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Senior Citizen Health & Medicine
Senior Citizens Stunned by Doubts About Statin's
Ability to Fight Heart Disease
Major publications raising questions about Americas
most prescribed drugs
 Jan.
29, 2008 - Statins, the pills millions of senior citizen depend on to
protect them from heart attacks, is now under attack by some who are
questioning this cholesterol-lowering miracle drugs ability to prevent
heart disease. Two major newspapers have reports today, according to
KaiserNetwork.org, and CBS with BusinessWeek raised questions in a
report on January 17.
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The story that raised the doubts...
Zetia in Vytorin Does Not Stop Plaque Buildup;
Better Off with Just Simivastatin
Major setback for combination drug that does lower
LDL but
Jan. 15, 2008 The bottom line for
cholesterol-fighting senior citizens is that Zetia does not work in
reducing your heart disease risk. It
does not reduce your risk of clogged arteries as a part of Vytorin,
either. You are better off with a
generic statin. That is the message derived from a new release yesterday
by the manufacturers explaining the results of resent testing.
Read more...
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Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report
Highlights Scrutiny Over Benefit of Using Statins
Two newspapers on Tuesday reported on scrutiny of
statin use and whether the drugs provide prolonged life or benefits to
patients with high cholesterol. Summaries appear below.
New York Times:
In the "fallout from the headline-making
trial of Vytorin, a combination drug that was found to be no more
effective than a simple statin in reducing arterial plaque, many people
are asking a more fundamental question about statins in general: Do they
prolong your life?" the Times reports.
According to the Times, middle-aged men with
cardiovascular disease were less likely to die if they were taking a
statin compared to those taking a placebo. However, "many statin users
don't have established heart disease; they simply have high
cholesterol," and "there is little evidence, if any, that taking a
statin will make a meaningful difference in how long" people without
heart disease live, the Times reports.
In addition, "critics say there's no evidence that
statin users have a better quality of life than other people," according
to the Times. Mark Ebell, a professor at the
University of Georgia and deputy editor of the journal American
Family Physician, said, "High-risk groups have a lot to gain" from
taking statins, but "patients at low risk benefit very little, if at
all. We end up overtreating a lot of patients" (Parker-Pope, New York
Times, 1/29).
Philadelphia Inquirer:
Cholesterol-lowering drugs have been shown to
"reduce the risk of death, heart attack and other problems in patients
with cardiovascular disease, but it is less clear that they help
patients ... who don't yet have heart disease," the Inquirer reports.
According to the Inquirer, two analyses of
scientific literature have shown that between "200 and 250 people with
high cholesterol but no known cardiovascular disease must take a statin
daily for three to five years to prevent one death."
However, a similar analysis that tracked patients
for an average of more than six-and-a-half years found that if 68
patients with high cholesterol "followed a more careful diet, one death
could be avoided," according to the Inquirer.
The Inquirer reports, "Given the financial stakes
-- cholesterol-lowering drugs generated $21.6 billion from U.S. sales in
2006 -- some wonder whether studies that question the benefits of the
medications ever reach the public" (Goldstein, Philadelphia Inquirer,
1/29).
The Truth About Statins
BusinessWeek and CBS News Examine Whether
Statins Are Over-Prescribed
A new class of prescription drugs burst on to the
scene over the last 15 years called statins designed to lower
cholesterol. They're now taken by more than 18 million Americans. And
statins are a $21 billion industry. But do all the people taking them
really need to be? CBS News teamed up with BusinessWeek magazine to
investigate and produce this report on January 17.
Click to read.
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