Mixed Feelings About Side Effects From Cholesterol Pills

Drugs to lower cholesterol run neck and neck with antidepressants for popularity in the U.S.

There's ample evidence cholesterol-lowering pills called statins can reduce the risk of a repeat heart attack. The pills are frequently prescribed for people who've never had a heart attack or stroke, but are at high risk for trouble.

That's how Lipitor became the No. 1 drug in the world. And now that Lipitor and other drugs like it are generic in the U.S., they're pretty cheap to boot.

Obesity, too much bad cholesterol and a family history of heart disease are some of the risk factors doctors consider before recommending drugs to lower cholesterol.

But there's fresh debate about the widespread use of statins to prevent heart attacks in people who've never had one. "For most healthy people, data show that statins do not prevent heart disease, nor extend life or improve quality of life," cardiologist Rita Redberg, a skeptic, wrote recently in The Wall Street Journal. "And they come with considerable side effects."

If people were told in the next six months that they were at risk of a heart attack, they were split on whether drug side effects would be OK.

In February, the Food and Drug Administration beefed up the warnings on statins to highlight the potential for memory loss and diabetes. Other potential side effects include fatigue, muscle weakness and aches.

We wondered how Americans see the issue, so we asked in the latest NPR-Truven Health Analytics Health Poll. Truven used to be the health care business of Thomson Reuters.

First off, we found that about 6 percent of respondents had had heart attacks already. Those people and others who'd been told by a doctor they were at risk for one say they're taking action. In this group, three-quarters of people are taking a prescription drug to lower the risk of a heart attack. Two-thirds are taking aspirin.

Of those taking a prescription drug to lower their risks, 70 percent, or 276 people, are taking a statin. And in that group, 81 percent said they're aware of side effects with the drugs.

Originally posted here:
Mixed Feelings About Side Effects From Cholesterol Pills