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Statins study stopped early after dramatic benefits found

I won't be dashing to my Dr to get a prescription for Crestor.

A New Age Of Statins?
Because the patients in the study had a relatively low risk of heart attack, the absolute benefit of taking Crestor was still very small. There were only 400 heart attacks, strokes or heart surgeries among all 18,000 patients in the study. Overall, 95 patients had to be treated with Crestor for two years to prevent one angioplasty procedure, heart attack or other cardiovascular "event."
.....
Ridker wanted to conduct a big clinical trial to prove CRP's worth for guiding statin therapy. The National Institutes of Health told Ridker that such an expensive study should be funded by industry. But Pfizer (nyse: PFE - news - people ), seller of top-selling statin Lipitor, rejected his plan for such a study. Bayer (nyse: BAY - news - people ) was going to fund it, but then its statin was withdrawn from the market for side effects. The U.S. division of AstraZeneca agreed to fund the study, but it almost stopped over concern about Crestor's side effects. The trial had to be expanded from just the U.S. and Canada to 26 countries to get it done.
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AstraZeneca's Cholesterol Win

After Crestor was approved in 2003, watchdog group Public Citizen argued it should be yanked from the market. The new study isn't perfect for evaluating safety. Patients were tried on the drug before the trial started, meaning those with obvious side effects were screened out, and Crestor was so effective the study was stopped ahead of schedule, limiting the safety data. Still, remaining worries should abate.
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I think this is a bit of an unrealistic claim for any drug, even a miracle drug like statins:

Volunteers taking Crestor were also 20% less likely to die from any cause, a secondary goal of the trial
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Regards, Tubs.
 
I was prescribed Simvastatin when my cholestorol readings were through the roof, but this actually gave me back ache, apparently another possible side effect that was never mentioned. Because of this, my doc took me straight of Simvastatin and replaced it with Rosuvastatin, and no side effects so far (touch wood)
I was advised by my doc that this is "probably the best" statin drug to take - or did he mean the one where he gets the biggest year end bonus for prescribing :oops: ? Did I just say that out loud ?

Maybe I should just drink flora Pro-Active yoghurt type drinky stuff and firebomb the butter/margarine aisle at ASDA to stop me getting tempted huh ?

Methinks I need to look into this a bit more and have a serious chat with my doc.


Jimbo
 
As i read this stuff about statins, I'm seeing that they don't seeem to know how they work, because they seem to reduce the risk of Cardiovascular events in people with no previous known risk factors.
I'm officially on simvastatin( the generic, hence cheap) I take it intermittently. I never had high cholesterol, never above 4 total, but I did have a stroke.
Don't underestimate the effects of even a slight stroke. If you were to meet me, you wouldn't ever guess that I'd had one,( eh Tubs?) but I know that I am much less dextrous and my balance is less good and my left hand doesn't always do what I want and stepping over a style on the left leg is impossible. I can't run, because my left foot "thuds" the ground and there's no spring back. and I haven't dared try to play the piano.I find it hard to hold pitch while singing and I used to be good! I tried my recorders ( yes adults do play them!) and my fingers have forgotten where to go. I'm reckoned to have recovered 100%, but I'm not who I was. I can knit and sew and If I practised everything, I would definitely get some more back, but there aren't enough hours in a day.
 
If you really want to research the pros and cons of statins look at the Bandolier site (an 'independent' group that aims evaluate evidence (or lack of it) from medical research and then put the results in simple bullet point form. There are about 50 reports on statins plus a 30 page essay summarising all the reports.http://www.medicine.ox.ac.uk/bandolier/booth/booths/statin.html
 
Hana,

I'm shocked! I never would have guessed.

I saw a big drop in my LDL after taking statins for three months. Then, my GP, asked me to double my dosage. I have to concentrate on upping my HDLs and reducing my Trigs - hopefully if I can achieve some success in giving up smoking then maybe I'll get there.

On a brighter note I can always turn to The International Network of Cholesterol Skeptics for an alternative view :) I do like the quotes from Popper and Huxley on the home page.

Regards, Tubs.
 
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