Any actual medical studies on statins?

[Kisal]

I'd like to print one out for my doctor. I saw her on Monday, and she was "upset" that I stopped taking my Zocor in January. She gave me the usual propaganda to read. I printed the article from the JMAC that NorthPeace linked to in the thread below, but I'd like something from the JAMA or another respected peer-reviewed Journal if possible, even if only a synopsis. I don't want to bury her in reading, or she might not read any of what I send her.

TIA! :)

[322432]

If she were worth the funds you're paying her, she find and read these studies herself. There are many out there, and many more that were never published because of the negative results and their strong association with cancer. I have read many, but know of none that were not funded by the drug companies in order to sell drugs. I just read recently, that our beloved Gov. is even now questioning the effectiveness of statins. It sounds to me like she needs brain pills more than you need statins. Just remember, she works for you. Good for you that you stopped.

[Wifezilla]

I would check www.proteinpower.com. Mike Eades' blog has a lot of articles about how useless (and potentially dangerous) statins are.

[ElleH]

The only actual "study" I know of is the ENHANCE study (I think it was called), but that was specifically studying combination drugs like Zetia and Vytorin. I believe there's a link to it at Dr Mike's blog.

[dickjones]

There is no relation between statin use and decline in thinking ability. you can ckeck out at
http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=86514

[Nancy LC]

I'd check out the articles at http://thincs.org

There are certain to be lots of references to studies.

[Korban]

The most "popular" statin, Lipitor, has a Number Needed to Treat (NNT) of 100 (from Pfizer's data). Some other statins have an NNT of 250...

NNT says that for every 100 people that take the drug, one person will be spared a heart attack or stroke. The other 99 will just pay the money and put up with the side effects, significant side effects for many people. However, not to be dismayed by this number Pfizer reports that a 33% reduction in heart attack and stroke occur by using Lipitor vs Placebo. If you follow the asterisk to the fine print - the 33% reduction was from their study that showed for every three people that had a heart attack or stroke on placebo, only two had a heart attack on Lipitor... thus 33% lower ;)

On the plus side, it does lower cholesterol... heh

See Medicines Dirty Little Secret (http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/05/08/medicine-s-dirty-little-secret.aspx?source=nl)

/smile

[Nancy LC]

Oh right, there was a series of articles in BusinessWeek about that, korban.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_04/b4068057096279.htm
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_04/b4068052092994.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index_top+story
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/01/17/eveningnews/main3725545.shtml

When they reference studies they'll give a doctors name or study name, then you can go to Pubmed and look it up.

[CindySue48]

There is no relation between statin use and decline in thinking ability. you can ckeck out at
http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=86514
As one who had not only memory and word find problems, but also transient global amnesia (TGA), I disagree. Check out Dr Graveline's site for more info. http://www.spacedoc.net/lipitor.htm

[Rachel1]

Kisal, James Wright of the University of British Columbia argues that statins are beneficial only to men who already have heart disease and are not beneficial to any women. I can't remember where he published, but it was a reputable journal. The controversy is ongoing. You can Google him for lots of studies and discussion.

Rachel

[NorthPeace]

James Wright's website is at http://ti.ubc.ca. Lots of cool stuff - podcasts, videos and newsletters. His studies are somewhere on this website if I remember correctly.

BTW if you are Canadian, please sign the petition for Canada to join the Cochrane library: http://nlccl.epetitions.net/.

[amandawald]

I'd like to print one out for my doctor. I saw her on Monday, and she was "upset" that I stopped taking my Zocor in January. She gave me the usual propaganda to read. I printed the article from the JMAC that NorthPeace linked to in the thread below, but I'd like something from the JAMA or another respected peer-reviewed Journal if possible, even if only a synopsis. I don't want to bury her in reading, or she might not read any of what I send her.

TIA! :)

See the thread I posted today! There are three studies cited. I will post the link to you in another answer.

amanda

[amandawald]

Here's the link.

http://www.prudentpressagency.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=5001

amanda

[Enomarb]

http://www.whp-apsf.ca/pdf/statinsEvidenceCaution.pd

This is really good too: Evidence for Caution-Women and Statin Use, 2007