Re: Frightened to srart statin
From: Zee (zwalanga_at_yahoo.com)
Date: 07/28/04
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Date: 28 Jul 2004 03:18:09 -0700
Louise <none@nospam.com> wrote in message news:<MPG.1b7105d05c822dbc9896f3@news-server.nyc.rr.com>...
Louise
I am a 62 year old woman who has been disabled by statins. I have
permanent damage from statins. I was told there were tests that would
catch any problem.
That is only partly true, and didn't work in my case and thousands of
others. I am now too injured to work in my profession, and what work I
am able to do is insufficient to support me.
If you haven't found what you need here please feel free to e-mail me
at zwalanga@yahoo.com.
Go here for the experiences of people who are taking statins. Although
ostensibly for lipitor people taking other statins including Crestor
post here to share their experiences.
http://www.rxlist.com/rxboard/lipitor.pl
Please read here for information on women and cholesterol lowering
drugs:
http://www.medicalconsumers.org/pages/WomenandCholesterol-LoweringDrugs.html
Here is a comprehensive website with information about statins:
http://www.statinalert.org/mainpage.html
Article from Newsday about statins and women, especially but also with
information pertinent to men.
PERSONAL HEALTH
'We've been bamboozled' about cholesterol risks'
Roni Rabin
July 6, 2004
If you're a woman like me who worries about your
blood cholesterol
level, there's something you should know.
Buried in the back pages of a leading medical
journal recently was a
study that raised serious questions about whether
cholesterol-lowering
drugs are useful for women who are otherwise
healthy.
The study didn't get a lot of media attention.
But its results were
surprising - especially considering how many
millions of women are
taking drugs known as statins to lower their
cholesterol. Women like
me, who've had it drummed into us that heart
disease is the leading
cause of death we face. And who've been told
repeatedly cholesterol is
a major risk factor.
The paper, published in the Journal of the
American Medical
Association, examined the results of 13 carefully
selected clinical
trials and teased out the effects on women. It
wasn't easy: At least
80 percent of the participants were men.
The researchers found that for women who are
taking statins as a
preventative measure - they've never had
cardiovascular disease but
may be at risk - it wasn't clear the pills
bestowed any benefit.
That's because so few women in this group have
heart attacks to begin
with.
For women who have cardiovascular disease, the
drugs reduced the risk
of another heart incident - but did not reduce
overall deaths.
"The risk for total mortality was not lower in
women treated with
lipid-lowering drugs, regardless of whether they
had prior
cardiovascular disease or not," Dr. Judith M.E.
Walsh and Dr. Michael
Pignone wrote.
Last year, scientists at the University of
British Columbia's
Therapeutics Initiative came to a similar
conclusion about the use of
statins in men who didn't have prior heart
disease. Sure, they had
fewer heart attacks - but they still died at the
same rate. "What
we're hypothesizing is that there was some other
harm" associated with
the medication, said Dr. Jim Wright, the clinical
pharmacologist who
did the study, funded entirely by a grant from
British Columbia's
health department. "That really should concern
people."
"Before we prescribe this to millions of people
who are basically
healthy, we should be proving that the overall
benefits outweigh the
harms," he said. "And we don't think that's the
case."
Health consumer advocates, such as Maryann Napoli
of the Center for
Medical Consumers, have expressed concerns about
statins, which have
been linked to muscle problems, including a rare
condition that can be
fatal. The FDA banned Baycol in 2001; last week,
Public Citizen's
Health Research Group called for banning Crestor.
The drugs do reduce blood cholesterol levels. But
the relationship
between high cholesterol and heart disease is not
so simple,
especially for women. The landmark Framingham
heart study found that
in the vast majority of people, there was no
difference in blood
cholesterol levels between those who developed
heart disease and those
who did not. The only strong association between
heart disease and
elevated cholesterol was found in young and
middle-aged men - not
women - and it receded with age.
Still, the American Heart Association recommends
aggressive treatment
to lower cholesterol in women, especially if
other risk factors are
present, according to Dr. Nieca Goldberg, chief
of the Women's Heart
Program at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York and a
spokeswoman for the
AHA.
And when doctors talk about heart disease risks
for women, they
mention high cholesterol in the same breath as
high blood pressure,
diabetes, obesity, smoking and family history.
Wright, the Canadian researcher, suggests a
distinction should be
made. "The weakest risk factor is cholesterol,"
he said. "The
correlation is extremely weak and even becomes
negative as you get
older." He said the message about cholesterol has
been distorted.
