"now they want everyone to take them without weighing up the side affects"

No they don't, and the side effects are well known - get your facts right.

Numerous research studies have shown that the benefits of taking statins far outweigh the potential risks. Using emotive phrases such as "the horror of statins" is silly, and unhelpful. It's true that there can be side effects, but that's true of every single drug on the market, so it's best to get a sense of perspective.

The two serious potential side effects with statins are liver toxicity and myopathy. Both of these complications are rare. Liver toxicity can occur if someone is taking a very high dose of statins or takes them in combination with acetaminophen or alcohol.

Myopathy (muscle weakness) may occur when taking statins alone, but the risk increases when statins are taken along with vitamin B3, or with a fibrate (a Cholesterol-lowering drug). Myopathy can have serious consequences if left untreated.

Both side effects are rare, and as I said earlier the risks are far outweighed by the benefits of taking statins.

Claiming that "our GP's are making money as well as the pharmacies and poisoning us with their drugs" is a wildly sweeping and inaccurate thing to do.

One side effect of the statin I take is on my arthritis.

In the period before my heart attack I could barely walk.

Now, nine years on, I can climb stairs, albeit slowly, but I can still do it.

..the reason such medicines are prescription items..

In actual fact some Low dose Statins were reclassified and have been available over the counter in Pharmacies since 2004

BMJ extract

fourm member

From here

Recently the Daily Mail, (oops! the mention might stir some blood on here), published a story that taking statins could reduce the possibility of bowel cancer occurring by as much as 50%. This seemed good news in considering whether statins are good bad or indifferent.

Problem is, this week the Mail produced another story, snoring could increase the risk of cancer. Now there's something else to consider in relation to statins.