The British Heart Foundation (who sponsor this forum) run a series of internet based Zoom presentations where they invite genuinely world class experts to discuss issues of interest to heart patients. And where you also have the opportunity of posting questions to really eminent cardiologists and researchers. Today's presentation was about Statins, and as always it was packed with fascinating information that you wouldn't find anywhere else.
For example the question was raised, why should someone keep taking statins if their cholesterol level was down in the "normal" range? I've seen this exact same point made many times on this forum without any good response. The answer was that our bodies have no minimum requirement for LDL cholesterol, and what is considered "normal" in 21st century Britain would still have been regarded as high in, for example, rural China in the 1960's (incidentally, they would also have only suffered a fraction of the heart disease that we have). So if you've been diagnosed with a heart condition it's still worth taking statins, even if your cholesterol scores appear relatively low.
The presentation also addressed an issue that's been on my mind. My cholesterol scores don't look too bad, so I was thinking of raising this with my GP with a view to reducing my dose from the current 40mg. The presentation made the point that larger doses of statins have a quantifiably greater reduction in the risk of heart attacks. Using the example of Atorvastatin, they said a 10mg dose reduces the risk of a heart attack by 37%, 20Mg by 43%, 40Mg by 49%, and 80Mg by 55%. So on this basis why isn't everyone on 80Mg? The answer is that the risk of Myopathy (a fairly serious muscular side effect) is a stable 1 in 10,000 up to 40Mg, but then suddenly jumps ten fold to 1 in 1,000 with the 80Mg dose. Consequently many GP's work on the basis that unless the patient has an obvious cholesterol problem it's more prudent to prescribe 40Mg. Having looked at these numbers I'm now happy to stay at 40Mg and not try and reduce any lower.
The side effects of statins was also discussed at length, and they showed some research where matched groups of patients were given statins and a placebo. What was astonishing was that almost identical percentages of the two groups reported muscle pain! The conclusion was two fold, firstly that statins tend to be prescribed to middle aged and older people who are beginning to have muscle pains as a normal part of the ageing process, and secondly there is so much negative publicity around statins and muscle problems that many people convince themselves they are experiencing problems when they're not.
All in all another superb presentation, I'd recommend them to anyone interested in learning more about the science behind our treatments.
Written by
Chappychap
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My liver went mad on 80mg of atarvostatin…then continued its dislike of it on 40mg. I’m now on Enzetimibe which is reducing my cholesterol nice and slowly and also isn’t impacting my liver function.
Must admit - was surprised my liver balked at Statins considering them amount of alcohol it accepted over the years 😀
Thanks Chappychap, really interesting. Its a shame these presentations are not recorded...I work until 5pm on Weds afternoon so cannot attend. There was an excellent one a few months ago where the focus was on depression and cardiovascular disease - which I would have loved to attend...same reason not. I did get in touch with the researchers as I am particularly interested in this topic. Glad the BHF can do this for us and the speakers are well thought of.
Thanyou for this. I found it really interesting. I take my 20mgs statin at night now. And don't get the muscle aches in my legs, like I did taking it in the morning. Regards Dee.
Really interesting read but some people do not tolerate statins. 15 years ago when my husband was prescribed ststins we did not know anything about side effects but we sure did when 8 months later he couldn't walk 50 m down the driveway to the letter Box. He has been on Ezetimibe and Bezalip since - and walks 15000 steps a day
Thank you, good, balanced information. Some of us, I suspect, are wary of statins due generally to sensationalised tabloid bad press. Best to get actual facts!
Question,I'm only on 5mg of rosuvastatin since my bypass 3 years ago.Does this mean I am at more risk of a heart attack than you.
I think different statins are needed in different doses. Probably better explained by saying 20mg of Rosuvastatin is equiv' to 40mg of Atorvastatin - at least thats what my Cardiologist explained to me.
Better if you drew your own conclusions regarding your individual risks. In a few days time the BHF will post this presentation onto YouTube, and you'll be able to watch it and make up your own mind. You'll be able to find it here,
Very interesting and informative post. Much to consider. Thank you for sharing this. When is the next presentation? Is it simple to access? .I have never attended or been part of of a zoom meeting/presentation. Not really techno minded but ok with emails!!
In particular I'm looking forward to the discussion on 24th November about genetic versus life style causes of heart disease.
There's also some really good previous presentations that have been posted on YouTube (so you don't even need the Zoom ap), for example anyone with Atrial Fibrillation will want to catch the June presentation.
Thanks Chappychap. Very interesting and I’ll look forward to catching up with this on YouTube.
In my experience, I started on 40mg Atorvastatin when diagnosed with CAD (no heart “event”).
Original cardiologist reduced this to 20mg when my total cholesterol was below 3.4mmol/l and LDL below 1.7.
Coincidentally, I then had a stress echo which was conducted by another cardiologist. He asked me why I had reduced my statin dose. His response was that I should take the max dose I could tolerate (up to 40mg) as this gave the best chance to stop/ reverse progression.
So now on 20mg Rosuvastatin (which I believe is equivalent to 40mg of the others).
Thanks for excellent summary. Wish I could participate but can't do zoom, you tube or other clever things, so particularly glad of people like you who can and do and pass on info.
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Statins are great for teeth
Inclisiran, an alternative to statins.
Statins / Periphial Neuropathy
Statins
