Guidelines call for [millions] more people to be put on statins

[jmyrlefuller]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-26132758

by Michelle Roberts
February 11, 2014

Millions more people should be put on cholesterol-lowering statin drugs to protect them against heart attacks and strokes, according to draft guidelines for the NHS in England.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) says the scope for offering this treatment should be widened to save more lives.

Currently, doctors are meant to offer statin tablets to the estimated seven million people who have a 20% chance of developing cardiovascular disease over 10 years, based on risk factors such as their age, sex, whether they smoke and what they weigh.

NICE is now suggesting that people with as low as a one in 10 or 10% risk should be offered statins.

Doctors will need to "make a judgement" about the risks to people who have a less than 10% risk of developing cardiovascular disease and advise them appropriately, say the draft guidelines.

The NHS currently spends about £450m a year on statins. If the draft recommendations go ahead, this bill will increase substantially, although the drugs have become significantly cheaper over the years.

It is not clear precisely how many more people would be eligible for statin therapy than now, but NICE says it could be many hundreds of thousands or millions.

[Rapunzel]

I won't take a statin drug.

[Relic]

I avoid doctors. I know it's a risk, but going to a doctor is a risk too.
At some point, if you follow the wrong doctor's advice, you become a human chemistry experiment.

Finding the right doctor is easier said than done, especially in today's world of "in network" doctors.

[sinkspur]

Been on statins for 20 years.  These miracle drugs are demonstrating more and more benefits.

[Rapunzel]

A proper diet is more important and will keep people off prescription drugs.

http://www.webmd.com/cholesterol-management/side-effects-of-statin-drugs

Side Effects of Cholesterol-Lowering Statin Drugs

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Statins are a class of drugs often prescribed by doctors to help lower cholesterol levels in the blood. In doing so, they help prevent heart attacks and stroke. Studies show that, in certain people, statins reduce the risk of heart attack, stroke, and even death from heart disease by about 25% to 35%. Studies have also shown that statins can reduce the chances of recurrent strokes or heart attacks by about 40%.
Cholesterol Numbers Too High?

Take the Big 5 Health Check and Get Personalized Advice
Who Should Take Statin Drugs?

Estimates are that in addition to the people already taking them, another 15 to 20 million people should be taking statin drugs based on their risk factors for heart disease. Your doctor can do a simple blood test to determine the amount of cholesterol in your blood. If you have high levels of LDL ("bad”) cholesterol, you have a greater chance of heart disease.

However, it's good to have high levels of HDL ("good") cholesterol. HDL cholesterol prevents plaque buildup in the arteries by transporting the bad (LDL) cholesterol out of the blood to the liver. There, it is eliminated from the body.
How Do Statin Drugs Work?

Statin drugs work by blocking the action of the liver enzyme that is responsible for producing cholesterol. Too much cholesterol in the blood can cause a buildup of plaque on the walls of the arteries. That buildup can eventually cause the arteries to narrow or harden. Sudden blood clots in these narrowed arteries can cause a heart attack or stroke.

Statins lower LDL cholesterol and total cholesterol levels. At the same time, they lower triglycerides and raise HDL cholesterol levels. Statins may also tend to stabilize plaques in the arteries. That makes heart attacks less likely.

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle while taking a statin can improve the effectiveness of this drug. Be sure to:

    Eat a balanced, heart-healthy diet
    Get regular physical activity
    Limit alcohol intake
    Avoid smoking

Are There Side Effects of Statin Drugs?

Most people who take statin drugs tolerate them very well. But some people experience side effects.

The most common statin side effects include:

    Headache
    Difficulty sleeping
    Flushing of the skin
    Muscle aches, tenderness, or weakness (myalgia)
    Drowsiness
    Dizziness
    Nausea and/or vomiting
    Abdominal cramping and/or pain
    Bloating and/or gas
    Diarrhea
    Constipation
    Rash

Statins also carry warnings that memory loss, mental confusion, high blood sugar, and type 2 diabetes are possible side effects. It's important to remember that statins may also interact with other medications you take.


Which Statin Side Effects Are Serious?

Statins are associated with a few rare, but potentially serious, side effects including:

    Myositis, inflammation of the muscles. The risk of muscle injury increases when certain other medications are taken with statin use. For example, if you take a combination of a statin and a fibrate -- another cholesterol-reducing drug -- the risk of muscle damage increases greatly compared to someone who takes a statin alone.

    Elevated levels of CPK, or creatine kinase, a muscle enzyme that when elevated, can cause muscle pain, mild inflammation, and muscle weakness. This condition, though uncommon, can take a long time to resolve.

