How Much Longer Do You Live on Statins?

What are the pros and cons of relative risk versus absolute risk versus number-needed-to-treat versus average postponement of death taking cholesterol-lowering statin drugs?

This is the last in my four-part series on statins. If you missed any installments, check out:

I previously produced a related series on stents, including:

Thanks for watching. I hope you’ll join in the evidence-based nutrition revolution!
-Michael Greger, MD FACLM

[pbziegler]

"unless you are willing to change your lifestyle." I favor that alternative.

[humblecourageous]

My husband and I have been 100% vegetarian for 49 years. We are both in our early 70s now. I had a CAC scan in 2017 and it was 107 (not good). My husband's score was zero (perfect!). We ate essentially the same diet. I took a statin for 2 years due to that CAC scan but it made me limp around everywhere. Also the plaque in my arteries increased 85% in that two years. My new CAC score was 193. I stopped the statins. The limp went away. I continued to take K2, D3, magnesium and aged garlic. In two more years, the plaque in my arteries decreased 18% for a CAC score of 164. My conclusion is that for some people statins can increase the arterial plaque. My last cholesterol test was 249. My new doctor is allowing me to try turmeric for that. I also added lecithin which is supposed to decrease cholesterol. I won't know until 6 months. Regardless, the K2, D3, magnesium reduced plaque. I know the calculations of HDL and total cholesterol can say you have a very bad chance of a heart attack. I just don't know why if plaque is being reduced or like my husband, if he has no plaque. (I should add that I have absolutely no body pain anywhere. I also exercise 5 days a week.) EDIT: LECITHIN LOWERED MY CHOLESTEROL TO 199, BUT MY NEXT CAC SCAN WAS 297. I AM NOT TAKING LECITHIN ANYMORE. Turmeric gave me gallbladder attacks. Whenever Iower my cholesterol the arterial plaque increases. I now think arterial plaque may be gut related.

[joetrolo]

And if it gives you Alzheimer's, who wants to live longer? In most cases, a diet change could solve this problem. My goal is to be on no pharmaceutical drugs on a daily basis. Almost all the problems with People's Health in this country start with too much sugar and bad diet.

[zeroedout]

Assuming we take statins at 40 and the average death is at 80, I'd rather risk dying 3years earlier than live with the side effects for 40 years on statins

[arkrainflood]

every statin i have taken had negative side effects. so my risk benefit calculation: 100% chance of brain fog/flatulence/joint stiffness/muscle weakness vs a small possibility of life extension.

[aaronsands]

Thank you, Dr. Greger. This is the kind of honest look at drugs and lifestyle that people need to see and understand.

[daltonknox]

But getting people at risk to change their diets, exercise or stop smoking is extremely difficult, whereas taking a pill is relatively easy.

[johnborges]

If you can manage to lower your cholesterol by diet and lifestyle changes, that's great -- as long as you actually do it. But for those of us with congenital defects that make it impossible to get cholesterol numbers down to safe levels without drugs, I'm happy to have statins.

[jasonclark]

I have two questions/problems with taking statins:

1. Do we reduce cholesterol so much that we cannot make Vit. D from sunlight effectively?
2. Dr. Gregor hasn't discussed the issue of higher incidence of diabetes among statin takers here. I've read it's significant.

A further issue is that the benefits of statins are not evenly distributed: some may live several years longer, others only a few months or not at all.

[adrianbulfon]

Sounds like a well-balanced approach; take your statin if indicated and switch to a plant-based diet. Surely the benefits would be even higher when combined.

[marypiver]

A patient cured is a customer lost!!!😊

[tom]

65 yo. I eat whole food plant based, exercise, and have been on 20mg statin for about 15 years. Doc says it's preventative to keep my LDL low. Not diabetic or overweight. Fingers crossed.

[harveywarne]

You do not point out the diabetes it causes, the increased insulin resistance and the muscle damage....there are other adverse effects as well. Yoir credibilty has taken a hit with me.

[abetterlivedlife]

Is there a study out there yet comparing life expectancy and health difference between similar LDL reductions from statins vs diet?

[EvanDeitrich]

Oatmeal is my statin. I take it everyday

[abc_cba]

Statins destroy CoQ-10 and that's just why I quit it.
Niacin not only boosts NAD+ levels but cuts down Lp(a) and small-LDL particles. I chose that.

[gkrishnan]

By the way when a medical body has declared that fat is not substance of concern, meaning the entire story from fat causes heart attack (as declared by the then surgeon general when a president got a heart attack and he loved his fries) to cholesterol to lipids to HDL and LDL and good fat and bad fat is big fiasco, whether statins need to be prescribed at all.

Go to the basic question, whether lipids in blood need to be reduced at all. Apparently yes because all these pharma companies and pharmacies will go bankrupt and pharmacists will end jobless if docs stop prescription of statins. Apparently that seems to be the bottom line.

[KJSvitko]

Every doctor visit should include nutrition information. 
There are too many obese adults and children these days.

[brucecampbell]

Dr. Gregor is a fanboy for the food pyramid: eat excessive carbs/sugars (juices), breads, pastas and too many fruits (fructose) and avoid healthy fats (as a larger part of total daily calories). My own health has improved significantly and I reversed pre-diabetes/metabolic syndrome /fatty liver with a ketogenic diet rich in leafy green vegetables, root vegetables low in carbs/high in fiber, some colorful vegetable fruits, small servings of meat and fish and plenty of healthy oils and fats (e.g. EVO), and occasional small portions of colorful fresh fruit in season. My triglycerides plummeted, my HDL raised to a healthy level and my small LDL dropped to a healthy range. My gut health improved and my allergies went a away. Statins lower all cholesterol at the expense of proper/optimal function of the body. My observation is the Dr. Joel and the AMA have no concept of food as medicine and are stuck in their roles as purveyors of pills for big pharma; good at addressing trauma but short sighted in getting to prime causes and cures of disease.

[stx]

How does 5 years = 10 days, translates into whole life or lets say 50 years = 10 years?