What Is It With Statin Drugs And Doctors?

[gardengnome42]

I wonder how many MILLIONS are on statins that don't need them, isn't doing them any good and suffering from its side effects?
So the most important question is: What is more important, the health and well being of a patient, or the profit margins of pharmaceutical companies? EVERYONE should think about this next time your doctor 'push' a medication on to you

Doriand I think you've answered your own question - the most important thing is obviously the profit margins of the pharmaceutical companies !!

 

[Nicksu]

I'm off the hook for the next 3 months with my doctor - we had a discussion today because of my thyroid levels (which aren't quite right yet) and as she said if the levels aren't correct, they can affect your cholesterol levels. I did point out that there was also contra indications of statins with myasthenia gravis (which I also have).

 

[NoCrbs4Me]

Something to keep in mind: NICE Guidelines call for statins for all diabetics, regardless of cholesterol levels:

• Patients with type 1 or type 2 diabetes should be offered 20mg atorvastatin for primary prevention of CVD

Higher dosage recommendations depend on your actual cholesterol level and QRISK2 score.

 

[gardengnome42]

My cholesterol is fine but the last time I went to the doctors she told me that it is "standard practice" to offer statins to anyone who has diabetes. I politely declined and she noted it on my records

I'm guessing from this that it is an edict from high up in the NHS

NICE decree that patients with a Qrisk of 10% should be offered statins. It was reduced from 20% in 2014 with no sound reason. Given that your 'risk' increases each birthday you could be put on them for no other reason than your age. My dr offered me one [I wasn't diabetic] so I asked if she would take one given my state of health. She said no, emphatically, but that they had to offer them.
She also entered into my notes that I wouldn't take them ...

 

[Alexandra100]

from the BMJ 1/8/2017:
"NICE guidelines could put 12 million UK adults on statins

Almost all men over 60 and all women over 75 in England qualify for statin prescriptions under guidelines adopted by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in 2014, a new analysis shows.1

Some 11.8 million people in England—37% of adults aged 30 to 84—exceed the threshold set by NICE for prescribing statins, the authors found. They said that most of these patients (9.8 million) are healthy, with no history of cardiovascular events, and are eligible for treatment simply because they exceed the risk threshold set by NICE: a 10% risk of experiencing such an event in the next 10 years.

Even some people with no risk factors at all are part of this group by virtue of their age. Nearly all men exceed the 10% threshold by age 65, and all women do so by age 70, even if they are non-smokers of normal weight"

 

[rab5]

I went to see a doctor for prescriptions for Type 2 Diabetes management. The first question he asked me was what cholesterol lowering drug I was on. I replied that I have stopped taking statin drugs as I suffered bad side effects from it.He WARNED me that I am a heart attack just waiting to happen if I don't start taking statin drugs soon! Clearly annoyed by his attitude, I forced myself to be calm and decided to ask him some questions:
"Would having a low cholesterol number guarantee me a healthy life free of cardiovasculas disease?"
"Do people with low to normal cholesterol levels die from CVD?"
"If Lipitor is the most prescribed drug in the US, then why is CVD the highest cause of death in that country?"
He then told me to leave because "I was uncooperative". I never got to ask my next question, "What incentives do Pfizer offer you for prescribing their drugs?" ... And I never got to get my other prescriptions


PS For anyone who have that attitude that doctors know best and never question their wisdom, look up Thalidomide and read up on how wrong scientists and doctors can be.

well done you!

 

[gardengnome42]

It's the 'Just in case' attitude of NICE that makes me so cross. In fact it has turned me into a total sceptic about any instruction that comes from them.

 

[Alexandra100]

It's the 'Just in case' attitude of NICE that makes me so cross. In fact it has turned me into a total sceptic about any instruction that comes from them.

Yes, but it's a bit like the EU directives - sometimes they can be used to our advantage.

 

[Resurgam]

I had such a bad reaction to statins and Metformin that my husband stopped taking the statin he was on - he is a different person now.
It was like getting back the man I married - and such a relief. My stress levels have dropped so much that it could well have been a contributory factor in my normal readings.

 

[Tabbyjoolz]

Wish I could persuade my husband to stop taking them. He did stop them for a while (around the same time we both started LCHF) and the transformation was miraculous. When his cholesterol rose he went back on to statins and returned to being the man who suffers constant aches and pains and feels generally out of it all the time.