    Rhabdomyolysis, extreme muscle inflammation and damage. With this condition, muscles all over the body become painful and weak. The severely damaged muscles release proteins into the blood that collect in the kidneys. The kidneys can become damaged trying to eliminate a large amount of muscle breakdown caused by statin use. This can ultimately lead to kidney failure or even death. Fortunately, rhabdomyolysis is extremely rare. It occurs in less than one in 10,000 people taking statins.

[sinkspur]

A balanced diet is, it goes without saying, an important factor in overall health.

However, in lots of cases (mine is one), high LDL is genetic, and no amount of dieting or exercise worked in reducing it.  Statins are the only thing that worked.

[jmyrlefuller]

A balanced diet is, it goes without saying, an important factor in overall health.

However, in lots of cases (mine is one), high LDL is genetic, and no amount of dieting or exercise worked in reducing it.  Statins are the only thing that worked.

Indeed; heart trouble runs in the Fuller family and I have several older relatives who were put on statins. However, it should be a last resort, not a first line of defense.

[Atomic Cow]

I hate statins.  I've tried nearly all of them and they have made me sick to deathly ill.

The only people who should take them are those who have tried everything else to lower cholesterol and it is still very high.

However, no one should be forced to take them.

[alicewonders]

    Rhabdomyolysis, extreme muscle inflammation and damage. With this condition, muscles all over the body become painful and weak. The severely damaged muscles release proteins into the blood that collect in the kidneys. The kidneys can become damaged trying to eliminate a large amount of muscle breakdown caused by statin use. This can ultimately lead to kidney failure or even death. Fortunately, rhabdomyolysis is extremely rare. It occurs in less than one in 10,000 people taking statins.

My father was taking Simvastatin.  For months before Christmas he complained that walking was extremely painful for him.  I took him to the doctor several times and his doctor said it was his hip joint and each visit, he upped pain prescriptions and sent him home.  His pain kept getting worse and shortly before Christmas he just couldn't get up anymore because it hurt too much.  I thought, well this is it - he can't walk anymore.  I called an ambulance and they took him to the hospital and ran tests.  It turned out that he had Rhabdomyolysis with extremely high levels of CPK and possible kidney damage.  They ran a lot of liquids through him and his doctor took him off of the Simvastatin immediately.  It took about a week, but finally his levels came down and they let him come home.  He hasn't had to take a pain pill since then and walks much better now. 

It wasn't his hip, it was the statins.  They were destroying his muscles. 

[Rapunzel]

A GP put me on them a few years ago.  I started having terrible hip pain and cannot take pain pills because of my kidneys (wouldn't take them if I could) and then one day I was in Michael's and started to literally hurt all over.. had to go to Walmart afterwards and could barely walk through the store, that night I couldn't even lift my 20 pound dog on the bed... stopped taking the statins and told the doctor what happened  - wrote in my chart no more statins....  today I just have a bit of pain in my right hip when I lay on that side in bed. 

Then my kidney doctor said they never should have prescribed statin drugs to me at all - this is why:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/10/09/statin-cholesterol-lowering-drugs.aspx

 For every 10,000 people taking a statin, there were:

    307 extra patients with cataracts
    23 additional patients with acute kidney failure
    74 extra patients with liver dysfunction

Another thing is they also affect cholesterol in the brain -

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14574624

 a lot of people don't realize this and a lot of doctors are insistent on having the total cholesterol level too low.  High LDL isn't good, but if the HDL is really high (which mine is) there is a balance.  Also remember - grass-fed meat is higher in Omega 3 which is the good Omega and can balance out your cholesterol. Corn-fed meat is high in Omega 6- the bad Omega.

 HDL percentage is a far more potent indicator for heart disease risk. Here are the two ratios you should pay attention to:

    HDL/Total Cholesterol Ratio: Should ideally be above 24 percent. If below 10 percent, you have a significantly elevated risk for heart disease.
    Triglyceride/HDL Ratio: Should be below 2.

Additional risk factors for heart disease include:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/10/09/statin-cholesterol-lowering-drugs.aspx

   

Your fasting insulin level: Any meal or snack high in carbohydrates like fructose and refined grains generates a rapid rise in blood glucose and then insulin to compensate for the rise in blood sugar. The insulin released from eating too many carbs promotes fat production and makes it more difficult for your body to shed excess weight, and excess fat, particularly around your belly, is one of the major contributors to heart disease

    Your fasting blood sugar level: Studies have shown that people with a fasting blood sugar level of 100-125 mg/dl had a nearly 300 percent increase higher risk of having coronary heart disease than people with a level below 79 mg/dl

    Your iron level: Iron can be a very potent oxidative stress, so if you have excess iron levels you can damage your blood vessels and increase your risk of heart disease. Ideally, you should monitor your ferritin levels and make sure they are not much above 80 ng/ml. The simplest way to lower them if they are elevated is to donate your blood. If that is not possible you can have a therapeutic phlebotomy and that will effectively eliminate the excess iron from your body