I’ve just gone on vacation – I’m going to be away for three weeks – and am shocked to discover that I’ve forgotten to bring my cholesterol-lowering device with me. Can that hurt?
John (61)
Joris Bartstra, journalist with medical diploma
Not worth mentioning. The use of statins prevents the formation of fatty material in the vessels (‘atherosclerotic plaques’); this reduces the risk of a heart attack or stroke by about 30 percent. Let’s say you have a 3 percent chance of a heart attack per year (this is a good reason to prescribe a cholesterol-lowering agent). You lower that chance by 30 percent if you take statins. That makes a difference of 1 percent per year. If you don’t take the pills for 3 weeks out of 52, then you ‘miss’ 6 percent of that one 1 percent, so that’s 0.06 percent. Well, you can risk it. Over the years, taking a cholesterol-lowering drug is worth it, but not taking it for a few days won’t hurt. That’s like not eating fresh vegetables for a few days.
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