The subject of statins is a hotly debated one in medicine and in my opinion often where there's smoke there's fire. The issue is personal to me because, like many people my age, I'm on a statin.
Peter's response raised a number of questions in my mind. First and foremost is his criticism that "a 4.4-year average treatment duration is very short." Short? That's longer than the average college undergraduate experience. How long does Peter want these studies to be? 10-years? For life? Because that's what a statin prescription is basically for - life! What about the ethics of those receiving placeboes in that "short" 4-4-year study? If stains were shown to be effective - what lasting damage could have been done to those who thought they were receiving real medicine?
The questions I would have like to had answered are; is Peter Attia on a statin? Besides exercise (Peter Attia is in excellent shape) what does Peter do in his own life to combat cardiovascular disease? Is Peter on any medications that are life-long prescriptions? If not - how would he feel being forced to take one? What about using natural supplements such as vitamin K2?
Disappointed by the article.
Doc put me on statins just last month. Doc tells me my cholesterol is normal. Couple days later I read about this study. Now I wonder...
ReplyDeleteI honestly stopped taking my a couple months ago. Started taking K2 instead on a daily basis
ReplyDeleteTo be clear - my biggest disappointment with Dr. Attia is that he argued the methodology of the study instead of the effectiveness/ineffectiveness of statins. Which is what I think most people want to know.
ReplyDeleteHey Chris, how can you know the effectiveness of statins without a good study on it? and wouldn't k2, etc be outside the scope of the study, so why would he talk about them?
ReplyDeletefor the record, I am also on lipitor, or a generic now, I guess, and am concerned about long term effects. I am 47, and will likely be on them the rest of my life.
ReplyDeletemild anecdote: when I first went on it, it was no generic, and worked out to about 3$ CDN a day. so I took it, paid cash, and it seems to work IMMEDIATELY. so after a bit, stopped taking it. waited a month, back on, worked again, off a month, back on, etc. Whenever people talk about "Free" healthcare here in Canada, I think of that... My doctor, as usual, was not impressed.
4.4 years is a short time to evaluate risks? And how is that compared to the studies on MRNA vaccines, which were measured in weeks? Docs look at cholesterol numbers and seem to overlook that so many people are obese. Whom can you trust these days?
ReplyDeleteI'm still considered overweight at 6'6"/237. CDC says "For your height, a healthy weight range would be from 160 to 215 pounds." 160? At 6'6"? Remarkable.
DeleteNote to self: don't mess with Art
DeleteI brought up K2 because Dr. David Sinclair of Harvard makes it part of his daily regiment and Sinclair is well known to Peter Attia.
ReplyDelete