Earlier this year, a landmark study found that the use of statins is far safer than previously thought and that people shouldn’t be scared to use the cholesterol-lowering drugs.

As well as slashing a person’s risk of heart attacks and strokes, the research showed that statins do not cause the majority of the possible listed side effects, which include depression, weight gain, memory loss, impotence and sleep disturbance.

The study was part-funded by the British Heart Foundation and in the latest episode of our podcast Experience is Everything: The Health Edition, Professor Bryan Williams – the BHF’s chief scientific and medical officer – sits down with Saga’s Dr Mark Porter to examine all the big questions, worries and myths about statins.

When asked by Dr Porter, 63, about the impact statins have had on the health of the UK population over the years, Professor Williams, 77, replies, “It’s quite remarkable. If you go back to when you and I were junior doctors, we used to see a lot of heart attacks coming into the emergency departments in hospitals, we saw a lot of strokes. In those days, it was well-recognised that maybe seven out of 10 people who had a heart attack didn’t leave the hospital.

“Nowadays, seven out of 10 people who have a heart attack do leave the hospital and heart attacks are much less severe than they used to be and much less common than they used to be and happening later in life. So, we haven’t completely eliminated heart disease and stroke, obviously, but we’ve massively reduced both the frequency of it and the impact of it.”

Professor Williams continues: “And if you look at what the big topic of discussion is today, it’s about populations living longer, how we’re going to cope with pensions, how long are people going to be in retirement? That’s all down to the fact that people are surviving longer and statins have played a big part in that.”

To watch the full episode, see the video above. Listen to this episode and all our previous editions here.

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