6th March 2005
I don't think there's any question that these drugs are being recklessly prescribed by far too many doctors nowadays. They should only be prescribed to a select group of high risk patients, and not just anyone.
The claims being made for these drugs list the incidence of side effects as being somewhere in the 2% range. I have always found this very hard to believe. I think it's much higher than that. In fact, Joel M. Kauffman, Ph.D, wrote the following in his paper "Statin Drugs-A Critical Review of the Risk/Benefit Clinical Research":
"Besides cancer, the other side effects of statins listed were incomplete, and should have included constipation, myalgia, myopathy, polyneuropathy, liver and kidney damage, congestive heart failure and amnesia. Side effects are usually said to affect 2-6% of patients. In fact, a recent meta-analysis noted side effects in 20% of patients above the placebo rate (65% vs. 45%), and no change whatever in the all-cause death rate for altorvastatin. The PROSPER trial on pravastatin showed no change in the all-cause death rate, and increased cancer and stroke rates. Statins are commonly used at a dose to lower TC to <160mg/dL, a level noted in the report of a NHLBI conference to be associated with higher cancer rates."
The claims being made for these drugs list the incidence of side effects as being somewhere in the 2% range. I have always found this very hard to believe. I think it's much higher than that. In fact, Joel M. Kauffman, Ph.D, wrote the following in his paper "Statin Drugs-A Critical Review of the Risk/Benefit Clinical Research":
"Besides cancer, the other side effects of statins listed were incomplete, and should have included constipation, myalgia, myopathy, polyneuropathy, liver and kidney damage, congestive heart failure and amnesia. Side effects are usually said to affect 2-6% of patients. In fact, a recent meta-analysis noted side effects in 20% of patients above the placebo rate (65% vs. 45%), and no change whatever in the all-cause death rate for altorvastatin. The PROSPER trial on pravastatin showed no change in the all-cause death rate, and increased cancer and stroke rates. Statins are commonly used at a dose to lower TC to <160mg/dL, a level noted in the report of a NHLBI conference to be associated with higher cancer rates."