Statins And NICE

• The following is intended to raise awareness only and should not be regarded as advice. Guidance from a doctor should be followed, but questions should also be asked in order to be satisfied that the drug is necessary and safe (and has no addiction potential - DA)

Statin Withdrawal

Statins: GPs (General Practitioners) are to be urged to 'trawl' the records of their patients to identify anyone at risk of heart attack or stroke: anyone aged 40 and over who, it is alleged, has a one in five 'chance' of heart attack or stroke. By definition, somebody who has a four in five 'chance' of not having a heart attack or stroke. Rather amazingly descending into the concept of a health lottery. Scouring records is tantamount to scraping the barrel in search of potential victims. Incredibly macabre and unnecessarily frightening people who may be quite healthy. Calling them into the surgery for advice on how to (maybe) avoid a possible heart attack or stroke. It suggests that such a serious problem is likely unless the advice is heeded.

Allegedly, four million people already take statins, mostly after heart attacks. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) wants healthy people, deemed to be at high risk within 10 years, to have preventative drugs. This would place 1.5million people on medication (statins) to prevent perhaps 15,000 heart attacks, strokes and new cases of angina.

This preventative measure could potentially 'save' 1% of the population from serious attack. Of course,

if

the preventative measure works, then 15,000 heart attacks, strokes and new cases of angina (statistically) won't happen and the record will show effective prevention: prophylaxis. It will cost £28m to implement in the first year: almost £2000 per 'saved' individual.

Statins form a 'drug for life' regimen

The needless worry is to place these 1.5million people in an anxiety condition for the rest of their natural life on an alleged maybe scenario that will only (by admission) affect 1% of the population. The other 'healthy' 99% will possibly need anti-depressants to manage the needless (by definition in 99% of cases = 1,485,000 healthy patients) worry of the 'maybe'.

This is caring government: create anxiety in 100,000s of healthy people and if these people take statins for their lifetime and don't have a heart attack, get a stroke or suffer angina then the pill pushing will be deemed a success. This raises drug dependency to a new level: not taking the drug will create an increased likelihood of heart attack, stroke or angina.

And people are being fed poor quality (cheap to produce though expensive to buy) fat-laden 'food'. Smoking cigarettes or drinking alcohol is not discouraged. Noises are made about alcohol abuse and binge drinking though little if anything is actively done to counter the plague of abuses. The younger the individual, the more finance that can (theoretically) be extracted before death.

Create the situation and
provide the solution

Alcohol + nicotine + fatty foods = statins

(cholesterol sequestering drugs) + £££s