Pressure to take statins? – Diet and Health Today

Executive summary

* One of the most common questions I am asked is how do I stop my doctor pressuring me into taking statins? This note provides information (not advice) on this topic with the following sub-headings:

1) Voluntary & Informed consent. How is this defined? How can the principle of voluntary consent alone be used to stop pressure from medical staff, friends or family? What does the principle of informed consent mean and where does the onus lie?

2) The cholesterol test. Your numbers will be presented to you confidently and categorically. Should they be?

3) The Number Needed to Treat and to Harm. What is the Number Needed to Treat and the Number Needed to Harm for statins for your risk profile?

4) The life extension analysis. If you take statins for five years, how much longer might you expect to live?

5) The patient leaflet. What does this tell us about side effects? What does this tell us about warnings and precautions?

6) How benefit & harm are presented. What’s relative risk? What’s absolute risk? How will the benefits of statins be presented to you and what does this mean?

7) The risk assessment. What are the biggest risk factors for heart disease? Where does cholesterol fit in? At what age will risk calculators decide you need to take statins, even if your health is optimal?

8) The mechanism. What do statins actually do?