Cholesterol lowering drugs - how many people would take these drugs if they knew the truth?

http://fatnews.com/ Hi, this is Larry Hobbs @ FatNews.com. LarryHobbs@fatnews.com

What if you put 250 people in a room and told them they would each pay $1,000 a year for a [cholesterol-lowering] drug they would have to take every day, that many would get diarrhea and muscle pain, and that 249 [of the 250] would have no benefit? And that they could do just as well by exercising? How many would take that [cholesterol-lowering drug]? asks drug industry critic Dr. Jerome R. Hoffman, professor of clinical medicine at the University of California at Los Angeles (ULCA).

Hi, this is Larry Hobbs @ fatnews.com.

This is a quote from the cover story in BusinessWeek from January 17th, 2008, Do Cholesterol Drugs Do Any Good?

"Most people are taking something with no chance of benefit and a risk of harm," says James Wright, MD.

As far as I know niacin, vitamin B3, is the only cholesterol-lowering agent ever shown to reduce the risk of total mortality.

Cholesterol-lowering drugs reduce the risk of dying from a heart attack but increase the risk of dying from cancer suicide and accidental death so that the overall risk of death is not reduced.

Therefore, I would pose the scenario slightly differently than UCLA's Dr. Hoffman.

I wonder how many people would take these drugs if they knew that although they slightly reduce the risk of a heart attack, they increase the risk of cancer, suicide and accidental death so that these drugs provide no benefit?

What if you were told that you were going to die at exactly the same, but it was more likely that you would die of cancer, suicide or accidental death rather than die of a heart attack?

Would you take these drugs?

I wouldnt.

If it were me, I would only take niacin, which I do.

The drug companies made these the best-selling drugs by only telling half the story.

Julian Whitaker, MD has also suggested that the statin drugs used to lower cholesterol may increase the risk of congestive heart failure because they inhibit production of Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10).

Statin drugs include

Lipitor
(atorvastatin)
Zocor
(Simvastatin)
Pravachol
(pravastatin)
Crestor
(rosuvastatin)
Mevacor
(lovastatin)
Lescol (fluvastatin)

If you are a doctor who prescribes these drugs, I would read this article carefully, and look into using niacin instead.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_04/b4068052092994.htm

Dr. James M. Wright
Co-ordinating Editor
Cochrane Hypertension Group
2176 Health Sciences Mall
Vancouver, British Columbia
V6T 1Z3 CANADA
604 822-4270 phone
604 822-0701 fax
jmwright@interchange.ubc.ca

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