Experts reported that using higher doses of drugs to reduce cholesterol decreases the risk of heart attack, bypass surgery and chest pains. The finding could place new pressure on doctors to treat their patients more aggressively by using higher doses of statin drugs to reduce cholesterol levels in people with heart disease.
In the study it was found that people who took a double dose of the drug atorvastatin, sold under the brand name Lipitor, had their LDL levels drop to 62 milligrams per deciliter of blood compared to the patients whose LDL level dropped to 95 milligrams per deciliter after taking a standard dose of Pravachol.
The study showed that the patients treated with Lipitor lowered their risk of dangerous chest pain, heart attack and bypass surgery by 16 percent compared to those patients that took Pravachol.
This advice could mean a huge increase in health care costs because in the United States, only 11 million of the 36 million people who experts say should be taking cholesterol medication are actually taking them.
To get an idea of costs, a starting dose for Lipitor costs $900 per year and an 80-milligram dose that the new study is proposing would cost $1,400 annually.
The participants of the study included 4,162 volunteers at 349 medical centers in eight countries who had all been hospitalized for unstable chest pains or a heart attack. Benefits from the treatment became apparent within 30 days.
New England Journal of Medicine March 8, 2004
An estimated 25 million people world wide are taking drugs known as statins to lower their cholesterol levels and according to ‘experts’ 200 million could use them. Now, researchers are claiming that doubling the doses that is currently used reduces the risk of heart attack, bypass surgery and chest pains more than ‘gentler’ doses.
This advice will most likely put pressure on doctors to use even more aggressive and expensive doses of statin drugs. The United States already spends $12.5 billion more on statins than any other medicine. When you consider that a starting dose for Lipitor will run you $900 per year, while the 80-milligram dose used in the new study costs approximately $1,400 annually, you get a good idea of how much more expensive this will be.
While there are likely to be some people who benefit from taking statins, it is probably far less than five percent of the people who currently take them. But even worse than the additional expense, and what these experts do not realize, is that statins can kill people, many people, and they can do great harm to many, many more. I strongly encourage you to read and get the truth about cholesterol-lowering drugs.
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