Pfizer Blows Statin Smoke

• Report this Comment On December 05, 2008, at 10:45 AM, quiact wrote:

  With statins as a class of medications:

  A.E.s are thought to occur more often than they are reported- with high dose statins in particular, yet with the type of statin administered possibly having a correlation with A.E.s as well, according to others..

  Statins used with macrolide antibiotics can cause a higher incidence of myopathy, it is believed.

  Additionally, there is no reduction in mortality or increase in the lifespan if one is on statin therapy, according to many. So caution should perhaps be considered if one chooses to prescribe such a drug for a patient. In other words, the health care provider should be assured that statin therapy for their patients is reasonable and necessary, of course, and possibly after dietary controls have failed.

  Several risk factors should determine if one is placed on statin therapy, and not just one. High cholesterol is the apex of such therapy, yet other risk factors of the patient should be examined and evaluated as well by their health care provider, perhaps- depending on the patient’s cardiovascular history.

  Statins do decrease CV events and CV risks significantly, it is believed. This may be due to the fact that statins increase endothelial function, stabilize coronary plaque, and decrease thrombus formation. For hyperlipidemia patients, maximum reduction in LDL can be determined after about a month of statin therapy, others have said.

  There is evidence to suggest that statins have other benefits besides lowering LDL, such as reducing inflammation (CRP) with patients on statin therapy, those with dementia or Parkinson's disease, and some forms of Cancer and cataracts, according to studies that have been conducted in the past. Yet these other roles for statin therapy have only been minimally explored.

  It appears those statins that are produced specifically by fermentation, such as Zocor and Pravachol, have less incidences of myopathy than the other synthetic statins that exist. This may possibly due to fermented statins are believed to be much more hydrophyllic, which may optimize safety for a patient on a statin medication.

  Yet overall, the existing cholesterol lowering recommendations should be re-evaluated, as they may be over-exaggerated, if one chooses to compare these guidelines with others in the past, there are possibly unreasonable and unnecessary goals to achieve presently.

  Finally, a focus on children and their lifestyles should be amplified so their arteries do not become those of one who is middle-aged, and prevent them from being candidates for statin therapy,

  Dan Abshear

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