What are the drawbacks of cholesterol-lowering drugs?
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Dr. Dean Ornish answered:The problem with cholesterol-lowering drugs is that they are expensive and they have side effects, both known and unknown. The newer cholesterol-lowering drugs, such as lovastatin (Mevacor), are very expensive, costing up to $2,000-$3,000 per person per year. Since there are 100 million Americans with elevated blood cholesterol levels, treating everyone with these drugs would cost $200-300 billion per year, which is clearly not feasible.
Besides the expense, these drugs have side effects. Short-term side effects of lovastatin may include liver damage and possibly cataracts. Side effects of other cholesterol-lowering drugs include intestinal problems, nausea, bloating, and abdominal pain. No one even knows the long-term effects of putting millions of Americans on the newer cholesterol-lowering drugs for the rest of their lives.
Find out more about this book: Dr. Dean Ornish's Program for Reversing Heart Disease: The Only System Scie...
The problem with cholesterol-lowering drugs is that they are expensive and they have side effects, both known and unknown. The newer cholesterol-lowering drugs, such as lovastatin (Mevacor), are very expensive, costing up to $2,000-$3,000 per person... More
