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Even people who do not have high cholesterol and established heart disease could benefit from cholesterol-lowering statin drugs if they have other risk factors, a new study suggests.

In an analysis published on bmj.com, researchers reviewed 10 studies that followed more than 70,000 patients. They conclude that statins, such as Lipitor and Zocor, should be given to anyone who is at risk of heart disease, including those with high blood pressure and diabetes...

The original article can be found at: http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090702/statins_090702/20090702?hub=Health&s_name=

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what we said (Hover the mouse cursor over underlined words for more info)

Conducting a meta-analsysis (combining research study data from several studies together) is highly complex, and can lead to extremely misleading conclusions. Merely stating that "differences in study design and quality were taken into account" is an insufficient statement regarding this critical issue. This is a particular concern because nothing is disclosed about the funding of this study and possible conflicts of interest. For example, the objective of this "research" could be to expand the pharmaceutical company market for statins into healthy patient populations.

Furthermore, not disclosing more about safety issues when there is a long history of safety concerns with statins in all patient populations (not just in a few types of patients) discredits this article as well. Their wording is quite subtle. Saying that there were no differences "in treatment" between patient populations does not say if there were differences in adverse events. Saying that there was not an increased risk of cancer is the only statement about adverse events, and a very superficial one at that. For example, there could have been many deaths with the statin treatment, but not an increased risk of cancer (which often wouldn't be noticed after only four years at that - the length of this analysis).

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