British scientists have come up with a novel idea. They suggested that junk food counters should hand out free cholesterol-lowering statin drugs to their customers to “neutralize” the heart risks of eating fatty foods like burgers and fries. The idea is to project having high cholesterol fatty food as risky a behavior as driving or smoking that needs the user to go for seatbelts and filtered cigarettes respectively.
According to a latest study published in the American Journal of Cardiology, scientists from the National Heart and Lung Institute at Imperial College London calculated that the reduction in heart disease risk offered by a statin could offset the increase in risk from eating a cheeseburger and a milkshake. Dr. Darrel Francis, lead researcher said, “Statins don't cut out all of the unhealthy effects of a burger and fries. It's better to avoid fatty food altogether. But we've worked out that in terms of your likelihood of having a heart attack, taking a statin can reduce your risk to more or less the same degree as a fast food meal increases it…When people engage in risky behaviors like driving or smoking, they're encouraged to take measures that minimize their risk, like wearing a seatbelt or choosing cigarettes with filters. Taking a statin is a rational way of lowering some of the risks of eating a fatty meal.” Francis said in his report of the research, “It makes sense to make risk-reducing supplements available just as easily as the unhealthy condiments (such as salt or ketchup) that are provided free of charge…It would cost less than 5 pence ($0.07) per customer -- not much different to a sachet of ketchup.”
Authors of the study write, “Although no substitute for systematic lifestyle improvements, including healthy diet, regular exercise, weight loss, and smoking cessation, complimentary statin packets would add, at little cost, one positive choice to a panoply of negative ones.” The team worked independently and had no funding from the drug or food industries for their research -- used data from a previous large study to quantify how a person's heart attack risk increases with their daily intake of total fat and harmful trans fats.
At present statins are among the most widely used drugs for the treatment and prevention of heart disease and strokes. One statin, simvastatin, is already available in low doses over the counter at pharmacies in Britain without a prescription. Other statins such as Pfizer's Lipitor and AstraZeneca's Crestor - which are among the biggest-selling drugs in the world -- are for prescription only. In the U.S., all statins are only available by prescription.
Peter Weissberg, medical director at the British Heart Foundation (BHF) health charity however feels that Francis' idea should not be taken too literally. He urged people to focus on maintaining a good diet and taking exercise to keep their hearts healthy. He added, “Statins are a vital medicine for people with, or at high risk of developing heart disease…They are not a magic bullet.”
In a previous study in June in the Archives of Internal Medicine, scientists had found that statins do not save lives in patients without heart disease, although they may prevent some non-fatal heart attacks.
Dr. Franz Messerli, the director of the hypertension program at two New York hospitals, St. Luke's and Roosevelt on the other hand was worried about the reaction to the message handing out statins would send to burger-eaters. “Complimentary statin packets are prone to ... give Quarter Pounder consumers a sense of false security,” he said. He explained that there are other bad things in these foods that statins can’t protect a person from. He explained, “sodium content is high, fibres are absent, and caloric load gargantuan.”
Barbara Harpham, national director at Heart Research UK, branded the suggestion “irresponsible”. “Health professionals and charities like Heart Research UK encourage healthy lifestyles and then all that good work is destroyed by saying a pill is the quick fix,” she stated. She said that this strategy encourages a “do now, pay later attitude” and does not inspire people to take “personal responsibility for their health”.
Polypills prove effective in reducing cardiovascular disease and mortality