By Southington Chiropractor – Rob Shaw, DC
Statins, popular cholesterol lowering drugs like Levacor, Zocor, Pravachol, Lipitor, and Crestor, may be overprescribed, according to a new study. The review, conducted by the Cochrane Collaboration, a nonprofit research organization, found statins may be of little benefit in patients who have high cholesterol, but no other risk factor for heart disease.
Statins have been shown to reduce heart attacks, strokes, and deaths in higher risk patients such as those with diabetes or established heart disease. But the drugs are often prescribed for people with less than a 10 percent risk of having a heart attack in the next 10 years. According to a report from The Boston Globe, American Heart Association recommends that low-risk patients with high cholesterol consider taking a statin if lifestyle changes, such as increased exercise or weight loss, don’t work to bring cholesterol levels down. However, statins do carry rare but serious side effects, including the breakdown of muscle tissue, memory loss and a nervous system malfunction called neuropathy. Read more here.
More bad news if you take Cholesterol lowering medication (statins). Turns out, the drug companies have been lying to you again. They have little to no benefit if you’ve never had a heart attack! So when your doc tells you, you need to be on them if you have a high cholesterol count, fire him and find an MD who’s up on the research!
