THOUSANDS of Australians could be taken off cholesterol-lowering medications because of mounting evidence they increase the risk of diabetes and dementia.
Australian health authorities are reviewing their advice after US regulators announced statins will now carry warnings they could increase the risk of diabetes and cognitive impairment.
Statins are the most commonly prescribed drugs in Australia, with about 2 million people thought to be taking them to reduce their heart disease risk.
The president of the Australasian Society for Clinical and Experimental Pharmacologists and Toxicologists, David Le Couteur, said Australia had one of the highest rates of statin use in the world, and people who were not at high risk of heart disease needed to reconsider using them.
He said doctors and other health practitioners should focus on lifestyle interventions for people with high cholesterol but without other risks such as previous heart attacks, high blood pressure and smoking.
Despite statins being linked to diabetes, he said people with the condition should still use them as diabetes itself put them at risk of heart disease. "If you have diabetes that's even more reason to be on statins," he said.
Statins have long been touted as a miracle drug, with some doctors and researchers pushing for their use in all older people. But Professor Le Couteur said that was unwise. "Unfortunately the history of medicine is chequered with hopes that have turned out to be dashed and even caused harm," he said.
The evidence showing a link with cognitive impairment was not as strong as the links with diabetes, but if a patient developed symptoms he would consider taking them off the drugs.
But the director of the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, Garry Jennings, said people should not stop taking statins.
"I hope that pretty much everyone who is on a statin in Australia is on it for a very good reason, although there might be a few lower-risk people on the fringe," he said. "Statins work and there have been tens of thousands of people in trials … the overall benefit is clear.''
About 500 people would need to take statins for one new case of diabetes to develop, while a major cardiac event would be prevented for every 150 people taking them.
The national director of clinical issues for the Heart Foundation, Robert Grenfell, said he was more concerned by the number of people at high risk of heart disease who were not taking preventive medication. "We still have a high rate of morbidity and mortality from heart disease in this country," he said.
A University of NSW professor of clinical pharmacology, Ric Day, said there was no doubt a lot of Australians had been prescribed statins when their total risk of heart disease was not high. "It's a bit of a pity because you are taking a drug that doesn't contribute much to your protection at all," he said.
A study by the National Prescribing Service found the use of lipid-lowering drugs such as statins had increased from 4.8 per cent of people aged 45 and over in 1995, to more than 30 per cent.
The chief executive of the service, Lynn Weekes, said Australia's high use of statins compared to the OECD indicated it was likely low-risk people were being treated. "If they are at low risk of heart disease you shouldn't be putting them at risk for something else," she said.
A spokeswoman for the Therapeutic Goods Administration said it was considering whether any action is required in Australia.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/national/health/m ... z1noFD10KB
Statin dementia
Statin dementia
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Re: Statin dementia
The doc gave me an Rx for this crap - I threw the free pills away and will not ever renew the script.
All I require at the present are my psych meds.
Any other meds (free or not) I will not take.
Don't need 'em/don't want 'em.
All I require at the present are my psych meds.
Any other meds (free or not) I will not take.
Don't need 'em/don't want 'em.
Your collective inability to acknowledge this obvious truth makes you all look like fools.
yrs,
rubato
Re: Statin dementia
Great, a cholesterol lowering drug that causes diabetes and....and...
What was the other thing?
What was the other thing?
Last edited by Lord Jim on Fri Mar 02, 2012 12:25 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Statin dementia
Diabetes.
Why is it that when Miley Cyrus gets naked and licks a hammer it's 'art' and 'edgy' but when I do it I'm 'drunk' and 'banned from the hardware store'?
Re: Statin dementia
What doesn't cause diabetes?
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Re: Statin dementia
Getting hit in the head with a hammer...
Sometimes it seems as though one has to cross the line just to figger out where it is
Re: Statin dementia
Stalin dementia?
Your collective inability to acknowledge this obvious truth makes you all look like fools.
yrs,
rubato
Re: Statin dementia
Interestingly enough, I was just reading somewhere that statins could cause mental problems.
Re: Statin dementia
Interestingly enough, I was just reading somewhere that statins could cause mental problems.
Re: Statin dementia
No, I've never been to Staten Island.
Why do you ask?
Why do you ask?
Re: Statin dementia
Interestingly enough, I have heard that statins could cause mental problems.
Bah!
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No Greater Fool
- Posts: 1294
- Joined: Thu Apr 15, 2010 12:20 pm
Re: Statin dementia
I have, took the ferry...nice ride. Later, they built a bridge.Joe Guy wrote:No, I've never been to Staten Island.
Why do you ask?
Re: Statin dementia
I'm pretty sure I heard that somewhere also.The Hen wrote:Interestingly enough, I have heard that statins could cause mental problems.
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Beer Sponge
- Posts: 715
- Joined: Sat Apr 17, 2010 5:31 pm
Re: Statin dementia
Now where did I hear that Satan causes dementia?
Personally, I don’t believe in bros before hoes, or hoes before bros. There needs to be a balance. A homie-hoe-stasis, if you will.