It may be too expensive to treat every person who has high cholesterol with cholesterol-lowering statin drugs. Researchers state that it makes sense for just about everyone with high cholesterol-both young and old-to make dietary changes in an effort to reduce their risk of heart disease.
However, statin therapy is a far more expensive alternative for preventing the development of cardiovascular disease. The findings suggest that older people with high cholesterol, or those who already have heart disease, may benefit most from the drugs. A second study in the same journal, showed that the drugs were cost effective for elderly patients with a prior heart attack.
However, an accompanying editorial states "Studies such as these cannot establish whether statins are effective ... " The studies support the idea that cholesterol-lowering drugs should be used mostly in those people who have an increased risk for heart disease due to a combination of high cholesterol and other risk factors.
Annals of Internal Medicine 2000;132:769-779, 780-787, 833-835
Statins are among the hottest selling drugs on the market today. Television commercials aimed at the general public aim to generate public pressure on physicians to prescribe these drugs, and many physicians are all-to-happy to oblige. People prefer these 'magic bullets' to reduce their cholesterol because they do not want to make ANY lifestyle changes.
Even most of those who are willing to do so, are not successful at reducing cholesterol through diet because they are not properly guided as to what type of diet they need. It is a sad tragedy that these drugs are so widely used as the eating plan I advocate, resolves that vast majority of high cholesterol problems, probably over 80%.
Exercise is also a useful therapeutic modality. About the only time this "magic duo" does not work is in certain genetic liver problems. I have less than ten people in my practice who are on these drugs.
When necessary I am certain they are useful in lowering the risk of cardiovascular disease. The only issue is that over 95% of the people using them would benefit more from the "magic duo".
However, if they are used it is very important to use coenzyme Q 10 as a supplement as these drugs severely inhibit the liver's ability to make this enzyme which is very important for cardiovascular health. An emulsified brand of coenzyme Q 10 is preferred at about 100 mg per day.