The cover of Newsweek magazine last week was an out-and-out valentine from the mainstream media to the pharmaceutical giants that manufacture cholesterol-lowering statin drugs.
“Statin Drugs Have Cut Heart Disease,” reads the text on the cover. Then the clincher: “Now They Show Promise Against Alzheimer’s, Multiple Sclerosis & Osteoporosis.”
All they left off was: “Superdrug leaps tall buildings in a single bound!”
If you didn’t read the Newsweek cover story, then come along and I’ll give you the lowdown on the delirious claims, glaring inaccuracies, and the dozen roses of sweetheart publicity that Newsweek gave to their sugar daddy, statins.
The article begins with a story about Jim – a 45-year-old Chicago man who enjoys eating egg rolls, mashed potatoes, and chicken wings covered with blue cheese dressing. In other words: Jim’s diet doesn’t quite qualify as health food. When a blood test revealed a total cholesterol level of 290 (50 points above the American Heart Association’s (AHA) level of high risk), Jim went on a diet and started exercising. In six months his cholesterol had dropped 27 points.
At this point, Jim had completed Chapter One of a potential success story. The cholesterol numbers were headed in the right direction, and he was on his way to establishing a permanent healthy lifestyle. But Jim missed his favorite foods. So he went back to the egg rolls, and he started taking Lipitor (the world’s largest selling drug with $9 billion in sales projected for this year). And now his cholesterol checks in at an AHA-friendly 140.
And he was recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.
This is Newsweek’s idea of a success story.
If there was any question about statins being the “ultimate miracle med,” that question is cleared by a comment from Oxford University researcher Dr. Rory Collins who calls statins “the new aspirin.”
And that pretty much sets the gushing tone of the Newsweek piece.
Clinical study results are simplified and easily tossed around, along with broad generalizations such as the “promise” that statins may be able to treat the three chronic diseases listed on the magazine cover, including – just possibly – cancer. Is there anything this little miracle pill can’t do?
But what about side effects? No problem! The article mentions two: liver problems and muscle pain. But these are dismissed with the breezy comment that “Quitting the drugs stops both side effects.” Period.
As safe as a mother’s kiss.
The article does give statins’ critics a brief moment to speak up, emphasizing that studies have shown that LDL cholesterol can be significantly lowered through exercise and dietary changes. But that is the single point that the critics are allowed to make. There’s no indication of the fact that cholesterol isn’t as reliable as other heart disease markers. And we don’t get any information on other statin side effects such as memory loss, nerve damage, sexual dysfunction, and cancer.
Wait a minute. Didn’t the article say that statins hold the “promise” of preventing cancer? Yes. But then eight pages into the article, in the second to the last paragraph, the author shares the observation that other statin-cancer studies have had “neutral or negative findings.” That’s a very quiet way of saying: “Statins may cause cancer.”
And there’s not a word in this article about the fact that statin usage has been shown to deplete the body of important nutrients that actually promote heart health – most notably, the potent antioxidant Coenzyme Q10. CoQ10 repairs free-radical damage to the heart muscle (helping in the prevention of heart disease) but statins may decrease CoQ10 and other antioxidants by as much as 22 percent!
Are these problems really acceptable in an “ultimate miracle med”?
The thing that I find most annoying with the Newsweek article is the sense of resignation that statins are needed by most people because the risk of heart disease just isn’t enough to inspire us to eat sensibly and exercise.
Doctors, we’re told, generally agree that lifestyle changes are the key to controlling cholesterol, but they believe their patients “aren’t up to the task.” One doctor is quoted as saying that for many, making such an effort is “just not palatable.”
And it never will be palatable to many patients if their doctors encourage them to use the statin safety net. Why give up egg rolls when you have a pill that will offset the unhealthy effect of the egg rolls? AND this pill also prevents Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis, osteoporosis, and cancer. How do I know? I read it in Newsweek!
With this article Newsweek has given a big, beautiful gift to the pharmaceutical industry by helping to perpetuate the popular twin myths that cholesterol is the number one heart-health danger, and statin use is the safe and effective way to treat it. It’s a dozen long-stemmed roses and a big box of Godiva chocolates — media style.
Spend 30 minutes on the treadmill? Nah. I’ll have another egg roll with a side order of statins. Unless they could go ahead and cook them right in. Hmmm
To Your Good Health,
Jenny Thompson
Health Sciences Institute
Sources:
“You Want Statins With That?” David Noonan, Newsweek, 7/14/03
“A Randomized Trial of a Low-Carbohydrate Diet for Obesity” New England Journal of Medicine, 348:2082-2090, No. 21, 5/22/03, content.nejm.org
