With a large percentage of the population on statins, you would think that the number of people being hospitalized for heart failures would be declining if the statins were beneficial.

I just saw this article that is headlined US Heart Failure Hospitalization Rate Almost Tripled Over 3 Decades.

After Metformin in whatever form and whatever dose reactivated my GERD, I dropped aspirin (1/4 tablet) and it seems to have solved the problem. If I had not had my statin doubled, but rather dropped to a very low dose I suspect the reaction may not have happened (Overdosed, book).

I like how they state in the article that half of all heart attacks occur in people with "normal or low cholestoral,'" which of course clearly points out that cholesterol levels have no correlation to heart attack risk or causality in heart attacks.

The issue is that all the information provided to prescribing doctors is dogmatic in its strong belief in the use of statins. Medical doctors virtually never hear or see anything that suggests anything to the contrary. Second, only a small percentage of physicians have the epidemiologic and statistical training to read and thoroughly comprehend the subject matter literature that would allow them to become educated skeptics.



There aren't thousands of drug reps trying to sell aspirin to prescribing doctors like there are for statins. Unfortunate, but true...but I'm assuming that was a rhetorical question on your part Liz.

--Melissa

Unless they get stuck with me as a patient! I'm known to be somewhat outspoken around doctors, not to mention stubborn!

Oh man it's so good to see I'm not the only one. I already have one doctor who won't speak to me (which is fine.. he was a jerk anyway and I had been looking to replace him since the first second I stepped in his office) and a gynecologist who stiffens up when I come into the office.

My BF was going to recommend his dentist to me, but before he makes up his mind he wants me to promise I won't yell at the guy. I told him I couldn't make that promise.

Dentist don't peddle over-hyped uneffective and potential dangerous drugs. At most they will exhort you to floss.

So there should be no reason to yell at him. If you do, then maybe you're the problem :P

Cholesterol is not by itself a disease nor is it a predictor for disease. Statins therefore can't be considered beneficial. Except perhaps that they make a lot of money for a lot of people.

Perhaps your dentists aren't as much of fluoride pushers as mine have been

All I can say is, thank God for the NHS. The prescribing budgets are so tight here, I can't imagine the UK ever pushing for statins to be prescribed to all healthy adults in case a few of them benefit at some point.