CardioExchange Archive

July 16th, 2013

What You Need To Know About Statins

Huseyin Naci, MHS, PhD Candidate, Jasper Brugts, Md phd msc and Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, SM

The authors of the largest meta-analysis to date on the side effects of statins discuss their findings and weigh the risks and benefits of statins for primary prevention.

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July 9th, 2013

Low Rate of Problems with Statins in Study of Quarter Million Patients

Larry Husten, PHD

A very large analysis of previously published studies finds that statins are generally safe and well tolerated, but helps confirm previous links to a small increased risk for diabetes and elevation of liver enzymes. Some statins were better tolerated than others, and lower-dose statins were better tolerated than high doses. In a paper published in Circulation: Cardiovascular […]

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May 23rd, 2013

Small Study Suggests Statins May Blunt Benefits of Exercise

Larry Husten, PHD

A small study is raising big questions about whether statins may blunt the beneficial effects of exercise. The study has been published online in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology and is the subject of a New York Times blog. Some 37 previously sedentary, overweight or obese adults with at least two other risk factors underwent 12 weeks of aerobic […]

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June 6th, 2012

Real-World Bleeding Risk with Aspirin in Primary Prevention Examined

Larry Husten, PHD

A new study published in JAMA provides substantial new evidence about the real-world effects of aspirin, including the risk for  bleeding, in a broad  population. The study also sheds important new light on the effects of aspirin in a diabetic population. Giorgia De Berardis and colleagues analyzed data from more than 4 million people in Puglia, Italy […]

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June 5th, 2012

Data, Drugs, and Deception – A True Story

D H Newman, MD

A skeptic looks at a recent meta-analysis of trials of statins for primary prevention and concludes that the authors cleverly buried a statistical deception. The study may have answered an interesting question, but it did not answer a much different and bigger question.

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March 6th, 2012

Another Round in the Debate on Diabetes and Statins

Yoni Freedhoff, MD

Let me start by saying that I am proud to have Eric Topol as a friend and a trusted advisor over the past 20 years. His work has been an inspiration to cardiovascular health professionals for several decades. His new book, The Creative Destruction of Medicine: How the Digital Revolution Will Create Better Health Care, […]

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March 5th, 2012

Statins and Diabetes: Real Concern or Much Ado About Nothing?

Larry Husten, PHD

In a New York Times Op-Ed piece on Monday, Eric Topol comments on last week’s announcement by the FDA that it was changing the label for statins. Topol focuses on the new warning that statins raise the risk of diabetes. He opens with a provocative statement: We’re overdosing on cholesterol-lowering statins, and the consequence could be a sharp increase […]

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February 13th, 2012

Meta-Analysis Raises More Questions About Routine Use of Aspirin for Primary Prevention

Larry Husten, PHD

Although aspirin can reduce the risk for cardiovascular (CV) events, the associated increase in bleeding suggests that it should not be used routinely in  people without prior CV disease, say the authors of a meta-analysis published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Sreenivasa Rao Kondapally Seshasai and colleagues combined data from nine clinical studies including more […]

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January 23rd, 2012

Rita Redberg and Roger Blumenthal Clash Over Statins for Primary Prevention in the Wall Street Journal

Larry Husten, PHD

The debate over whether statins should be used for primary prevention moved to the Wall Street Journal with opposing perspectives from cardiologists Roger Blumenthal and Rita Redberg. Blumenthal argues that “there is a mountain of high-quality scientific evidence” to support the use of statins in people without known heart disease but “demonstrated to be at high risk for […]

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September 26th, 2011

Statins for Primary Prevention: The Debate Continues

Larry Husten, PHD

Several leading cardiologists have taken issue with the assertion made by Rita Redberg and the editors of the Archives of Internal Medicine that using statins for primary prevention is an example “of the widespread use of medications with known adverse effects despite the absence of data for patient benefit for these indications.” In a research letter published in the […]

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