Statins with your Big Mac?

If you're looking for an excuse to eat a constant diet of fatty foods, of which there are many to choose from in restaurants all over the city, a group of UK researchers may have found it by putting the responsibility of your health onto restaurants suggesting they offer free cholesterol busting statin drugs with meals.

If you think this is absurd, you are not alone.  Experts say the study from Imperial College London, published this week in the American Journal of Cardiology, should not be taken literally.

The cardiovascular risk increase associated with excess dietary intake of fat have been quantified, write researchers, as have the risk reduction associated with different statins for the prevension of cardiovascular disease.  These risks have not been directly juxtaposed to determine if an increase in relative risk by one activity, i.e. eating a Quarter Pounder® with cheese, could be neutralized by a second activity, i.e. ingesting a statin drug at the same time.

In 7 randomized controlled trials including more than 42,000 patients, investigators compared the increase in relative risk for cardiovascular disease associated with the total fat and trans fat content of fast foods against the relative risk decrease provided by daily statin consumption from a meta-analysis of statins in primary prevention of coronary artery disease.

The risk increase caused by the daily extra fat intake associated with a Quarter Pounder® with cheese and a small milkshake was found to be neutralized by the daily consumption of most statin drugs, drawing the conclusion that statin therapy can neutralize the cardiovascular risk caused by harmful diet choices.

"Statins don't cut out all of the unhealthy effects of a burger and fries. It's better to avoid fatty food altogether. But we've worked out that in terms of your likelihood of having a heart attack, taking a statin can reduce your risk to more or less the same degree as a fast food meal increases it," said Dr. Darrel Francis, who led the research team.

"When people engage in risky behaviors like motorcycling, smoking, or driving, they're encouraged to take measures that minimize their risk, like wearing a helmet, seatbelt or choosing cigarettes with filters. Taking a statin is a rational way of lowering some of the risks of eating a fatty meal."

The obvious difference between a statin drug and seatbelts, helmets and filters, is that only one of them requires a complete physical, including blood analysis by a health care professional and a prescription to purchase. 

An online article, Double Effect of Statin Drugs, careuheart.com, states, "There are lots of satin drugs available in the market but caution should be employed while using them. It is because the using of satin drugs involves lot of dangers."

The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) reports that statin drugs work by inhibiting an enzyme in your liver that's needed to manufacture cholesterol.  Virtually all statin drugs, marketed with brand names Zocor, Crestor, Lipitor, Pravachol, Lescor and Mevacor recommend daily usage exactly as directed, careful monitoring by a physician and blood analysis and emphasize lifestyle changes in diet, weight-loss and exercise.

Statin drugs, no matter what brand, also share the same side-effects:

    *constipation
    *heartburn
    *dizziness
    *difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep
    *joint pain
    *depression
    *cough
    *muscle pain, tenderness or weakness
    *lack of energy
    *fever
    *chest pain
    *jaundice
    *liver pain (upper right abdomen)
    *nausea
    *extreme fatigue
    *unusual bleeding or bruising
    *loss of appetite
    *rach, hives, itching
    *sore throat, chills or other signs of infection
    *swelling of the face, throat, tongue, lips, eyes, hands, feet, ankles or legs
    *difficulty breathing, swallowing, hoarseness
    *numbness or tingling in fingers or toes

Other precautions before taking statin drugs:

    *Other medications, vitamins, nutritional supplements and herbs taken that could affect the effetiveness of the statins or increase the severity of its side-effects.
    *Illnesses such as liver disease, kidney disease or blood disorders.
    *If you are pregnant or planning to become pregnant statins can be harmful to the baby.
    *Do not breast-feed while taking statins.
    *If you are having any surgery, including dental surgery, notify the surgeon that you are taking statin drugs.
    *Alcohol can increase the risk of serious side effects; consult your doctor about use of alcoholic beverages.

That's a pretty long list of warnings for a drug to be packaged as free condiments to be passed out with salt, sugar and ketchup, as suggested by the researchers.

Adding to the argument as to why giving out free statins is not the answer, Professor Peter Weissberg, Medical Director, British Heart Foundation, reminds us that a junk food diet "has a wealth of unhealthy consequences beyond raising cholesterol.  It can cause high blood pressure through too much salt, or obesity through eating meals loaded with calories. These are all risk factors for life-threatening health problems such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes and stroke."

Weissberg notes, "Statins are a vital medicine for people with -- or at high risk of developing -- heart disease. They are not a magic bullet."

Controversy has surrounded the use of statin drugs to lower cholesterol for many years.  Even the purpose and usefulness of cholestrol in the body is highly debated.  To read a different perspective, go to: www.foodconsumer.org/newsite/Non-food/Disease/ the_cholesterol_myth_that_is_harming_your_health_1008100822.html

Laura Lamp King