A wave of anti-science skepticism may put people with high cholesterol at risk if they’re convinced to quit life-saving statin medications, heart experts warn.
An “internet-driven cult” is attacking the safety and effectiveness of cholesterol-lowering statins, despite mounds of clinical trial data showing the drugs work and produce minimal side effects, said Dr. Steven Nissen, chairman of cardiovascular medicine at the Cleveland Clinic.
“We as physician scientists have to speak out,” Nissen said. “We have to regain the public’s attention around the fact that it isn’t a good thing to have high cholesterol, and a lot of heart disease is preventable by addressing risk factors like cholesterol.”
Nissen makes his case in an editorial published online July 24 alongside a new study in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine. That study found that patients who stick with statins even after suffering side effects are less likely to die or suffer a heart attack or stroke, compared to people who quit the drugs.
But as many as three-quarters of patients stop statin therapy within two years after they suffer a side effect, or “adverse event,” from the drugs, the authors of the new report said in background notes.
The new study found that patients who keep taking their statins had about a 12% incidence rate of death, heart attack or stroke, while those who quit statins had an incidence rate of about 14%, said senior researcher Dr. Alexander Turchin. He’s an endocrinologist with Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
