Statins are the Go-to Drugs for Cholesterol Management Yet People Hesitate to Take Them!

Advantages Outweigh Disadvantages

Repenting for the mistake after committing it makes you a good person? Asking for forgiveness after some mishap rolls back the problem? Giving some reward after some punishment blurs the wrongdoing? If these are true, then taking medications after getting into a health problem is also acceptable. Making amendments does need a good heart to do so and not every one of us has the goodness to do it. We need to also accept that broken words and spoken eggs cannot be taken back. They can only be disposed and we can start off afresh. Likewise, increasing your cholesterol levels and taking medications for controlling them is not going to solve the problem. They can keep your LDL levels under control but what about the extra cheesy burger or the juicy chicken wings that goes into your tummy right after? You need to rely upon these drugs apart from following the necessary health-related changes and lifestyle goals for reducing the risk of heart attack or stroke. Get the help of reputed registered dietitian nutritionists at www.firsteatright.com to help you prepare your diet plan, organize your lifestyle and decrease the risk of heart-related ailments.
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Setting the Ground for Statin
Statins are the go-to drugs when it comes to reducing LDL cholesterol levels, the type of cholesterol that puts a person at an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Statins blocks the critical substance needed by your body to make cholesterol and it also sucks out cholesterol from the artery walls saving the person from further blockage to blood vessels and heart attacks. How about taking statins even when your LDL levels are not way beyond recommended ranges as a safety precaution? It sounds ridiculous. Every drug comes with its fancy price tag-some kind of a side effect which makes the physicians think twice before prescribing such drugs to healthy people. There have been several trials showing statin’s effectiveness in reducing the risk of heart attacks or strokes in people by as much as 25% or 50% irrespective of the cholesterol levels in an individual. So, indeed its highly recommended that people at a high risk for these diseases should discuss about taking statins along with their daily ritual of following a healthy diet, exercise and activity.

Who are the ones who attain maximum benefit by taking statins? Those with a heart attack or stroke, peripheral vascular disease, people who have undergone coronary artery bypass, ones who have experienced stenting to treat coronary artery disease and the ones with diabetes. The possibility that the doctor would put you on statins depends on your risk of suffering a heart attack or death due to heart disease sooner in the coming years. Statins do prove their effectiveness in cutting down the risk of heart attack and stroke by 50% when people with narrow arteries take it. But research shows that only 6% of the people take statins as per their doctor’s recommendation.

Doesn’t Sum Up Right
The research on statins included more than 5,000 individuals who were diagnosed with cardiovascular disease between 1999 and 2013. All of them were prescribed statins within the first year of diagnosis in order to minimize cholesterol. The research team followed up on the patient’s commitment to the drug in the ensuing five years and also the occurrence of any heart disease meanwhile. Its been noted that individuals on medications mostly don’t follow it and, in this case, too the team noticed variable changes. Those participants who took the drug at least 80% times minimized their risk of heart attack or stroke by almost 50%. Almost 25% of the people did not take the pain to even fill the prescription in the first place while most of them cared the least to go for a second prescription. But researchers have no clue as to why the number of candidates taking the drugs were this bad.

We have proofs that heart health takes a turn for the worse when people skip their medications. If you are really concerned about saving your heart from a heart attack or stroke it is recommended to take statins regularly as prescribed by the physician.       

Possible Side Effects
We understand that no drug comes without side effects and statins are no different than the rest. Muscle pain and weakness are the commonly reported side effects while statins can also raise blood sugar levels increasing the risk of being diagnosed with diabetes. But the benefits far outweigh the risk of muscle pain/weakness.
But we have got another study that shows that statins increase the chances of diabetes attack almost between 9 and 12%. Moderate- and high-intensity statins increase the risk of diabetes by 10-20% which means 1 of every 100 statin users might be affected. The risk is even greater in those suffering from prediabetes.

Statins come as a life saver in many cases, their benefits are greater than the risks associated in people with cardiovascular problems or those with high cholesterol numbers. These drugs are the only meds available currently that help save the lives of people with a high risk of heart attack or those who have already experienced one.