A really interesting post from Nutri-Link newsletter Issue 113 March 2014…
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As the world of research this week is rocked by the Imperial College analysis of 29 RCT studies exploring the associated risks of adverse events when taking statins – they concluded there were none other than an increased risk of diabetes (20%)! They have missed a glaring point – what is the benefit of taking statins in terms of prevention of a cardiovascular episode for those with and those without heart disease?
Finegold JA, Manisty CH, Goldacre B, Barron A J, Francis DP What proportion of symptomatic side effects in patients taking statins are genuinely caused by the drug? Systematic review of randomized placebo-controlled trials to aid individual patient choice European Journal of Preventive Cardiology March 12, 2014 View Abstract
NNT
There is a way of understanding how much modern medicine has to offer individual patients. It is a simple statistical concept called the “Number-Needed-to-Treat”, or for short the ‘NNT’. The NNT offers a measurement of the impact of a medicine or therapy by estimating the number of patients that need to be treated in order to have an impact on one person. The concept is statistical, but intuitive, for we know that not everyone is helped by a medicine or intervention — some benefit, some are harmed, and some are unaffected. The NNT tells us how many of each.
So how many people with known heart disease who took statins for 5 years saw a benefit:
1 in 83 were helped (life saved)
1 in 39 were helped (preventing non-fatal heart attack)
1 in 125 were helped (preventing stroke)
1 in 50 were harmed (develop diabetes)
1 in 10 were harmed (muscle damage)
For those without Heart Disease
None were helped (life saved)
1 in 60 were helped (preventing heart attack)
1 in 268 were helped (preventing stroke)
1 in 50 were harmed (develop diabetes)
1 in 10 were harmed (muscle damage)
Alternatively those following an enhanced Mediterranean diet – not only had great food and better overall quality of life but the Mediterranean diet prevented deaths for 1 in 30 heart patients, and heart attacks for 1 in 18. That makes it three times more powerful than a statin drug for heart patients – what should we recommend our population?
