Posted on 02/29/2012 11:44:07 AM PST by neverdem
Federal health officials on Tuesday added new safety alerts to the prescribing information for statins, the cholesterol-reducing medications that are among the most widely prescribed drugs in the world, citing rare risks of memory loss, diabetes and muscle pain.
It is the first time that the Food and Drug Administration has officially linked statin use with cognitive problems like forgetfulness and confusion, although some patients have reported such problems for years. Among the drugs affected are huge sellers like Lipitor, Zocor, Crestor and Vytorin.
But federal officials and some medical experts said the new alerts should not scare people away from statins. “The value of statins in preventing heart disease has been clearly established,” said Dr. Amy G. Egan, deputy director for safety in the F.D.A.’s division of metabolism and endocrinology products. “Their benefit is indisputable, but they need to be taken with care and knowledge of their side effects.”
Diabetes patients and even those who develop diabetes while taking statins should continue taking the medicines, said Dr. Steven Nissen, chairman of cardiovascular medicine at the Cleveland Clinic, who has studied the medicines extensively...
--snip--
Statins seem to increase blood sugar levels in some patients by small amounts, and when millions are treated, that change leads to a diagnosis of diabetes for more people.
The F.D.A. had already placed an alert about diabetes risks on the label of Crestor, a big-selling statin made by AstraZeneca, because a Crestor trial showed an increased risk. The agency decided to extend that alert to all drugs in the class with the exception of Pravachol, an older medicine manufactured by Bristol-Myers Squibb.
A well-controlled trial of Pravachol previously showed that it reduced the risks of developing diabetes by 30 percent, but other trials have found Pravachol less effective in reducing cardiac risks...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Our data suggest that diabetic patients without previous myocardial infarction have as high a risk of myocardial infarction as nondiabetic patients with previous myocardial infarction."1517 articles have cited this article"
Dr. Steven Nissen has been shilling for statins and the drug company’s for a decade.
“The value of statins in preventing heart disease has been clearly established,” said Dr. Amy G. Egan, deputy director for safety in the F.D.A.’s division of metabolism and endocrinology products. “Their benefit is indisputable, but they need to be taken with care and knowledge of their side effects.”
Sounds a LOT like the Global Warming consensus statement doesn’t it.
Those who regularly go to the doctor risk becoming someone’s chemistry experiment.
Took it for 15 years, found out three weeks ago I am highly allergic to statins....AND ace inhibitors!
to be sure, those drugs serve a very good purpose but, they will cause cramping and mess with your head.
If you are over 75 it would be a good idea to consider the risk of falling, which happens frequently to those on ipitor, Zocor, Crestor.
My friend, who just passed away at 101 quit taking Crestor and any other cholesteral reducing drugs as they made her a little touched in the head, caused dizziness and severe pain in her quadriceps.
She had lived with a cholesterol count of 300 for who knows how many years before we placed her on it 5 years ago.
So it was decided “Heck, some people are just plain going to make it” and she dropped the drug.
She died of old age.
She lived well and passed into God’s loving arms well.
“Sounds a LOT like the Global Warming consensus statement doesn’t it.”
While it is “indisputable”, the warmists do not believe it should “be taken with care ...” They want big, promiscuous dollops of warmist remedies without regard to the consequences. Kind of like prescribing 10,000 mg of Simvistatin.
What’s the total count goal for cholesterol now - 95?
They keep dropping the acceptable total cholesterol numbers - pretty soon the percentage of people prescribed statins will be the same amount of people paying income taxes in this country....
The value of Vitamin B3 (nicotinic acid) in preventing heart disease has been clearly established,” said Freeper Matthew Fuller.
Vigorous exercise and eating properly would solve the vast majority of today's ailments(which are mostly related to obesity) but the American people are just too lazy and they want their "bad" food.
Easier to just take pill.
I've actually gotten into screaming matches with her telling her these statin medications are garbage (I'm a biochemist, so I do know a bit about this).
Change your diet and walk 3-4 times a week. It works and you're not filling your body with garbage or lining the pockets of pharma companies that push this sh*t.
That is a fantastic (and sadly accurate) tagline!!!
Memory deficits? YESSS!! The excuse I’ve been looking for! “Hon, I really meant to take out the trash/clean the garage/wash your car/pick up veggies on the way home - it’s this darn lipitor!”
I’m not betting the farm on it...
Not all type II diabetics are the same, but with high blood pressure, central obesity, low HDL cholesterol and high triglycerides you have Syndrome X, also known as metabolic syndrome. Diets restricted in carbohydrate intake have benefited many with metabolic syndrome. If you enter Volek JS, Feinman RD into PubMed's query box, then you'll do an authors' search on two writers who have written at least 10 articles showing the benefit of carbohydrate restriction.
Results..
1..Attorneys preparing ads for class actions.
2..Big Pharmas going in to defense mode.
3..Sale of Red Yeast Rice skyrocket. A safe natural statin.
4.. Incidence of Altzheimers slowly reduces as use of statins declines.
Sounds like the Nazi EPA if you ever get in compliance they lower the number.
Six months after a new hip I ride my bike an hour to an hour and a half almost daily. BP is now 100/70 resting, sometimes lower. I’m thinking about getting off BP medication now that I don’t have level 10 pain!
Good for you - way to go!!!
If you don’t have to put the junk in your body - don’t!
Personally, I don’t take an aspirin unless I’m dying.
Everything you put in your body has a reaction. As you probably know, just because a doctor tells you to take it, doesn’t mean it’s good.
“That is a fantastic (and sadly accurate) tagline!!!”
Thanks. Not sure how many understand what I’m saying there, but sadly, I see it playing out before us.
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