NHS doctors to give Covid patients statins and blood pressure drugs

NHS doctors to give Covid patients statins and blood pressure drugs in hope they will prove to save lives as part of new trial Participants will be given apixaban – or Elquis – typically used to stop blood clots Or the cholesterol busting drug atrovastatin – sold over the counter for £12 Researchers are aiming … Read more

DR ELLIE CANNON: I stopped taking statins due to droopy eyes. When will they get better?

I recently stopped taking statins after suffering a droopy eye and sight problems because of the pills.  A month later, my eyesight is not better. How long will it take to go back to normal? Statins are medications that reduce the levels of cholesterol in the blood, and they’ve been proven to prevent heart attacks … Read more

Are these the new statins? Cholesterol drugs with fewer side effects get approval from health chiefs

Are these the new statins? Cholesterol drugs with fewer side effects get approval from health chiefs Bempedoic acid could be given to NHS patients who can’t be prescribed statins It is the first new cholesterol lowering tably drug to be authorised in 10 years The new drug costs around £600 a year and could help … Read more

DR MICHAEL MOSLEY: Can statins save you from Covid as well as heart disease? 

Back in 1986 I made a film for the BBC science series Tomorrow’s World about a remarkable new class of drugs called statins. Studies had shown that statins could cut people’s risk of heart disease by lowering their cholesterol levels. It was all very exciting. Thirty-five years on and statins are now one of the … Read more

DR MICHAEL MOSLEY: Can statins save you from Covid as well as heart disease? 

Back in 1986 I made a film for the BBC science series Tomorrow’s World about a remarkable new class of drugs called statins. Studies had shown that statins could cut people’s risk of heart disease by lowering their cholesterol levels. It was all very exciting. Thirty-five years on and statins are now one of the … Read more

Inhaling a lower dose of statins rather than taking them as a pill could end side-effects

Eight million people in the UK take statins every day. But could inhaling them rather than taking them in pill form prevent common side-effects? Statins, one of the most widely prescribed drugs, are taken to reduce levels of ‘bad’ LDL (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol in the body. When it builds up in the blood, LDL cholesterol … Read more

Statins side effects are caused by ‘nocebo’ effect, study says

Statins side effects are caused by ‘nocebo’ effect when patients fall ill because they believe pills will do them harm even before they take them, study says ‘Nocebo effect’ could account for 90 per cent of statin side effects experienced  A study found that those taking a dummy pill reported very similar side effects A … Read more

Statins side effects are caused by ‘nocebo’ effect, study says

Statins side effects are caused by ‘nocebo’ effect when patients fall ill because they believe pills will do them harm even before they take them, study says ‘Nocebo effect’ could account for 90 per cent of statin side effects experienced  A study found that those taking a dummy pill reported very similar side effects A … Read more

‘Stopping statins left me with pins and needles’: DR MARTIN SCURR answers your health questions

Statins made my legs ache, but when I stopped them I developed severe pins and needles, and it’s now painful to walk any distance. Is there anything I can do? Colin Bower, Nottingham. Your symptoms are highly suggestive of peripheral neuropathy, a common condition that occurs when the peripheral nerves — which run from the … Read more

‘Stopping statins left me with pins and needles’: DR MARTIN SCURR answers your health questions

Statins made my legs ache, but when I stopped them I developed severe pins and needles, and it’s now painful to walk any distance. Is there anything I can do? Colin Bower, Nottingham. Your symptoms are highly suggestive of peripheral neuropathy, a common condition that occurs when the peripheral nerves — which run from the … Read more