Statins

I am a natural cynic and always 'follow the money'. Who stands to gain if the whole population over 50 are medicated, possibly needlessly and even dangerously. The drug manufacturers, those well-known philanthropists.
In France, we now have to carry our own breath-tests in our cars, even if we are non-drinkers. They have no legal validity as they are not calibrated.
It turns out that the Minister responsible for the act is involved with one of the only two companies that manufactures them.
The sickest joke was to make Ken Clarke Minister for Health - he is a lobbyist for the tobacco industry.
I look forward to Private Eye using the Freedom of Information Act to find out more.

I am not going to take statins. The last "well woman" health check I was offered, and took of course, was about thirty years ago, and yes, my cholesterol was high. I now keep to a fairly strict good-fats-only-and-not-too-much-of-those diet and keep up a sensible amount of exercise.

I believe statins can make you depressed. I can manage that quite well on my own thank you.

Thank goodness no one can make you swallow anything.

It seems to me that most medicines have some sort of side effect, I have to take 2 which can increase cholestrol but have no choice as they are essential. Fortunately although my cholestrol is high, all the other indicators show I am unlikely to have a heart attack so I don't need to take statins. I think we all have to weigh up the pros and cons for any medication and this is a lot easer now we have the Internet. It is difficult as too much bad publicity can result in people not taking a medication they need as in the MMR scare.

IMO it should be left to individual doctors.

I have taken statins for some years to reduce my cholesterol which was high and is now under control. It does conflict with the antibiotic erythromycin and if that's prescribed, I just stop the statin for a week. It also conflicts with grapefruit juice which I don't like anyway. It does pay to read the leaflet and pay attention to the contra-indications.

Yes. Should be left to GPs. But I believe in making informed decisons about my own health as well.

anno I remember the warning about grapefruit in the leaflet when Mr absent was discharged from hospital following a stroke. I started planning a murder by grapefruit story (really fiction, not Mr absent). However, when I mentioned this to his consultant when accompanying him to a check-up, I was disappointed to learn that even with vast quantities – barrels – of grapefruit juice, death was unlikely to ensue.

I have excellent cholesterol levels so what's the point of me taking statins. It seems to me that this is just a way of increasing the profits of the drugs companies.

whatever they say, I won't resume statins. have been off them for 6 weeks and still feeling exhausted and dreadful aching body - docs are hunting for a diagnosis and looking at lupus, sarcoidosis or polymylegia, but I think its been the statins all along.Think I'd rather pop off with a heart attack! Agree with VQ - and docs get well bribed to prescribe too.

jintzy that sounds very unpleasant, I hope they find a diagnosis soon and can make you well again.

I will never take statins. DH's doctor prescribed them for him because he has high cholesterol levels, always has done, he even has those pale rings around his irises which are indicative of high cholesterol. He has gradually been able to do less and less, gets tired and out of breath very easily and has lost weight, despite eating normally. Yes, he's getting older, but I've noticed a marked decline since he's been on statins, and he actually asked the GP to put him on a lower dose. There are numerous anti-statin US-based websites; they seem more aware of the side-effects there.

I have taken statins for years, it is very easy to blame drugs for any health problems we have but sometimes it is just getting older. Muscle pain and weakness is well documented but if you can tolerate statins I think they are quite good. I watched my mother die of heart disease and did not want to go down the same road.

DH's cholestrol level has gone down significantly since taking statins so they are right for him, just not sure we should all be on them.

DH has taken statins for years. No side effects but then I dont let him read tthe leaflet!!!

I was just reading how cheap they are costing just £1 per month , I don't think there is an awful lot of profit there.. my cholesterol is borderline at the moment , if it were high I see no reason to not try them if I'm offered them. If I had side effects then I'd think again.

I take statins as I have inherited high cholesterol. Basically my Doctor told me I could live on lettuce leaves and water and still have high cholesterol. I would not be in favour of them being handed out to everyone. I need to take them so I do but there must be many people whose cholesterol levels are fine so why give them pills they don't need.

That's hard Barrow and statins for people with this problem are lierally a life saver. I've just had a telling off from my doctor as my cholesterol has jumped to 5.9 after being around 4 for years. I know why and she is quite happy for me to lower it by diet and exercise. Statins would be the last resort for me.

I had tried hard to lower my cholesterol by diet (no cheese) and exercise. After three months it had gone up. Hence the statins.

Statins for both of us with no side effects whatsoever. The prospect of a stroke or heart attack just make it a no-brainer for me. I have Type 2 diabetes and under-active thyroid, and OH kidney damage and heart problems - the alternative is much much worse. We know so many people who refused and died of heart problems far too early. It is a very small price to pay.

I agree that it is often easy to blame the drug for natural ageing. I hate taking drugs but I was advised to do so by somebody I totally trust and I know really loves me.

tanith If everyone over 50 in the entire country – with an ageing population – were taking statins every day, it could be a nice little earner.

I wonder if the medics recommending this have considered another "side effect". People with an unhealthy lifestyle who are more susceptible to heart disease and strokes might think that taking their daily pill is enough to protect them and so make no attempt to lose weight, take exercise, give up smoking etc.

To have everybody over 50 on statins is a daft idea, for sure. But it's important everyone over 50 has their cholesterol assessed + blood pressure, blood sugar - and then make a decision on balance. If you have heart problems or diabetes, your cholesterol should be under 4, otherwise under 5.

It seems a shame that the prospect of side-effects (normallly minor if any) should put off people from taking a drug which can prevent heart disease and strokes- on balance there is no contest.

I have been on minimal dose of statins and aspirin for a number of years due to minor cardiac problems. I lost my mum at 60 to a heart attack and two of my grandparents at 63 to heart attack/stroke. Wish statins could have been available to them. If I suffer from side effects, I don't notice them. I rather foolishly took my first dose before reading the instructions. If I had read them I would have noticed that I mustn't drink grapefruit juice with statins! My feet swelled up and became a lovely baby pink! Funnily enough I don't like grapefruit juice much but was very thirsty that day and picked up a little carton. I think the Dr should have warned me, but no harm done. I don't think the over-50s should be prescribed statins automatically.

On the advice of my GP, I began taking a low dose statin because of my family history of heart disease. That was about 10 years ago and as far as I knew, I had no side effects.

Then, about 2 years ago, I noticed that my hair was thinning - and when I looked again, I could see my scalp around the crown. Although there is male baldness in the family, none of my female relatives suffers from hair loss. I saw an NHS hair loss specialist who did extensive blood tests, which revealed nothing out of the ordinary. Then she asked me if I took statins and said that they are implicated in hair loss. First time I'd heard that, but I stopped right away.

Maybe I'm putting vanity over health but my cholesterol levels are only slightly raised and I have a healthy diet/lifestyle. On another thread I asked for advice about wigs as I think it is coming to that. What re-growth I have is not keeping pace with the steady loss of hair. It's not the stuff of life and death but it IS distressing!

YankeeGran I understand just how you feel. It is silly to let vanity matter so much but it doesn't stop us from doing so. When I was a young woman I became desperately ill and seriously in pain. I had to have two lots of emergency surgery, my lungs drained daily (gosh that hurts) and spent several weeks in an intensive care unit. I coped okay with all that but the one thing that reduced me to tears was that my hair – never much of a crowning glory at the best of times – started falling it out in handfuls.

You have my sympathy - and yet. If the choice is a/ some hairloss b/ a stroke
I know which I'd choose.