Cutting Cholesterol Medications Poses Serious Risk
As it is known, discussions about cholesterol medications continue both in the world and in our country. Some media physicians, so to speak, talk about this issue, keep this issue constantly on the agenda in order to contribute to their popularity, and cause confusion in patients with false and inaccurate information.
Published in Annals of Internal Medicine, one of the important and respected journals of internal medicine. Important information on this subject was shared in a study.
In this study, the findings of 28,000 patients using cholesterol drugs, which we call statins, were retrospectively examined for four years. Approximately one-third of these patients discontinued the drug within the first year due to side effects that they thought were related to the statin. At the end of the study, it was determined that heart attacks, strokes and deaths due to any reason were more common in those who stopped taking the drug than in those who did not.
Now, I do not want to go into the benefits and harms of statins here. But this issue should be emphasized in particular: Some patients think that doctors prescribe medication for every high cholesterol level. But such a situation is not possible. There are some criteria for recommending cholesterol medication, and these criteria are constantly updated with new research. In other words, physicians who follow the publications and renew themselves give these drugs to their patients according to those criteria. If it is necessary to stop taking the medication for any reason, this must be decided by the physician. However, false rumors circulating in the media also affect physicians who cannot follow this issue adequately, and they act according to the wishes of the already confused patient and unnecessarily stop the medication. The study I mentioned above shows that such an attitude is wrong.
As a final word, I would like to remind you that it is important for patients with any form of atherosclerosis or who are at high risk of this issue to use cholesterol medication. As it is known, a significant portion of the most fatal and disabling diseases in the world occur as a result of arteriosclerosis. The most important of these are heart attack and stroke.
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