Pros and cons of statin treatment

Why patients are more afraid of drugs than diseases

Olga Botnar, 1obl.ru

Patients with diseases of the cardiovascular system fearfully perceive the news about the need to take statins, because you should drink such pills on a regular basis and they have some side effects. Are the fears justified and is it possible to give up these medications?

When choosing the appropriate treatment, doctors always evaluate the advantages of a particular therapy and its possible disadvantages that the patient may encounter. If the advantages of the method outweigh, the choice is obvious.

If we are talking about atherosclerosis, the patient should understand that it concerns a pathological process from which blood vessels are damaged and thrombosis develops. A person may not know about the presence of atherosclerosis until a heart attack or stroke. Note that these cardiovascular catastrophes often have a fatal outcome.

"Prevention and treatment of atherosclerosis is a cornerstone in modern medicine. Statins manage to reduce the production of "harmful" cholesterol in the liver and inhibit vascular damage, but they, like all drugs, may have their drawbacks," cardiologists explain.

And yet, it is better to entrust your health to a doctor (to calm down, you can visit several specialists and compare whether doctors will agree on your case) than because of fear of refusing treatment (by the way, fear is often associated with a lack of information about the subject). Let's take a closer look at the advantages and disadvantages of medicines

Advantages of statin therapy:

• total and "bad" cholesterol decreases;

• the growth of vascular plaques is inhibited, their size decreases, they become denser (more stable), because only soft (unstable) plaques cause thrombosis;

• the risks of thrombosis are reduced;

• reduces the likelihood of heart attacks, strokes;

• life expectancy increases;

• inflammatory reactions are suppressed;

• increases resistance to viruses that cause infections;

• the mood improves and the predisposition to depression decreases;

• dementia, possible with atherosclerosis, is prevented;

• the liver is protected from cancer and cirrhosis, which happens with viral hepatitis B and C;

• aging slows down, as the youth of the vessels that supply blood to the whole body is prolonged;

• taking statins does not imply restrictions in lifestyle;

• statins do not provoke pathologies such as diabetes mellitus, colon cancer, Alzheimer's disease.

Cons of statin therapy:

• medications are taken daily;

• there will be no effect from the course of treatment, therapy should be continuous;

• pills are expensive;

• in one case, one hundred thousand patients may be diagnosed with liver or muscle damage, but this is reversible;

• therapy involves the delivery of tests to track the effectiveness and possible adverse reactions.

Important! Any "side effect" from statins is reversible and does not lead to the death of the patient, but atherosclerosis every year "kills" up to 1,200,000 people in the country with a heart attack or about 600,000 people left without treatment with a stroke.

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