Rita Redberg, MD, editor of the Archives of Internal Medicine and Mitchell H. Katz, MD, deputy editor of the same medical journal published an article in the April 2012 issue of JAMA to suggest that healthy men with high cholesterol should not take anti-cholesterol statins because these drugs do not lower their risk of death.

Statins are very effective at lowering circulating cholesterol, which is considered by the medical circle to be a risk factor for cardiovascular disease while some scientists do not believe cholesterol except those oxidized cholesterols has much to do with cardiovascular health.  Some studies indicate that people with a (family) history of heart disease may benefit from taking statins and other studies suggest that statins are at least not cost-effective at reducing heart risk for those who do not have prior heart problems.

Two reviews cited in the article hint that statins do not reduce mortality in healthy but high risk men and women.   One review published in Archives of Internal Medicine meta-analyzed data from 11 trials of 65,229 healthy but at high risk men and women with 24,000 person-years of follow-up showed that taking statins did not reduce mortality.  Another review published 2011 in Cochrance Review came to a similar conclusion.

The authors pointed out that taking statins is not risk free and the drugs can induce adverse effects including myopathy, muscle pain, muscle weakness, and cognitive impairment.  In fact, statins can also lead to many other adverse effects including behavioral alterations (severe irritability, homicidal impulses, threats to others, road rage, depression and violence, paranoia, alienation, antisocial behavior); sleep disturbance ; and sexual dysfunction (impotence and decreased libido), liver problem, acute kidney failure and cataracts,  diabetes mellitus,  gallstone disease and stroke.

Drs. Redberg ad Katz concluded that based on current evidence, a healthy man with high cholesterol will not live any longer if he takes statins.  For every 100 patients with high cholesterol levels who take statins for five years, a heart attack will be prevented in one or two patients.  However, taking statins, one or more patients will develop type 2 diabetes mellitus, and 20% or more will experience adverse effects such as muscle weakness, fatigue and memory loss.

Cardiovascular risk can be reduced in healthy men with high cholesterol by following a healthy diet, increasing exercise and maintaining healthy weight which have been found to provide a number of benefits including increased longevity, improved mood and sexual function and fewer fractures.  Persons taking statins could have a false sense of security which could lead them to follow a lifestyle (unhealthy diet and physical inactivity) that could actually harm them.