An analysis published Monday questions research that led federal regulators to allow the statin drug Crestor wider use for prevention.
The new analysis, appearing in Monday's Archives of Internal Medicine, raises those questions again. A second paper in the same journal finds no justification from the earlier results for using a test for CRP to make treatment decisions. And a third paper, an analysis of 11 published studies including the 2008 study, finds no evidence that statins help high-risk people without heart disease live longer.
"Why take a medicine that hasn't been shown to make you feel better or live longer? Yet that's what millions of Americans are doing," said Archives of Internal Medicine editor Dr. Rita Redberg, a cardiologist at University of California San Francisco.
1 comment:
Cardiologist Peter Langsjoen notes that statin treatment may lead to heart muscle weakening and failure. ‘It occurs because statin drugs block the production of coenzyme Q10, vital for the production of cell energy,’ says Langsjoen. ‘Evidence to the FDA shows marked reduction of CoQ10 in patients on statin drugs.’
Another point to be borne in mind is the use of long term drug therapy to lower cholesterol levels, where it is unclear what the full effects might be over a 30 year period. In spite of this, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gives approval for this class of drugs on the basis of less than 10 years’ clinical trials.
Post a Comment