NYT article on statins and diabetes page

[Cyclops]

The Diabetes Dilemma for Statin Users

We’re overdosing on cholesterol-lowering statins, and the consequence could be a sharp increase in the incidence of Type 2 diabetes.

The cause and effect was unequivocal because the multiple large trials of the more potent statins had a consistent excess of diabetes.

Oops...

John C>

[jay_fm]

My Mom's tests just came for for pre-diabetes AND he wants to put her on Statins. He didn't even tell her to try and lower her cholesterol before trying to push drugs. Don't most Dr.'s give their patients a few months to try and lower it on their own?

I had her email me her numbers and they really aren't that bad. She is inactive and could cut out some carbs but I think a few minor changes could really benefit her. Easy tweaks which is why I am so irritated that her doctor went straight to drugs.

[Wafaa]

A little vindication.
My dad finally went off statins after taking them for 1 year due to those memory loss symptoms. At the time, since memory loss was not part of the official list of possible side effects, we thought he might be getting Alzheimer's and I had to do a whole lot of research till I figured out that it was the 20mg simvastatin he was taking. Even after sharing this side effect with his doctor, instead of suggesting that he start exercising or improve his diet and stop the statins, he just wanted to put my dad on a different statin.

I'm glad my dad was convinced that statins are terrible drugs, especially for someone who doesn't actually have heart disease, and only has a bit higher than average cholesterol.

[Owly]

My Mom's tests just came for for pre-diabetes AND he wants to put her on Statins. He didn't even tell her to try and lower her cholesterol before trying to push drugs. Don't most Dr.'s give their patients a few months to try and lower it on their own?

A lot of doctors don't bother anymore. In part, this comes from a medical culture that sees drugs as the best answer in a lot of cases, but it also comes from the reality that many patients are not successful with diet and lifestyle changes, so doctors will resort to the solution they think patients are most likely to stick with. So many people would rather just pop a pill than take steps to deal with the underlying condition--just think how many times on the CW thread people talk about someone who would rather take extra insulin than to reduce their sugar consumption.

However, the immediate jump to pills means that people who might be willing to work on lifestyle changes don't ever get informed that it's an option. But considering that the CW reqs will include eating ultra low-fat, it's often not very effective when they do. Then doctors see people who claim they've complied with all the recommendations (and they likely have) but don't have results, and so the assumption is that they're lying. Then doctors think that drugs are the way to go because their patient is obviously not following the rules, compounding the notion that patients are all too non-compliant and the prescription pad should be the first line of treatment.

[jay_fm]

^^ It is such a vicious cycle. I don't want to overload my Mom with too much info but I think she agrees with me.

The hard thing with my Mom is that even if she agrees with me getting her to change is a whole other problem. And like you pointed out...why doctors sometimes just go for pills.