Cancer and Statins
I’m really not making this stuff up. Seemingly the entire medical profession has been duped into believing this class of drugs has a profound impact on CVD, upwards of 50% reduction in events (this is true, lowering the rates from 2% to 1% after 3 yrs of use…). I even had one memorable patient with a healthy lifestyle and good lipids whose PCP put him on Lipitor for “prevention.”
In my book, “prevention” does not carry the potential for increased rates of cancer, muscle pain or death. The link with cancer is that statins inhibit an enzyme called HMG-CoA reductase, lowering the production of a compound called mevonalate, but ONLY in the liver. This liver supression leads to an increased production in non-hepatic tissues, conferring an elevated risk of cancer. Prevention?
