Should Statins Be Given To More People?

Statins, which include Lipitor, Mevacor, Crestor and Zocor, are the most widely prescribed cholesterol-lowering medications in the world. About 15 percent of American adults are taking them at a cost ranging from about $4 per month for the cheapest generic version to $600 for a pricey name-brand.

Old guidelines advised people to aim for a total cholesterol level of less than 200, keeping LDL (bad) cholesterol to 130 for average people and under 100 for those considered at risk of a heart attack. In 2013, new guidelines from the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology recommended that statins should be given to anyone with a 7.5 percent risk or higher of developing heart disease over the next 10 years. Adopting the new guidelines also means that between 8 and 13 million more people would be prescribed with statins.

Experts fear that the new guidelines would put too many Americans to statins’ risks without compensating benefits. Statins do have side effects. They can damage muscle in 5 to 15 percent of patients. In 2012, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) updated labeling on statins to include warnings about confusion and memory loss, elevated blood sugar leading to Type 2 diabetes, and muscle weakness. Many patients and doctors are also complaining that the new guidelines are confusing.

But 2 recently released papers concluded that the new guidelines might prevent tens of thousands of heart disease, stroke and death, and they are cost effective, too. Both papers were published July 14, 2015 in the ‘Journal of the American Medical Association’

In one paper, researchers at Harvard School of Public Health proposed a formula that considers age, weight, blood pressure and other factors like whether patients smoke or have diabetes, to predict whether they have at least a 7.5 percent chance of having a heart attack or stroke in the next 10 years. Using the formula, the researchers estimated that between 41,000 and 63,000 heart attack, stroke or death could be prevented in the over a 10-year period. They further pointed out that if statins were given to people with a 3 percent risk of developing heart disease over 10 years, another 160,000 heart attacks and strokes would be prevented.

Another paper, which was conducted by researchers from Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital and other institutes, revealed that the 7.5 percent risk for cardiovascular events is a cost-effective threshold using standard cost and longevity measures. They also proposed that people with even a 3 percent or 4 percent risk of suffering heart attacks or strokes could be put on statins cost-effectively.

Can Watching Football Match Really Lead to Heart Attack?

During the 2006 World Cup, researchers at the Munich University Clinic in southern Germany found that cardiac arrests and palpitations among men in the greater Munich area were more than tripled compared to the same period over 3 preceding areas. For women, the rate was double.

The researchers also found that “the more important the game, the greater the risk”. The number of heart attack cases actually surged when Germany played in the quarterfinals against Argentina (Germany won), and in the semifinal against Italy (Germany lost). Both games were decided after extra time and penalty shootout, which has already been found as a risk by previous research.

As the figures are so alarming, some experts urge patients with potential risk to take stress-receptor blockers, aspirin and statins, or even consider behavior therapy to calm them down before sitting down the soda to watch the football matches. The health experts even advise those patients who had a heart attack or who are considered to have a high cardiac risk to avoid watching important matches.

In fact, researchers at the University of Birmingham, in central England, already discovered that the number of heart attacks in Britain rose by 25 percent on the day England lost to Argentina on kicks in the 1998 World Cup. As such, they had suggested that penalty shootouts should be scrapped “on public health grounds”.

Then, there are the longer-term health problems for the football fans: they tended to develop into couch-potato lifestyle: non-stop boozing and snacking on starchy, fatty, salty or sweet foods. Such unhealthy lifestyle is partly responsible for major health problems like obesity, diabetes and heart disease found in Europe. Some health experts even blame the match organizations for advertising unhealthy products. They believe such act will do no good for the public health, and instead help the football spectators cultivate their unhealthy lifestyle.

Besides cardiac arrests, the reported number of emergency calls, wife beatings, depression, drunken driving, self-harm and even suicide is rising during major football sessions.

Can you imagine, a football fan would eventually be led to such a disaster by just watching football matches!