Drug companies for the past 20 years have been pushing the use of statins (for example simvastin, rosuvastatin, atorvastatin) as cures for whatever problem you may have. They have supported studies that show a very slight improvement in everything from incidence of heart attacks, to deaths due to infectious disease to intellect. Except maybe in people with previous heart attacks, none are convincing, the improvements are small and the costs high.
Now there is data indicating the more potent statins have a very significant risk of diabetes. The higher the dose, the higher the risk.
What we do know is that diabetes showed up. The numbers increase to one in 167 for patients taking 20 milligrams of Crestor, and up to one in 125 for intensive statin treatments involving drug strategies to markedly lower cholesterol levels.
and
More than 20 million Americans take statins. That would equate to 100,000 new statin-induced diabetics. Not a good thing for the public health and certainly not good for the individual affected with a new serious chronic illness.
And most telling for those taking this drug the margin of benefit is very narrow. Read the op-ed! More on the subject here and here.
Medicynical Note: Yet the same companies who flogged these drugs as wonderful agents for whatever ails you have no public plans to look further into the newly identified issues. Not surprising if you understand the motivating force of the pharmaceutical industry (money) and their reluctance to do anything that might cut sales.
Truth? Science? Health care? Not their department.
Medicynic 