KRAZY KATS

Welcome to Krazy Kats - a friendly informal online community discussing life issues that we care about. Open 24/7 for chat & chill. Come and join us!

    Don't extend statin use, say doctors

    Kitkat
    Kitkat

    Don't extend statin use, say doctors Empty Controversy over Statin articles

    Post by Kitkat Thu 15 May 2014, 07:51

    Articles published by the British Medical Journal suggesting that statins may be harmful are to be investigated.

    The journal will set up an expert panel to decide if it should retract two articles saying the cholesterol-reducing drugs had harmful side-effects

    Errors were not picked up at the time by the journal's editors or the experts who peer-reviewed the work, the BMJ said.

    More reading:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-27420100
    Kitkat
    Kitkat

    Don't extend statin use, say doctors Empty Don't extend statin use, say doctors

    Post by Kitkat Wed 11 Jun 2014, 18:27

    Thank you!  Thank you!  Thank you!


    At long last, it is OFFICIAL ... what I’ve been saying and fighting about for years and years .....


    Scrap plan to extend statin use, say doctors
    By Nick Triggle Health correspondent, BBC News

    Proposals to extend the use of statin drugs should be scrapped, a group of leading doctors and academics says.

    The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published draft guidance in February calling for their use to be extended to save more lives.

    It could mean another five million people in England and Wales using them on top of seven million who already do.

    But in a letter to NICE and ministers, the experts expressed concern about the medicalisation of healthy people.

    The letter said the draft advice was overly reliant on industry-sponsored trials, which "grossly underestimate adverse effects".

    And it added: "The benefits in a low-risk population do not justify putting approximately five million more people on drugs that will then have to be taken lifelong."

    The drugs reduce levels of cholesterol in the blood, lowering the risk of a heart attack or stroke.

    The signatories include Royal College of Physicians president Sir Richard Thompson and former Royal College of GPs chairwoman Clare Gerada as well as cardiologists and leading academics.

    Side-effects

    Prof Simon Capewell, an expert in clinical epidemiology at Liverpool University and one of the signatories, said: "The recent statin recommendations are deeply worrying, effectively condemning all middle-aged adults to lifelong medications of questionable value.

    "They steal huge funds from a cash-strapped NHS and they steal attention from the major responsibilities that government and food industry have to promote healthier life choices for ourselves and our children."

    Currently, doctors are meant to offer statin tablets to the estimated seven million people who have a 20% chance of developing cardiovascular disease over 10 years, based on risk factors such as their age, sex, whether they smoke and what they weigh.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-27784711





    Related stories:

    Statins:  Are they safe?

    Millions more should take statins

    Fears over statins are 'misleading'

      Current date/time is Fri 29 Mar 2024, 08:29