Giving patients statins for primary prevention may mean patients live
longer – but only for a matter of weeks, according to a new analysis
described in a hotly debated session at Pulse Live. Macclesfield
GP Dr Malcolm Kendrick said data shows that after five years of
secondary prevention treatment with a statin, the average person just
lives fourteen days longer as a result. But Whitby GP and
Cardiology GPSI Dr Terry McCormack countered that the latest, most
robust evidence shows the benefits of statin treatment in primary
prevention outweigh the risks even among people with the lowest baseline
risk.
The debate ended in a draw between the loyalists and the sceptics, with Dr Kendricks appearing to win a few GPs to his side. Speaking
first in the debate, Dr Kendrick - a long-standing critic of
established cholesterol-lowering practice and author of The Great
Cholesterol Con – described the provocative findings from his as-yet
unpublished analysis of the secondary prevention trial the Heart
Protection Study (HPS).
He told delegates that looking at the data
differently, focusing on life expectancy instead of mortality
reductions, reveals that even the 1.8% of patients who derive benefit
from statin treatment live only four months longer as a result of taking
statins, while the remaining 98.2% do not gain anything. The average
increase in life expectancy is 14 days.
He also argued that
investigators and commentators have vastly overplayed results from
primary prevention trials such as JUPITER, putting a spin on what are
minimal absolute risk reductions in mortality while downplaying
equivocal findings for other outcomes and the adverse events associated
with statins.
‘We know that adverse event reporting is very, very
low. Impotence, cognitive deficits, anger and irritation are all statin
side effects that go unnoticed,’ Dr Kendrick said. The side effects are
inevitable as a result of co-enzyme Q10 reductions, he added.
More on this story here.
1 comment:
Interesting piece this by Dr Kendrick. Read and make your own mind up. This is a 'hotly debated' subject which will have Doctors and patients in good discussion - perhaps.
Paul B
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