When will people get it through their fat heads?

January 7’s Business Week has a very percolating article regarding a certain type of medication called “statins,” which are used to lower cholesterol levels in people who have proven themselves unable to find a treadmill.

The main thrust (sexy word alert) of the article ascertains that these stratospherically high-selling drugs do very little to actually help prevent heart attacks in people; actually only benefiting 1 in 100 of the poor slobs that have been taking these drugs—in some cases for five years or longer. Yes, these people have been told to pop an expensive, side effect-rich pill everyday for the rest of their sad lives when in fact, like always, diet and exercise would have been a much more effective form of treatment. From the Business Week article:

What would work better? Perhaps urging people to switch to a Mediterranean diet or simply to eat more fish. In several studies, both lifestyle changes brought greater declines in heart attacks than statins, though the trials were too small to be completely persuasive. Being physically fit is also important. “The things that really work are lifestyle, exercise, diet, and weight reduction,” says UCLA’s Hoffman. “They still have a big NNT, but the cost is much less than drugs and they have benefits for quality of life.”

So why—in the face of evidence that not only makes perfect common sense, but also adds weight to an argument that many doctors have been trying to press upon their legions of fat, greasy, American patients for decades—do so many physicians exalt the use of a worthless product? Because of the money, stupid! Surprised? Again, from Business Week:

Drugmakers, however, do make sure that the researchers and doctors who extol the benefits of medications are well compensated. “It’s almost impossible to find someone who believes strongly in statins who does not get a lot of money from industry,” says Dr. Rodney A. Hayward, professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School.

So where are we going with all of this? As it turns out, LDL cholesterol, or BAD cholesterol, might not be the killer we have all made it out to be. The article has quite a bit to say on this subject, but it boils down to:

Add it all together, and “current evidence supports ignoring LDL cholesterol altogether,” says the University of Michigan’s Hayward.

As always, everything in moderation, people. If someone is telling us that there is one clear cut answer, and that they are one of the only providers of that answer, AND the answer is gonna cost us a lot of dough, then warning bells should be going off in our collective heads. I propose that doctors be forced to post in plain site, in their waiting rooms, all the companies they are currently getting paid to endorse. Other people have to do it, right? Don’t we have the right to know? Why should my well-being be placed at risk just because some asshole with a medical degree needs to make his boat payment?

There’s nothing else for it, friends. Have an egg or two, and then do some push ups. That’s the way it’s always been.