If Your Aged Parents/Grandparents Are On Statins...Show Them This

Lipid-lowering treatment to the end? A review of observational studies and RCTs on cholesterol and mortality in 80+-year olds

People aged 80 or older are the fastest growing population in high-income countries. One of the most common causes of death among the elderly is the cardiovascular disease (CVD). Lipid-lowering treatment is common, e.g. one-third of 75–84-year-old Swedes are treated with statins [ 3]. The assumption that hypercholesterolaemia is a risk factor at the highest ages seems to be based on extrapolation from younger adults. A review of observational studies shows a trend where all-cause mortality was highest when total cholesterol (TC) was lowest (‘a reverse J-shaped’ association between TC and all-cause mortality). Low TC (

Thank you for this info-
So many elderly and other people just accept the meds they are prescribed without doing any research or questioning their doctor. It is wrong to blindly trust that the doctor knows best as many doctors are just drug pushers for companys that only have profits in mind.

Statins don't work for women, elderly and, generally, anybody who hasn't had a heart attack. The only cohort it's been shown to work significantly for is men who've had a cardiac event.

I have recently been prescribed Simvastatin.
My GP didn't mention anything about possible side-effects other than possible initial diarrhea so I naturally looked it up on the internet where I found out that it can also cause stomach cramps, abdominal pain, memory loss, Cholestatic hepatitis, hepatic cirrhosis, rhabdomyolysis and myositis, albeit only very rarely.

Upon my next visit to my GP I mentioned this to him and he rather lamely tried to re-assure me; I got the impression that this is the accepted prescribed treatment for my ailment and that he was quite unacustomed to being questioned and that he knew relatively little about possible side-effects and alternative treatments.

I have a scheduled appointment next week and despite not knowingly suffering any side-effects I fully intend to mention it again.

Originally posted by Freeborn
I have recently been prescribed Simvastatin.
My GP didn't mention anything about possible side-effects other than possible initial diarrhea so I naturally looked it up on the internet where I found out that it can also cause stomach cramps, abdominal pain, memory loss, Cholestatic hepatitis, hepatic cirrhosis, rhabdomyolysis and myositis, albeit only very rarely.

Upon my next visit to my GP I mentioned this to him and he rather lamely tried to re-assure me; I got the impression that this is the accepted prescribed treatment for my ailment and that he was quite unacustomed to being questioned and that he knew relatively little about possible side-effects and alternative treatments.

I have a scheduled appointment next week and despite not knowingly suffering any side-effects I fully intend to mention it again.

Good for you - Most doctors learn their knowledge from books and are just like robots - They need to be questioned - if only more people did not just accept what so called health experts PUT UPON us.
Question everything - never trust an expert.

I am 67 and abandoned my doctor 3 years ago when I was advised that I had high cholesterol.
What junk medicine is that! - I thought 'here come those statins'!
I see people in my age group taking delivery of carrier bags full of junk pharma meds, such as statins, steroids, betablockers and acid supressants.

I now self diagnose and self treat whatever I get with alternative medicine and good nutrition.

The real culprit in heart disease is trans fats in margarines and cooking oils.

www.naturalnews.com...
extract -
Eating margarine can increase heart disease in women by 53 percent over eating the same amount of butter, according to a recent Harvard Medical Study. While actually increasing LDL cholesterol, margarine lowers the beneficial HDL cholesterol. It also increases the risk of cancers up to five times. Margarine suppresses both the immune response and insulin response. This highly processed and artificial product is practically resistant to destruction, being one molecule away from plastic. Flies, bacteria, fungi, etc. won't go near it because it has no nutritional value and cannot be broken down by them. It can last for years, not just outside the body, but inside as well. It is very apparent that eating damaged, rancid fats or trans-fats can destroy any healthy organism and should be avoided by anyone. In 2007 New York City banned the use of trans fats in its restaurants; however, the trans fats are merely being replaced with new artificial fats that have the same or worse effects.

reply to post by artistpoet


A lot of the time it isn't necessarily the GP's fault.
They are expected to know a bit about everything and are thus masters of very little.
Yet society deems that we must put so much faith in them; an awesome amount of responsibility lies on their shoulders.

GP 's can also be put under enormous pressure from senior partners and drug companies to prescribe certain drugs.

No wonder many GP's suffer from stress related illnesses themselves.

Originally posted by margaretr

The real culprit in heart disease is trans fats in margarines and cooking oils.

That's certainly one of them, but there are other factors that are just as dangerous.

Originally posted by Freeborn
reply to post by artistpoet

 

A lot of the time it isn't necessarily the GP's fault.
They are expected to know a bit about everything and are thus masters of very little.
Yet society deems that we must put so much faith in them; an awesome amount of responsibility lies on their shoulders.

GP 's can also be put under enormous pressure from senior partners and drug companies to prescribe certain drugs.

No wonder many GP's suffer from stress related illnesses themselves.

Yes I understand what you are saying - My point is about self resposibility in questioning and researching information of the drugs they prescribe.
Doctors are people like you and some do not like to be questioned however others are more open.
I understand the enormous pressure doctors and nurses are under - I have a friend who is a doctor of some 30 years - He works so hard, too hard really. He is an old fashioned doctor with values and ethics and has often mentioned the short falls of the system he has to work under.

Funding

Funding

The Danish Aging Research Center is supported by the VELUX foundation. The research was supported by the US National Institute on Aging, research grant NIA-P01-AG08761, and by a Danish grant from Savværksejer Jeppe Juhl og Hustru Ovita Juhls Mindelegat.

fulltext pdf

Lipid-lowering treatment to the end? A review of observational studies and RCTs on cholesterol and mortality in 80+-year olds