Trying to stay healthy can seem like a full-time job sometimes, especially with all the conflicting

information that's out there.

But I'm here to make that job a little easier.

Welcome to the Nutrition Facts podcast.

I'm your host, Dr. Michael Greger.

Today we have part two of our series on statins, and we start with a look at what happens

when so-called statin intolerant patients are challenged blindly to discover how many are

really suffering muscle side effects.

The number one reason people may refuse to take statins or stop taking them is a concern

about side effects.

Statins are considered mandatory for secondary prevention for those with known cardiovascular

disease to prevent a second heart attack or stroke, but primary prevention, trying to prevent

our first event, is more of a gray area.

A hundred adults between the ages of 15 and 75 without known cardiovascular disease would

have to be treated with a statin for 2.5 years to prevent one major adverse cardiovascular

event like a stroke or heart attack.

That's the upside.

The downside, if you treated 10,000 such

people for a year, the statins would be expected to cause 15 cases of muscle symptoms,

eight cases of liver dysfunction, 12 cases of kidney dysfunction, and 14 more eye conditions,

while at the same time preventing 19 heart attacks, nine strokes, and eight

cardiovascular deaths.

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