Statin Use May Encourage Bad Eating Habits

Americans taking statins may believe that the cholesterol lowering pills are a license to eat unhealthily, according to the results of an analysis of the last 20 years of statin use in the United States.

The results were revealed in a peer-reviewed study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Internal Medicine.

According to the study, researchers examined data from government health surveys taken between 1990 and 2010. Answers from early 28,000 adults aged 20 and older were included in the study. The surveys themselves concerned eating habits, caloric intake, and daily activity. However, the participants also underwent physical exams and took blood tests and this data was included in the analysis.

According to the authors of the study, as statins became more well-known as widely available to patients, statin use rose from eight percent of all participants in 1990 to an estimated 17 percent in 2010. These numbers have likely spiked since then, as the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology reworked their hear-health guidelines last November, 2013 to encourage wider use of statins -- a change of policy that, if thoroughly followed, could save an estimated 50,000 additional lives.

Still, according to the JAMA study, statins may not be the life-savers they were intended to be if Americans continue to perceive them as they do.

Following an analysis of their collected data, the researchers were able to conclude that average caloric intake was steadily rising among statin users. By 2010, statin users were consuming an additional 200 calories a day compared to the average caloric intake of users in 1990. Average fat intake also saw a rise from 72 grams to 82 grams daily over the same 20 years.

The average body-mass index and diabetes rates among statin users also saw noticeable rises, but these rises can be attributed to the fact that more at-risk patients were being prescribed statins by 2010. People with diabetes and/or a BMI greater than 30 are at the highest risk of cardiovascular complications such as heart attack or stroke. Cholesterol -cutting medication such as statins undoubtedly help.

According to the authors of the study, while these results don't necessarily mean that the prescription of statins is causing everyone to abandon efforts at developing a healthier lifestyle, the significant rises in caloric intake and fat intake alone do paint a disturbing picture.

According to the study, while satin users exhibited these alarming rises, a similar rise was not seen among non-users, indicating that the data, at least in-part, may be influenced by an undesirable attitude about statins that medical professionals fear.

The study was published in JAMA Internal Medicine on April 24.