gain, type2. Now I am totally dependant on the drug and the long term side effects are not good. I was offered statins just because my cholesterol level was slightly raised. Well... I have to deal to my type2 with a life style change that will also deal to my cholesterol level at the same time. So why should I start on statins? Some of the feedback by some doctors suggest that people should be reducing their risk of heart attacks and strokes through lifestyle changes rather than drugs. I liken this to an example I see in my home town occasionally. A very overweight bloke riding around on a mobility scooter with an oxygen mask in one hand and a fag in the other. I think statins are ok for people with dangerously high cholesterol levels but are otherwise fit and healthy.


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Joe Sweatthang said:
Hey Douglas . My experience with omeprazole has made me very cautious about taking up any more/new drugs. Omeprazole killed myheartburn...great!..so after 35 years, I was able to drink and eat what I wanted. ... Result... Weight gain, type2. Now I am totally dependant on the drug and the long term side effects are not good. I was offered statins just because my cholesterol level was slightly raised. Well... I have to deal to my type2 with a life style change that will also deal to my cholesterol level at the same time. So why should I start on statins? Some of the feedback by some doctors suggest that people should be reducing their risk of heart attacks and strokes through lifestyle changes rather than drugs. I liken this to an example I see in my home town occasionally. A very overweight bloke riding around on a mobility scooter with an oxygen mask in one hand and a fag in the other. I think statins are ok for people with dangerously high cholesterol levels but are otherwise fit and healthy.


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I agree with that entirely.

Make your decision on what suits you and your lifestyle.

I used to live on proton pump inhibitors as well, diabetes made me address my diet, and in fact I don't take them anymore. I'm also reconsidering my sitagliptin, and I will be considering the statins.
But for the moment, there's just not enough facts either way, so like you, I'm going on my own experiences.
 
I take them ,I think I will continue to do so as I reckon im better with them than with out them for the moment until there is a definitive decision one way or another ,its still the general consensus of the medical experts that they are of benefit to some people depending on their circumstances

I used to take stitagliptin but stopped it due to side effects
 
There was another thread statins came up in, and two pages worth a look

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/261021.php
"One trial suggested a 27% increased risk of diabetes with rosuvastatin whereas another suggested patients taking pravastatin benefitted from a 30% lower risk."

http://www.bmj.com/press-releases/2...sed-risk-developing-diabetes-warn-researchers

"In conclusion, the researchers say clinicians should consider risk when contemplating statin therapy. They add that “preferential use of pravastatin, and potentially fluvastatin […] may be warranted” and that pravastatin may even be beneficial to patients at high risk of diabetes.
In an accompanying editorial, doctors from the University of Turku in Finland say that “the overall benefit of statins still clearly outweighs the potential risk of incident diabetes”. They conclude that as statins have been shown to reduce cardiovascular events in patients, they “play an important role in treatment”.

So even statins themselves can be a mixed bag, depending which individual statin it is!
 
douglas99 said:
I haven't seen anything that proves they're unsafe, (but see my previous post), and if they suddenly dry up, I won't be any worse off then if I didn't take them at all.

But, I take them on the balance of probabilities they may do some good, they probably won't do any harm.

(and Australia is the top prescriber, we're in joint second, with Slovakia)
Click to expand...
Yes thats exactly how I see them. I have been taking Simvastatin for nearly nine years as I was in the 20% group more likely to have a stroke or heart attack within 10 years. I have never had any side effects from them so quite happy to continue with them, That is my personal choice and we all have to make our own choices about them
 
If you're in a high risk group then I'd say statins are fine. But from the news this morning, it looks like the nhs want to hand em out like they're candy. That I find rather worrying.


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They put me on statins at diagnosis despite a chol figure in the 3's The resulting muscle pains mean I would be reluctant to go near that poisonous "candy" again!
 
What puzzles me is if they are so bad as some people seem to think they are what is the advantage to the NHS in now saying that many more people should be taking them. Even if they are an inexpensive drug they are still costing the NHS an awful lot of money. I just cannot see them spending that amount of money for something that is no good there would be no valid reason for that. They are endorsed by the British Heart Foundation as they say they prevent many heart attacks and strokes every year but they do also say a healthy life style is recommended along with the statins but at the end of the day statins will always be a controversial subject and everyone has to make their own decisions about them
 
In addition to diabetes I suffer from familial hypercholesterolemia; I have high cholesterol and particular high lower density cholesterol because of a genetic defect I inherited. The only way for me to keep my lipid levels under control is through the use of statins. Prior to using these my total cholesterol was in excess of 13 and my LDL about 11 mmol/l.

So for me statins have been a godsend.

Unfortunately my ten year old son has inherited my defective gene and my wife and I have to make the very difficult decision whether to allow him to also go on statins and if so when.

Pavlos


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Mud Island Dweller said:
l would ask who has shares in the drug companies and backhanders in various guises from them.
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Exactly. Doctors can increase their own earnings by writing out prescriptions. If the food industry can screw up our food chain, then why should anyone think that pharmaceuticals can't screw up our lives even further. I'm a conspiracy theorist at heart :-)



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AnnieC said:
Even if they are an inexpensive drug they are still costing the NHS an awful lot of money.
Click to expand...

Statins are not inexpensive. Most statins are still covered by patent protection and so exclusively manufactured. I have to pay for my own medicine and statins cost me about 100 euro per month.

Pavlos



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pavlosn said:
Unfortunately my ten year old son has inherited my defective gene and my wife and I have to make the very difficult decision whether to allow him to also go on statins and if so when.
Click to expand...
I can relate to that, as my family also has familial hyperlipidaemia. Luckily mine has expressed itself as high HDL ("good" cholesterol), as I can't tolerate statins. In my daughter it has expressed itself in high triglycerides. For the last ten years (she was diagnosed aged 7) I've dithered and worried with a succession of endocrinologists whether to put her on statins. Then she started on the ketogenic diet (a kind of LCHF diet in which she eats 3 grams of fat of every one gram of carbohydrate and protein combined) for epilepsy. Despite medical warnings that this would probably raise her blood lipids, they've actually fallen to normal levels. The endocrinologist has ordered two re-tests, but the result is the same. So having started her on the diet to treat seizures (which it hasn't) she's staying on it to control hyperlipidaemia (which it was supposed to exacerbate).

Not sure whether this helps, but at least I can show solidarity.

Kate
 
It's certainly made the news big style today on the radio. I've always said that when the time comes and my cholesterol starts to creep up then I will seriously consider statins, having had two family members who took them without any problems I would certainly give them a go and see how I got on, I've seen first-hand what devastation heart attacks and strokes can do to peoples lives and wouldn't want to go there myself any-time soon.

AnnieC view above (with Douglas's post highlighted) echo my own thoughts completely.
 
Not sure where I stand on the statin question as I am lucky enough to have naturally good cholesterol levels but one thing I know is that omeprazole is not at all hard to stop taking, I was taking it for over 3 years while on prednisolone to help protect my stomach and just stopped taking them after i weaned myself off the pred, coming off omeprazole was no problem at all.

Joe Sweatthang said:
People put on omeprazole find it almost impossible to get off the drug.
Click to expand...

So what is it that makes think they are hard to come off Joe?
 
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