U.S. study shows 150 percent jump in statin use

Medlineplus ^ | June 25, 2008 | Reuters Health

[TennesseeGirl]

Reuters Health

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Use of cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins rose by 156 percent between 2000 and 2005, with spending jumping from $7.7 billion to $19.7 billion, the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality reported on Wednesday.

"The number of people purchasing statins nearly doubled when comparing 2000 and 2005, rising from 15.8 million people to 29.7 million people," the AHRQ report reads.

The total number of outpatient prescriptions for statins rose from about 90 million in 2000 to nearly 174 million in 2005. Each individual spent $484 a year on average on statins in 2000; this rose to $661 by 2005.

Statins are wildly popular drugs that lower the risk of heart attack or stroke by lowering levels of so-called fatty substances such as bad cholesterol and triglycerides, and raising levels of "good" cholesterol.

They include atorvastatin, made by Pfizer under the brand name Lipitor; pravastatin or Pravachol, made by Bristol Myers Squibb ; fluvastatin, made by Novartis under the brand name Lescol, and several others.

[Lady Jag]

Yes, I was off Gemfibrozil in three weeks and got my legs back about a month later. Trust me, I was counting the days.

When I googled those side effects I got the impression that the injurious effects could be permanent under certain circumstances. Maybe your friend should quit.

[Towed_Jumper]

“My doctor recommended red yeast rice. We'll see how that works out at my next check up.”

My doctor recommended the same thing and I used the Red Yeast Rice for a couple of months. It did help —brought my TC down by about six-points, but it wasn't enough improvement so now I too am on a statin Rx. (I also try to eat oatmeal for breakfast as it is supposed to help lower Cholesterol.

[steve86]

The problem is that you never know if a given supplement product actually has an efficacious level of lovastatin. Some tested had none.

[digger48]

I couldn’t walk twelve feet without sitting down due to exhuastion and pain.

Subsequently I’ve asked a lot of people about their experiences and every last one of them had trouble with statins.

That was my exactly my experience with statin drugs! leg cramps and lower back pain along with inablity to walk any distance at all.

[skeeter]

I guess the moral of the story is we need to depend less on our GPs & with all the info resources available now self diagnosis & treatment in many cases is at least a possibility.

Good luck with your condition.

[steve86]

I don't think it has the same effects as statins.

That may be only because the level of the active statin (which is lovastatin -- simply a natural statin -- Mevacor is a synthetic name) is so low in the supplements.

[calex59]

My friend won’t quit. I have told him it can be permenant but he seems to think losing his legs is a good price to pay for living longer. I told him he was full of it because there was really no proof he was going to live longer, but he won’t listen to me. That is what fear of dying does to people. As far as I am concern I will die with my legs working rather than voluntarily stopping their function.

[MrLee]

I did and the first article I came to said it’s basically a statin and has the potential side effects as statins do.

[isrul]

If you really care, simply google statins, liver function, and coq10.

[HerrBlucher]

Anyone want to get into blood pressure meds like atenolol and others? Seems “they’re” lowing the BP standards too to sell more drugs.

My doc wanted to double my atenolol from 50 mg to 100 mg daily to meet these new standards i.e. 120/70. He also wanted me on statins. I said no to both. My bp vaires between 120/70 to 135/80, that is good enough for me and was good enough for my previous doc.

Reading about peoples experiences with statins here on this thread and others makes me very glad I just said no to that drug too. I want a happy life, not necessarily a long one.

[steve86]

Please feel free to provide me with the link. What you are positing isn’t generally accepted.

[TennesseeGirl]

For what it’s worth, I started taking an over the counter supplement called CholestOff 3 weeks before my last bloodwork. The LDL had dropped 50 points. CholestOff is by Nature Made and contains 900 mg of plant sterols/stanols in a 2 caplet serving.

[Lady Jag]

You did mean that as past tense, right? You went off the statins?

[Lady Jag]

Losing his legs is the price he’ll pay? For what?

It’s not just legs, it’s muscle tissue. Even the heart is muscle.

Well, if he doesn’t walk he won’t get hit by a car.

[digger48]

You went off the statins?

Absolutely!... My combined is only around 190, so even my Vegan Dr. doesn't give me too much grief about it.

[Lady Jag]

Same here. Once I couldn’t take the statins the drs. laid off it because my #s weren’t that bad.

[Gorzaloon]

I brought the extreme muscle pain up with two doctors and they said they never heard of that.

I guess WE know who got some spiffy new pens from Merck. They CAN'T not have heard of it, without admitting they have never read the Prescribing Information.

When this whole Statin Empire finally collapses, it is going to be bigger than the Shiley Heart Valve and bigger than Thalidomide.

It will become the High Holy Festival Annual Celebration for the Trial Lawyers Associations.

Imagine this: An industry keeps renorming what is "Normal" to expand the market pool to include nearly EVERYONE. It just has to blow up someday...perhaps when an entire generation suffers peripheral nerve demyelinization and hobbles around in wheelchairs...OR liver cancer clusters begin appearing, or some other neglected long term effect begins to appear.

Whether one believes in Design or in Evolution, the metabolic pathways chart is not a frivolous suggestion; It has developed because it kept living creatures alive and healthy. I doubt I am alone in suspecting that it may not be a good idea to suddenly decide certain pathways and enzyme systems need to be shut off, that we need to rewrite transaminase kinetics so that:

Bah.

Rant Off.