ONE IN SEVEN TAKES STATINS
Surge in Scots on ‘magic pills’ to guard against heart attack and stroke amid claims we are failing to tackle the key issue: Obesity
ONE in seven people in Scotland takes statins, as record numbers are prescribed drugs to cut their risk of a heart attack or stroke. Doctors have warned the ‘magic pills’ are being handed out too easily, with the NHS waving a white flag in the face of the obesity crisis.
New figures show more than 715,000 Scots are now taking statins to lower their cholesterol. This raises fears they are being handed out more often, with 13.4 per cent of the population on the drugs, compared to a uk rate of less than 11 per cent.
Statins are now the second most commonly prescribed drugs in Scotland, behind acid reflux drug omeprazole.
Those who take them are less likely to suffer heart disease or stroke, with recent evidence suggesting they even cut the risk of dying of cancer.
But many doctors are suspicious about their long-term safety and say drug companies have downplayed their side effects.
Those who take statins on a long-term basis are in increased danger of developing
type 2 diabetes, while one in ten suffers effects including muscle pain, memory loss and nosebleeds.
There are also concerns that for some people on statins, the drugs are seen as a safety net, enabling them to go on overeating and failing to exercise without fear of the consequences.
Dr Aseem Malhotra, a cardiologist and consultant clinical associate at the Academy of Royal Medical Colleges, said: ‘The benefits of statins have been grossly exaggerated and the side effects have been underplayed. Even the pharmaceutical sponsored studies show that the average increase in life expectancy for people with heart disease is just four
‘The drugs are seen as a safety net’
days over five years. It is only three days for those in the lower risk category.
‘I think people see statins as a magic pill because of blanket marketing campaigns on behalf of drugs companies. But the benefits are marginal at best. Patients need to be told the whole truth.
‘Lifestyle changes and dietary changes are more effective than taking a statin and come without the side effects.
‘The obvious concern with statins is that they give people the illusion of protection, which makes them think they can continue to gorge on junk food.’
Almost 50,000 more Scots are taking statins than five years ago, figures obtained by the Scottish Daily Mail from the Information Services Division Scotland show.
In 2014-15, doctors prescribed them to a record 715,760 people.
The annual bill for the six types of statins available on the NHS is almost £19.2million. But critics say they are more concerned about the mass medicalisation of Scots by family doctors.
Dr Malcolm Kendrick, a Scots GP now working in Cheshire and author of The Great Cholesterol Con, said: ‘There is now a general attitude of just give drugs to people, which seems to have spread into diabetic medicine as well.
‘Most doctors seem to think they can’t do much about lifestyle issues, so they just push out the drugs.’
But supporters of statins say they have protective effects. A study that followed 6,595 middleaged men from the West of Scotland for 15 years found those who took cholesterol-lowering pravastatin were far less likely to need hospital treatment for heart disease and stroke.
With two-thirds of adults in Scotland overweight or obese, the population is hugely at risk from the conditions statins protect against. They are recommended in Scotland for those with a 20 per cent risk of a cardiovascular event in the next decade.
Statins slow down the production of cholesterol by the liver. They also help stabilise fatty deposits in the lining of the arteries which can cause a blockage, sparking a heart attack or stroke.
But for those at low risk, a study has shown eating an apple a day has the same effect on the risk of suffering a heart attack as taking a statin.
Dr Colette Maule of the BMA’s Scottish GP Committee said: ‘Prescribing statins should not be seen as an alternative to
‘No alternative to a healthy lifestyle’
adopting a healthier lifestyle. The best way to reduce the risk of heart disease is to stop smoking, eat healthy foods and take regular exercise.’
Scottish Lib Dem health spokesman Jim Hume said: ‘These figures reveal an enor- mous number of Scots are being prescribed statins. We need to be assured this is the best clinical option and not simply a quick fix to get people off waiting lists.’
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘Statins are a wellestablished medicine to reduce a patients’ risk of a cardiovascular event, such as a heart attack.
‘The decision for statin use should involve an informed decision with the patient regarding the potential risks and potential benefits. Discussion should include recommendations from the clinician, such as the benefits of taking a statin after a heart attack, which can be very worthwhile for the patient.’
AN astonishing one in seven Scots is now prescribed statins, drugs designed to cut the risk of heart attack and stroke.
Indeed, so common are the pills that only a medicine which tackles acid reflux is doled out more frequently.
But setting aside questions over the long-term side-effects of statins, there is a concern that the drugs are regarded as ‘magic pills’ which allow patients to carry on with poor lifestyle choices.
Rather than tackling the core issues that put patients at risk in the first place – eating and drinking too much of the wrong things, coupled with a chronic lack of exercise – critics say doctors are reaching for the easy route out via the prescription pad.
No matter what patients might like to think, there is no medicine that can give carte blanche for the sorts of excess that once earned Scotland the unenviable tag of ‘the sick man of Europe’. We should be taking more personal responsibility for our own health – but these days personal control is an oldfashioned concept.
Increasingly we are infantilised by the nanny state, invited at every turn to cede control to ‘the professionals’ who set boundaries for us.
Fourteen per cent of the population routinely popping powerful drugs raises questions for our doctors about overprescribing. And it raises questions for the public about over-indulging.