Bob-a-job-alog-a-roonie

I have slightly high cholesterol, so my doc reckons the answer is going on cholesterol lowering medication for the rest of my life. No thanks! I feel further vindicated when reading this:

When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (F.D.A.) approved a new type of cholesterol-lowering medicine in 2002, it did so on the basis of a handful of clinical trials covering a total of 3,900 patients. None of the patients took the medicine for more than 12 weeks, and the trials offered no evidence that it had reduced heart attacks or cardiovascular disease, the goal of any cholesterol drug.

The lack of evidence has not stopped doctors from heavily prescribing that drug, whether in a stand-alone form sold as Zetia or as a combination medicine called Vytorin. Aided by extensive consumer advertising, sales of the medicines reached $5.2 billion last year, making them among the best-selling drugs in the world. More than three million people worldwide take either drug every day.

Yet there is still no proof that the drugs help patients live longer or avoid heart attacks. This year Vytorin has failed two clinical trials meant to show its benefits. Worse, scientists are debating whether there is a link between the drugs and cancer.
http://freeinternetpress.com/story.php?sid=18196

and this:

In a separate study, the researchers gave 4574 patients either placebo or AstraZeneca's Crestor, which belongs to a class of cholesterol-lowering medicines known as statins. High levels of cholesterol can increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes. The patients did equally well on both pills.

"There is no indication for using statins on top of other treatments for heart failure patients," Dr Tognoni said. The medicine brought in $US2.8 billion last year for London-based AstraZeneca.
http://business.theage.com.au/business/fish-oil-not-cholesterollowering-drug-fights-heart-failure-20080902-47ah.html

Labels: cholesterol