The more you look into the murky world surrounding cholesterol numbers, and the $30 billion a year statin industry, the more you are amazed how a fraud of such gigantic proportions ever got off the ground. One reading of Dr. Malcolm Kendrick’s book The Cholesterol Con is enough to convince any straight thinking person, statins are the very last thing you need if you want to stay healthy. A few years ago after reading the book, my first thoughts were Kendrick is right, swiftly followed by how come he is still allowed to practice as a GP, how come he had not been struck off. The trouble is, especially in the world of medicine, if you go against the mainstream of medical opinion and especially against the monumental power of big pharma you can rapidly become a marked man. Kendrick has not been struck off, could it be many others believe he is right, could it be the MONICA study proved he was right, could it be NICE knows he is right. Here is what NICE say about cholesterol levels in relation to clinical events.
“The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) does not recommend the use of target levels of cholesterol for people taking statins for primary prevention of cardiovascular disease. This is because it found no clinical trials in primary prevention that have evaluated the relative and absolute benefits of achieving different cholesterol targets in relation to clinical events.”
So, no one has ever proved the lowering of cholesterol levels has any improvement in health outcomes. As Kendrick said years ago, statins may change what is on your death certificate, but the date of death will probably be the same. So, if you accept statins have not been proved to improve your health, what about the side effects that almost all drugs bring. Well, there is a massive amount of evidence to support they can bring life changing side effects, and the side effects list is long. Don’t get conned, do not aide and abet the fraud.
The last word to Dr. John Briffa.
“Sometimes when talking to someone about their cholesterol, I ask them to ask me what my cholesterol is. Then I answer: “I have no idea, because I never have it checked.” That’s not because I take an ostrich-like stance on matters that relate to my health – it’s because the great likelihood is that knowing my cholesterol numbers would not lead to me having a different view on my health or have any bearing on how I live my life. End of.”
Eddie
NICE
Dr. Briffa
2 comments:
Statins and Cholesterol, the very worst thing I ever did was to start taking statins, the side effects for me were dreadful I decided to come off them, best decision I ever made, as I have told many.I was so pleased to see this statement here "This is because it found no clinical trials in primary prevention that have evaluated the relative and absolute benefits of achieving different cholesterol targets in relation to clinical events.”
My personal experience with them would be to tell people do not start taking them.It is of course up to the individual but do research the available literature out there. So nice to see other doctors stating this similar view.
Sheila
I have just checked out your links with interest. Has anyone else noticed that the link you gave for NICE actually goes to the NHS Evidence site. I was amazed, why on earth are so many people being put on statins?
Kay
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