There exist quite some conspiracy theories about statins, about how dangerous they might or might not be, and people having these doubts about their safety and efficacy include some doctors of medicine.
However, this blog post is not about that. I don't know if they are safe and beneficial or not. Maybe they are. But this is not about that.
Recently I had a routine blood checkup with an employer-provided health benefit physician, and almost all blood levels related to obesity were above recommended levels and good cholesterol was below recommended levels.
In a followup phone consultation the doctor immediately suggested statins, and gave a spiel about them that almost felt rehearsed. He gave several points and several arguments, literally like a rehearsed speech. I'm not even kidding.
What's most curious about it is that he had never seen me personally and, most importantly, he didn't ask a single question about my health and life habits. He didn't even ask about my weight. He didn't ask about my diet, he didn't ask about how much exercise I do, nothing. Not a single question. Nothing. Instead, he went directly to suggesting statins with a nice little spiel.
That felt strange to me.
I had to give a bit of history to him myself, unprompted. I had to tell him that about six years ago I was of pretty much ideal weight and in the best fitness of my entire life, going regularly to the gym, hitting the stationary bike every time for an hour, my blood pressure and rest pulse were like a dream, and rather obviously no problems whatsoever with my bloodwork. I also explained that the raise in bad cholesterol and the other obesity-related stuff was most likely caused because of me changing jobs and becoming extremely stressed and, as a consequence, gaining about 40 kg of weight, which is a lot.
I had to explain this to him on my own because, as mentioned, he didn't ask a single question.
After that I explained that I had actually started to exercise and eat healthily once again, and that I had already lost 9 kg in the last three months.
To be fair, after I had explained all of that he stopped pushing the statins and recommended that if I can keep up with the weight loss, I could get a new blood checkup is six months to see if it has improved. It was relatively clear that the raise in the bad stuff in my blood was caused by me gaining 40 kg and eating like a pig, and most likely not genetic.
What irritates me is that he should have asked those questions before jumping to statins. That's what a good doctor would do.
And mind you, he wasn't the first doctor who had immediately jumped to suggesting statins as well, as pretty much the same thing happened a couple of years ago with another doctor (although without the nice rehearsed spiel).
From what I have heard, these are not isolated cases. This is a pattern.
I really have to wonder why. Why are doctors here so eager to prescribe statins at the slightest signs of elevated bad cholesterol, without even negotiating alternatives with the patient? It happens all the time.
I don't like to be a conspiracy theorist, but it almost feels like there's something going on behind the scenes.
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