"We've been bamboozled," he said.
Dr. Beatrice Golomb, an assistant professor of
medicine at the
University of California at San Diego who has
done research on
cholesterol and statins, says no study has ever
demonstrated that
statins extend life for women. "The people who
benefit are middle-aged
men who are at high risk or have heart disease
..." she said. "The
mortality benefits don't extend to the elderly or
to women."
Yes, heart disease is the leading cause of death
in women - but only
when women 75 and older are included in the
figures. Take those women
out and the picture changes.
Younger women know that, intuitively. It's
misleading to scold them
for worrying too much about cancer and not enough
about heart disease.
For women ages 35-74, cancer is the No. 1 threat,
killing almost twice
as many women as heart disease, according to
national statistics.
So if your doctor recommends a statin, ask about
the side effects.
Find out if you have other risk factors for heart
disease that justify
the medication. Male or female, "assume any new
symptom you develop
after starting any new drug is caused by the
drug," says Dr. Sidney
Wolfe, of Public Citizen. Report muscle aches,
pain, tenderness or
weakness, and cognitive changes, and the sooner
the better, Wolfe
says.
And make sure to tell the doctor what drugs you
take.
Copyright © 2004, Newsday, Inc.
Dr. Phillips, Chief of Interventional Cardiology
at Scripps Mercy
Hospital in San Diego is the world expert on
statin muscle damage.
http://www.impostertrial.com/physician.htm
Dr. Golomb is the premier researcher on all
statin disabilities
including cognitive. She is NIH principal
investigator for Statins &
Non-cardiac Endpoints (i.e., effects on the rest
of the body). Her
website:
http://medicine.ucsd.edu/statin/contactinfo.html
> I'm 61 yrs old, 25 lbs. overweight, with mild hbp and blood pressure
> that increases too much in response to moderate exercise. I'm often out
> of breath after walking a flight of subway steps, or even 10 level
> blocks.
>
> I was put on Cozzaar 25mg, 6 months ago and my ability to tolerate
> exercise has increased, but not a lot. But my blood pressure now
> averages 115-120/70-80.
>
> My total cholesterol is 243 and my diet is pretty good. I might be able
> to make it 15-20% better, but not much more than that because there
> isn't that much to cut out.
>
> I was just prescribed 5mg of Crestor and I'm afraid to take it.
>
> I already suffer from fibromyalgia and am therefore afraid of the
> possible muscle weakness from the Crestor. I also suffer from GERD
> which often affects my voice. So I'm afraid of the possible side effect
> of pharyngitis from the Crestor. Are these fears "realistic"?
>
> I have to time it very carefully to avoid antacid interaction and I'm
> wondering if the warning about antacides applies to Proton Pump
> Inhibitors such as Prevacid?
>
> I'm wondering if there is a "safer" drug around - or one with a
> different side effect profile which wouldn't bump into some of my most
> chronic medical problems?
>
> Any and all suggestions and recommendations greatly appreciated.
>
> TIA
>
> Louise
> I'm 61 yrs old, 25 lbs. overweight, with mild hbp and blood pressure
> that increases too much in response to moderate exercise. I'm often out
> of breath after walking a flight of subway steps, or even 10 level
> blocks.
>
> I was put on Cozzaar 25mg, 6 months ago and my ability to tolerate
> exercise has increased, but not a lot. But my blood pressure now
> averages 115-120/70-80.
>
> My total cholesterol is 243 and my diet is pretty good. I might be able
> to make it 15-20% better, but not much more than that because there
> isn't that much to cut out.
>
> I was just prescribed 5mg of Crestor and I'm afraid to take it.
>
> I already suffer from fibromyalgia and am therefore afraid of the
> possible muscle weakness from the Crestor. I also suffer from GERD
> which often affects my voice. So I'm afraid of the possible side effect
> of pharyngitis from the Crestor. Are these fears "realistic"?
>
> I have to time it very carefully to avoid antacid interaction and I'm
> wondering if the warning about antacides applies to Proton Pump
> Inhibitors such as Prevacid?
>
> I'm wondering if there is a "safer" drug around - or one with a
> different side effect profile which wouldn't bump into some of my most
> chronic medical problems?
>
> Any and all suggestions and recommendations greatly appreciated.
>
> TIA
>
> Louise
- Next message: Bill: "Re: Put your babies on statins"
- Previous message: Zee: "Re: Put your babies on statins"
- In reply to: Louise: "Frightened to srart statin"
- Next in thread: Brad Sheppard: "Re: Frightened to srart statin"
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