Statins and Cholesterol – some thoughts
According to a recent article in The Guardian (7/9/15) it is as beneficial to eat a Mediterranean diet to reduce your risk of a stroke or heart attack as taking statins.
Taking more exercise, stopping smoking and eating healthily can be just as effective as taking cholesterol lowering drugs. Three doctors published this research in the medical journal “Prescriber”.
They think that doctors should tell patients about the risks and benefits of taking statins and the benefits of non – medical interventions such as exercise, a good diet and stopping smoking.The patient should then be able to decide for themselves.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) have recently lowered the threshold for people to take statins to 10% of the population. These are people who are thought likely to suffer a stroke or heart attack in the next ten years. It used to be 20% and it therefore means more people will be offered the statin drug. The British Medical Association and the Royal College of General Practioners are concerned that this could mean that some people are over medicated.
In the paper the authors state that about 80% of cardiovascular disease is caused by modifiable lifestyle factors which include nutrition, physical activity and smoking. Some doctor’s leaders support the authors and say ” For most part middle-aged people wishing to avoid heart disease, a healthy diet offers a far more powerful, sustainable and enjoyable plan that lifelong statin tablets”.
In contrast the paper states that, “only a limited number of people benefit from taking statins”, according to Prof. Simon Capewell vice-president of the UK Faculty of Public Health. These tend to be people who have already suffered a stroke or had a heart problem.
The Mediterranean diet in moderation with as little processed food as possible is considered a cardiovascular intervention which has been tested in randomised trials and has been shown to reduce CVD problems.
Some of the side effects related to statins are that they can cause muscle aches and diabetes.
If you are interested in finding out more then look at an interesting video by Dr. David Diamond Ph. D. He is a neuro-scientist. Dr. Diamond was told that he had a high risk of heart disease. This was a puzzle to him as he thought that he ate healthily and he also exercised regularly. As he couldn’t understand these high results he went to his doctor, who said that he had to start taking statins. Before he did that he decided to do some research. The video is called “How Bad Science and Big Business Created the Obesity Epidemic” and explains what he found out. Bear in mind that the results use different numbers in the U.S.A. to the ones that are used in Great Britain.
https://youtu.be/3vr-c8GeT34
