Statins, the cholesterol lowering tablets, are prescribed to around 6 million people in the UK, so it is likely that some of you reading this blog are currently taking statins. Statins work by reducing the amount of ‘bad cholesterol’ in the blood, which can cause the build up of fatty deposits in the arteries and lead to coronary artery disease. Statins affect the amount of cholesterol that your cells make, forcing them instead to gather cholesterol from your bloodstream, thereby reducing your blood cholesterol level. They have been hailed as a wonder drug in fighting heart disease, and the British Heart Foundation credits statins with saving 10,000 lives a year. However, potential side effects include sleep disturbance, depression and memory problems.

Here are some of the arguments ‘For’ and ‘Against’. For the full detail of these arguments, check out this article :

For

• Statins save lives by preventing heart attacks and strokes by delaying the onset of cardiovascular disease (which is Britain’s biggest killer, responsible for 1 in 3 deaths)
• Serious problems such as muscle wasting are very rare. Many people take statins without any problems
• It is always preferable to  alter your lifestyle to lower risk – cutting out fatty foods, quitting smoking, losing weight, and exercising more. But such measures are not always enough to combat rising cholesterol.

Against

• Side effects include muscle problems, hair loss, depression and impotence
• People sometimes think that taking statins then give them licence to eat what they like
• Patients can be motivated by panic to take statins because they fear that they are at risk if they don’t

 If you do take statin medication, and have a holiday planned, you may want to check out our AllClear4you which contains lots of useful information about travelling with medication, and any special considerations you might need.

Tags: AllClear4you, health news, heart conditions, heart disease, pre-existing medical conditions, travelling with medication

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 11th, 2010 at 9:19 am and is filed under Travelling with a heart condition. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.