Recently the chairman of cardiovascular medicine at Cleveland Clinic, USA, wrote an editorial that an “internet driven cult” is attacking the safety and effectiveness of cholesterol lowering agents statins. These sites hype serious but rare side effects associated with statins, even concoct the unfounded (and unsupported claims) against the drugs and even question the health-related risk posed by high cholesterol levels. This is despite the large body of data showing the effectiveness of the drugs in lowering the cardiovascular risk and that they are generally well tolerated with minimal side effects.
A well-known 2009 Jupiter trial has shown that people taking statins have 54% reduced the risk of heart attack, 48% lower chances of stroke and 46% lower risk of need for CABG/Angioplasty. One study published recently (2017) also demonstrated that stopping the statin may not be advisable.…
