Statin risks: The good outweighs the bad

A leading doctor has told statin users that the “good tends to outweigh the bad” after concerns were raised over the potential side-effects of the cholesterol fighting drug.

A study published in the Journal of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases said the medication, which is regularly prescribed to people at risk of heart disease or stroke, could be doing more harm than good.

The research by Dr Sherif Sultan and Dr Niamh Hynes of University Hospital Galway said statin use can increase the risk of diabetes, cataracts, male impotence and, in rare cases, Parkinson’s disease and cancer.

The study suggested the medication should only be given to people already diagnosed with heart disease, or who were at clear risk of the illness, with otherwise healthy at-risk patients being advised to improve their lifestyle.

The research also said the medical profession is over-selling the medication and ignoring potential side-effects of the drug, which is considered a vital part of fighting heart disease.

However, chair of the Irish Heart Foundation’s council on cardiovascular disease and internationally respected expert, Prof Ian Graham, told the Irish Examiner any risks are far outweighed by the benefits the medication brings.

The professor of cardiovascular medicine at Trinity said: “The EU guidelines say you have to look at a number of factors — total risk, blood pressure, whether the patient smokes, age, heart conditions — before you work out if statins are needed or not.

“Nobody is saying statins should be in the drinking water.

“But in high-risk people the benefits outweigh the risks.”

About 250,000 statin prescriptions are written for Irish patients every month, a figure that accounts for 8% of the HSE’s €1.7bn annual drugs spend and has led to suggestions that the medication is being over-used.

However, people already using the drugs have been urged not to stop using them without first consulting their GP or consultant.

The Irish Heart Foundation’s medical director, Dr Angie Brown, said the first port of call in tackling heart disease should be improving lifestyle habits, quitting smoking, getting active, and lowering blood pressure and high cholesterol.

However, she said in some cases involving “individuals with a significant risk of developing cardiovascular disease or with very high cholesterol levels, it may not be possible to reduce levels sufficiently with lifestyle change alone”.

In these cases medics insists “the advice is to start a cholesterol-reducing tablet” such as a statin.