'More adults should be taking statins,' says NICE

Conclusion Despite somewhat hysterical media coverage to the contrary ("millions more to be given statins," according to the Daily Express), nobody will be forced to take statins. If your GP does recommend statins, you should ask them to explain the benefits and risks for you personally of starting statin treatment. You may want to find out more about statins before making up your mind – the NHS Choices Health A-Z information on statins is a good place to start. If you do experience troublesome side effects while taking statins, contact your GP or the doctor in charge of your care. It could be the case that adjusting your dosage or switching to a different type of statin could help relieve any side effects. Analysis by Bazian. Edited by NHS Choices. Follow Behind the Headlines on Twitter. Join the Healthy Evidence forum. Links To The Headlines Statins: Millions more to get drugs in controversial plans. BBC News, July 18 2014 Prescribing statins more widely 'could avert tragedy', new medical guidelines suggest. The Independent, July 18 2014 NHS medicines watchdog lowers bar for statins prescriptions. The Guardian, July 18 2014 Forty per cent of adults advised to take statins under new NHS guidance. The Daily Telegraph, July 18 2014 GPs warn of chaos over bid to offer statins to 17m to prevent heart disease: Doctors being told to trawl medical records to find at-risk patients. Daily Mail, July 18 2014 Statins to be offered to '40% of adult population'. ITV News,...
Source: NHS News Feed - Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Heart/lungs Medication QA articles Source Type: news