Thu, Feb-06-20, 01:21
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Plan: Muscle Centric
Stats: 238/153/160
BF:
Progress: 109%
Location: UK
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People taking statins are getting fatter because patients think pills are 'free pass'
People taking statins are getting fatter because patients think the pills are a 'free pass', study finds
Patients taking cholesterol and blood pressure drugs eight more cent more likely to become physically inactive
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/20...couch-potatoes/
Quote:
People put on statins are likely to do less exercise and eat unhealthily, because too many patients think they have been given a “free pass” research suggests.
The study of 40,000 people found that those put on such medication appeared to adopt less healthy lifestyles than others with similar risks of heart attacks who were not on the drugs.
The Finnish research, published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, tracked patients with at risk of heart disease and stroke for 13 years.
Those who were put on drugs to cut cholesterol and blood pressure were eight more cent more likely to become physically inactive. And they were 82 per cent more likely to gain weight.
Researchers said the findings suggested that some patients tend to slacken efforts to maintain a healthy lifestyle when they were offered a drug to cut their risk of heart problems.
Study author Maarit J. Korhonen, senior researcher at the University of Turku in Finland, said: “Medication shouldn't be viewed as a free pass to continue or start an unhealthy lifestyle."
"People starting on medications should be encouraged to continue or start managing their weight, be physically active, manage alcohol consumption and quit smoking.”
Researchers assessed more than 40,000 public-sector workers in Finland who had not been previously diagnosed with heart disease or stroke.
On average, participants were 52 years of age at the beginning of the study, and most were female.
Each participant was given two or more surveys in four-year intervals between 2000 and 2013. The surveys assessed body mass index, physical activity, alcohol consumption and smoking history. It was compared with pharmacy data showing which drugs they had taken.
Researchers said: "Our findings support the notion that there is scope to improve management of lifestyle-related risk factors among individuals who have initiated preventive medication," researchers wrote in the study.
"Patients' awareness of their risk factors alone seems not to be effective in improving health behaviors."
Prof Sir Nilesh Samani, medical director at the British Heart Foundation, said: “This study shows that the use of statins and blood pressure-lowering treatment is associated with reduced physical activity and an increase in body weight.
“Because this is an observational study, it is difficult to tease out cause and effect. However, the important message is that the use of drugs to prevent heart and circulatory diseases is not a substitute for maintaining a healthy lifestyle.”
Prof Peter Sever, Professor of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Imperial College London, said the findings were interestting, but said some of the changes were not significant, with small changes seen in body mass index.
And he pointed out that those on medication were more likely to cut their alcohol intake, and to smoke less.
“These findings emphasise the importance of maintaining lifestyle advice to patients initiating drug treatment, with the message that drug treatment of raised blood pressure and elevated cholesterol is not a substitute for changes in lifestyle,” he said.
Hugo Pedder, Senior Research Associate in Statistical Modelling at the Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, said: “It’s unclear from the study design whether those who initiate taking medications go on to have unhealthy lifestyles, or whether those who have unhealthy lifestyles initiate taking medications.”
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