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Sunday 8 March 2015

Parkinson's link to statins: Calls to end widespread use of the drug !

Dr Kailash Chand, deputy chairman of the British Medical Association, was speaking following research which found those who take the cholesterol-lowering drugs are more than twice as likely to develop Parkinson’s disease in later life than those who do not.

The findings have alarmed experts who say if applied to the number of Britons deemed eligible for statins it could equate to 150,000 extra patients with Parkinson’s, a central nervous system disorder affecting one in 350 mostly older people.

The work has also fuelled concerns that statins, now recommended for up to half the adult population over 50 by government drug policy adviser the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, may be doing many patients more harm than good.

Doctors used to prescribe the drugs only to those who had a 30 per cent or greater risk of suffering a heart attack within a decade, but this was lowered to 20 per cent in 2005.

A 10-year plan has been introduced to reduce this further and include low-risk patients who have just a 10 per cent chance of a heart attack within a decade.

Nice believes this could save thousands of lives.

Other studies have shown a link between the cholesterol-lowering drugs and potentially disabling side effects including cataracts, diabetes, muscle pains, fatigue and memory loss.

Full story here.

Eddie

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Isn't this crazy?!
And I just saw another news story in the past week saying that people who used statins had 2x the risk of developing diabetes.
How can doctors still recommend this drug?
Do you read Dr Malcom Kendrick's blog? This is his drum he's beating.
Cheers!
Wendy

Anonymous said...

Crazy, Scandalous, Wrong.

I read Dr Kendrick's blog Wendy, and I'm sure we, and others, could make a good guess to what he thinks.

L B

Lowcarb team member said...

Hi Wendy and L B .... many thanks for stopping by and commenting.

Yes, the low carb team members all read and follow Dr Malcolm Kendricks excellent blog.

As Eddie regularly says 'welcome to the crazy world of diabetes'.

Thanks again for your comments

All the best Jan

Launna said...

I have NO idea how a doctor can prescribe these anymore... all I can say is wow... I'm grateful I can't take them...