A debatable question: Should healthy people take cholesterol drugs?

At my annual physical before my heart attack in December of 2004 I was advised that, although the cholesterol came in a bit high, it would not be necessary to go on medicine to reduce this. Would I have been spared if I had? This sort of speculation really does nothing for me but it underscores a big question that is debated in today’s Wall Street Journal: Should Healthy People Take Cholesterol Drugs to Prevent Heart Disease.

You be the judge whether the answer is yes or no—it is far too problematic for me to say. However, here are two points I want to make on the WSJ debate:

I am not so sanguine as the proponent for healthy patients taking cholesterol-reducing drugs (statins, in particular), Dr. Roger S. Blumenthal—Director of the Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Heart Disease, when he says in regards to meta-analysis that “the sum of the trials flushes out bias and reduces statistical uncertainty.” This does not sway me from wanting a proper experimental study.

I agree with the opponent, Dr. Rita Redberg—director of women’s cardiovascular service at the University of California, who advises that

“we need clinical trials that actually follow healthy people treated with statins for the long term to see if treatment really results in lower mortality.”

I remain very skeptical of “experiments” comprised in a metamorphic manner by happenstance, as opposed to being truly controlled from start to finish and done double-blind (if possible).

health

This entry was posted on January 23, 2012, 10:14 am and is filed under Uncategorized, Wellness. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

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