Statins?

[Jolt]

People who actually have heart disease DO benefit from statins. There's no disputing that fact. So Crankin's DH is the perfect example of someone who should be on them.

A healthy person who has no signs of heart disease and whose only reason for taking statins is "numbers" is not going to benefit, as studies have shown repeatedly.

If someone comes in with heart palpitations, is the doctor immediately going to burn out her AV node and hook her up with a pacemaker? Or is the doctor going to look at her lifestyle and tell her to stop drinking her customary 3 pots of coffee a day? If she has a malfunctioning AV node, surgery and an implanted pacemaker would be appropriate. If someone has heart disease, statins are appropriate.

But just as the numbers of someone's heart rate don't tell the whole story, nor do the numbers of someone's cholesterol. We are told over and over again to treat the patient, not the test result. IMHO statins are over-prescribed because doctors know their patients aren't going to change their lifestyle and they are afraid of being sued when the patient gets ill if they haven't done SOMETHING to treat the "problem."

Irresponsible patients and terrified doctors in a profit-driven system are a bad combination.

I would tend to agree with this. For people who already have heart disease, or who have a genetic problem with very high cholesterol levels, statins are helpful. For others, I would really prefer to see lifestyle changes tried first...but unfortunately too many patients aren't willing to cut down on the junk food, eat more fruits, veggies, whole grains, healthy fats and fish, exercise more, and stop smoking. Instead they would rather look for the "quick fix" and take a pill, even though that pill has side effects as do all medications whereas eating better and exercising will only have positive effects--not only on cardiovascular health but on other aspects of health as well. You're also right about the "cover your butt" aspect playing into it in some cases.