(11-10-13) The Ugly Side of Statins. Systemic Appraisal of the

Sherif Sultan1,2#, Niamh Hynes1,2

1Department of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, Western Vascular Institute,
University College Hospital Galway, Galway, Ireland

2Department of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, Galway Clinic, Galway, Ireland

Email: #[email protected]



Received April 11, 2013; revised May 12, 2013; accepted June 12, 2013



Copyright © 2013 Sherif Sultan, Niamh Hynes. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution
License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

ABSTRACT

Cardio-vascular specialists have witnessed and actively participated in the revolutionary developments that have oc-
curred in their field of specialization over the last few years. Cutting-edge technologies have led to dramatic improve-
ments in life-expectancy and quality of life. An open-mind and pioneering attitude are necessary when exploring new
frontiers to improve our patients’ health. However, naïve indiscriminate acceptance of novel mainstream therapies is not
always advisable and prudence is required in unearthing harmful, covert side effects. An objective review of contempo-
rary vascular research was performed and industrial bias was sifted out for a fresh prospective on how to promote pri-
mary cardiovascular prevention with attainable lifestyle adjustments [1]. A comprehensive review of Pubmed, EM-
BASE and Cochrane review databases was undertaken for articles relating to cardiovascular primary prevention and
statin side effects with the aim of harmonising their roles within contemporary clinic practice. Particular attention was
paid to large-scale randomised controlled trials on contemporary cardiovascular pharmacotherapies and their specific
adverse effects on metabolic pathways which feature prominently in cardiovascular primary prevention and regenera-
tive programmes. There is a categorical lack of clinical evidence to support the use of statin therapy in primary preven-
tion. Not only is there a dearth of evidence for primary cardiovascular protection, there is ample evidence to show that
statins actually augment cardiovascular risk in women, patients with Diabetes Mellitus and in the young. Furthermore
statins are associated with triple the risk of coronary artery and aortic artery calcification. Cardiovascular primary pre-
vention and regeneration programmes, through life style changes and abstaining from tobacco use have enhanced clini-
cal efficacy and quality of life over any pharmaceutical or other conventional intervention.


Source: Open journal of endocrine and metabolic diseases, 2013, 3 179-185

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