Dr. John Briffa on the ball as usual !

"In the piece in the Daily Mail, Professor Baigent is unequivocal in his support of statins: the benefits clearly outweigh any risks, even in those at relatively low risk of developing cardiovascular disease. The risks of statins, are utterly downplayed.

We’re told by the authors this meta-analysis that treating with statins prevented 11 major vascular events for every 1000 people treated for a period of 5 years. Put another way, 91 people would need to be treated for 5 years to prevent one major vascular event. Or in other words, only about 1 per cent of people treated with statins for 5 years will benefit (and about 99 per cent won’t).

Professor Baigent and his colleagues give us some soothing reassurances about the fact that the benefits of statins vastly outweighing the risks of adverse events such as myopapthy (muscle pain and weakness). They quote of the excess incidence of myopathy as 0.5 cases per 1000 people over 5 years. However, the source they quote is based on diagnosing myopathy once the marker for muscle damage (creatine kinase) is at least ten times the upper limit of normal. Many individuals will have significant pain and weakness with much lower levels of creatine kinase. Statins are also linked with adverse effects on the liver and kidneys, and increase risk of diabetes too. Overall, adverse effects of statins affect about 20 per cent of people who take them."

Check out the full story here.

So, the question to ask yourself is, will I be the one percent person who will benefit, or will I be the one person in five who suffers serious side effects, including type two diabetes. Another question you might ask yourself is, why do the statins pushers have to work so hard 24/7 trying to flog the drugs ?

Eddie