Current Posts – 13 Apr 2014

If you are not confused about statins you haven’t been paying attention. Following a HealthInsightUK post a couple of weeks ago on the hidden statin data, questions about how much we can trust official estimates of your risk of suffering side effects has become front page news. Some experts warn side effects are common and can be dangerous while a new study found them practically non-existent. Jerome Burne separates the facts from the fantasy

A big trial is underway to test if putting obese patients on a very low calorie diet using nutritional shakes can reverse diabetes. Our contributor Hannah Sutter explains why this 40-year-old weight loss program that has an unimpressive track record is unlikely to be the answer. She wants to know why a more plausible approach using a low carbohydrate ketogenic diet is being ignored. Commercial interest is a plausible answer.

Should many more of us be taking statins and if so what’s the evidence it is a good idea? NICE suggests that their guidelines should be changed to make millions more eligible for the drug. But they are basing their recommendation on the work of a far less well known body -The Cholesterol Trialist (CTT) Collaboration, a highly respected research group in Oxford. An HealthInsightUK investigation – CTT House of statin secrets - has found the CTT is worryingly secretive and has limited information about side-effects.