Be still my beating heart. One day after writing a blog post describing how taking a statin for six years gives you three or four more days of life, CNN publishes an article titled, “Global study lays groundwork for daily statin usage to prevent heart disease.” (1) This study is referred to as the HOPE-3 trial. The author of the CNN article was summarizing the findings from a New England Journal of Medicine Study released today. (2)
(BTW: This study was funded by Big Pharma Cartel member AstraZeneca who, you guessed it, makes Crestor—the statin drug used in the study.)
Could I be wrong? I have been stating that statins fail nearly 99% who take them, yet the CNN article stated that those who took Crestor (when compared to those that took a placebo) for nearly six years had a 24% reduction in heart attacks, strokes or heart-related deaths. Furthermore, the authors of the study stated, “The HOPE-3 trial provides evidence to reinforce some current guideline recommendations and to influence future guidelines.”
I am not sure what guidelines the authors want to reinforce, but perhaps they meant the Dr. B guidelines. The Dr. B guidelines have said for years that statin drugs fail nearly 99% who take them. Let’s see if the HOPE-3 trial findings agree with my guidelines.
You see, in HOPE-3, 3.7% of those that took a statin drug over 5.6 years had a heart attack, stroke or suffered a heart-related death compared to 4.8% who took a placebo. The CNN article correctly stated that this was a 24% reduction in the statin-treated group (3.7%/4.8%). However, the reported 24% reduction is a relative risk reduction. As I have taught medical students, residents, and other physicians for years, the relative risk ratios are used by Big Pharma to make a poorly performing drug look better than it actually is. In fact, the relative risk concept is meaningless in a clinical study. It provides no useful information for the clinician to decide whether a particular therapy is useful or not.
The absolute risk difference of risk is a more meaningful way of interpreting data in order to use it clinically. What is the absolute risk difference in the HOPE-3 trial? It is 1.1% (4.8%-3.7%). That means, according to HOPE-3, 91 subjects would have to take a statin medication for nearly six years to prevent one cardiovascular event. In other words, the drug (Crestor) failed nearly 99% who took it—they received no cardiovascular benefit.
Folks, this study agrees with everything I have written about statins. In fact, my wife Allison (who just edited this post for me) just said, “You have been saying that for a long time. I am sick of hearing about it.”
Allison does have a point. I am tired of hearing the lies perpetuated about statin drugs.
The HOPE-3 trial does reinforce the Dr. B guidelines for statin use–namely no one should be prescribing or taking any drug that fails nearly 99% who takes it.
DrB
(1) http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/03/health/statin-usage-heart-disease-stroke/index.html
(2) http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1600176
Here’s the statin article from big Pharma about the benefits of Crestor (26% less heart related issues) that Dr B talks about.
http://chicago.suntimes.com/news/study-backs-statin-drugs-to-prevent-heart-disease/
Here are the details from the NEJM: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1600176
When you do the calculations for “Relative Risk”, the average is 26%! Just as they said!!
Too bad the “Absolute Risk” was really was 1.1% and 1.3% in the 2 groups!!!! Manipulating the numbers!!!
Live a couple days longer statistically but live ravaged by the side effects of these toxic meds. Only a fool would make such a trade. We are shamelessly promoting hypolipidenia, and the treatment goals involve creating this disease state actually. So there are consequences of this and this is just passed off as side effects not to worry about, when your muscles become damaged among other things, when your hormones become dysregulated, because cholesterol is the building block of hormones, when you get sicker and sicker, well just continue to take as prescribed. People generally are not even told that this causes CoQ10 deficiency and that just adds to the illness these drugs produce. They are also not told that high cholesterol is mainly caused by a poor diet, an excess of insulin created by an excess of carbohydrate intake. The majority of the population now has high insulin disease, hyperinsulinemia, no one cares though, just take your Crestor along with some other meds, don’t worry about it, we have pills for everything, including pills that are needed to help you with the damage that these other pills caused. A cornucopia of toxins really. Preventing the normal synthesis of cholesterol by the liver is a bad idea, fighting Mother Nature, and Mother Nature always wins in the end, punishing people with new symptoms and diseases/ So you might live a couple days longer but live more miserably, and need a bunch more meds, but that’s exactly the plan.
That means, according to HOPE-3, 91 subjects would have to take a statin medication for nearly six years to prevent one cardiovascular event.
To pick a nit, shouldn’t that read “one hundred subjects…”
Otherwise, great post.
Ernie,
No nit there–what I wrote was correct.
DrB
It’s important to keep in mind that the 98.9% failure rate is THE MOST FAVORABLE RESULT the investigator/manufacturer is able to publish without being caught with a smoking gun full of corrupted methodology. After William Thompson and the CDC in 2014 I am suspicious that all the tenuous pro-statin conclusions are massaged, buffed and glossed, and the negative effects buried.
My father was on Lipitor for years, contracted diabetes and heart disease, and died at 69. He only had high cholesterol when he was put on Lipitor. I believe Lipitor caused many adverse side effects in my father’s health and contributed to his early death.
This year it has been 25 years ago that ‘they’ would have me on the statin drug zocor, because of my so called too high cholesterol of then 8,5 mmol/L.
I intuitive refused. And as you can read, I am 78 years of age now, and still alive!
If you take the 1.1% reduction divided by 5.6 years that equals 0.196% / year reduction for the length of the trial.
Certainly not worthwhile, especially considering all the associated conditions that can be brought on by this class of drugs (cataracts, brain fog, rhabdomyolysis, hormonal depletion from hypolipidemia levels and diabetes to name a few) and the nutrient depletion of coenzyme Q 10.
Some docs and more and more patients are requesting to be off and refusing to begin these medications. Thank you for sounding the bell so faithfully for so many years and telling the truth! Love you books, which are extremely helpful and insightful.
Phil Roberts, MD, MS, ABAARM
Thanks you Dr. R,
Doctors need to be responsible for the drugs they prescribe.
DrB
After 4-5 months on lipitor and getting leg cramps, I got off of them. My cholestrol went up to368. I started a protocol using Advanced Bionutrionals ‘Advanced Cholesterol Formula’. I would also take Red COQ10, No-flush Niacin and Omega 3. Checked my cholesterol 4 times withi the year and it gradually came down to 185 total cholesterol. I purposely missed a few times so it would come up to 200 to 240 as I am 72 and think it should be a little higher. Its been below 240 for the last 4-5 years. No statins for me.
Dr. B, just keep ringing the alarm, maybe someday statins will be a thing of the past.
Dr,B,
I am a 73 yr. old Blunt communicator, and I think you are being too polite to pharmaceutical companies,
Call them what they really are, GD Liers! Statins only work in1% of all cases and always have major side effects..
You go, Richard!!!
Keep up your posts. Not a week goes by that I don’t memorize every word you print. I am spreading the word to all of my patient’s , friends and family. Its an important battle, and it is our calling to educate our patients, and inform them. I am extremely grateful for all of your posts and the courage you have to speak the truth.
Wow. Thank you Dr. Perlis.
DrB
That’s not a study, it’s an advertisement.
Hanneke,
Agreed. A pathetic, dangerous, and misleading advertisement.
Dr. B
I was reading a post by someone taking a statin. They told their physician they are taking CoQ10. He made a comment something to the effect if you like wasting your money.
Canada even requires supplementation with statins. What’s missing in the USA?
When will this disaster stop being perpetuated and physicians buying/selling it?
This drug IS NOT FOR ME.
Dr. B. I for one am NOT sick of hearing you say Statins fail 99% of those who take them. PLEASE repeat it over and over and over until people finally get it. This stuff is POISON! BTW, I saw the summary all over the internet. Made me want to gag. I did finally post a commen that the public (and doctors of course) need to learn the difference between relative risk and absolute risk.
Very well stated, Dr. B. Your explanation of how the data is manipulated to give the illusion of benefit is eye-opening (and sad and frustrating and infuriating all at the same time). Thankyou.
Also… The studies clearly showed increased cataract rates and muscle pain with the use of these poisons (the first issue has been known since Lipitor was released). Keep up the fight Dr. B!
Thanks Doc. We are few and far between.
DrB
So, this evening on NBC Nightly News they had a brief story about patients complaining of muscle aches and pains as a result of taking statins. Their physicians admitted that the patients really did have honest-to-goodness problems with statins. Oh, Surprise!
Hello Barb,
You must have missed his response in yesterday’s post:
David Brownstein says:
Barb,
When I advise my patients to stop taking them, I do not wean them off.
DrB
?
Please Dr B…how should my husband stop taking his statin, cold-turkey or gradually?