Statin use linked to drop in PSA level!
Should Statin use be universal? We joke about putting Statins, the cholesterol lowering medications, in the water but it is really amazing how many unintended effects the Statins appear to have.
A recent study found that Statin use was associated with a small, statistically significant and dose-dependent decline in prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels. That decline was most pronounced in men with the largest decreases in low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and those with the highest initial PSA levels. A debate ensued after this study was published October 28th about whether this means Statins lower PSA making detection of prostate cancer more difficult OR do Statins lower PSA and the risk of cancer.
This study merely found that among 1,214 men prescribed a statin (Atorvastatin, Lipitor, Crestor, Pravachol) between 1990 and 2006 PSA levels declined significantly. After starting a Statin, the median PSA decline was 4.1%. This decline was most significant among men with pre-statin PSA levels greater than 2.5.
Does this mean Statins drop the PSA level and thus drop the risk of prostate cancer? We aren't sure yet. What this could mean is that Statins drop PSA levels and may make it harder to detect those who should be biopsied (with PSA > 4). This question deserves to be answered and probably will be....in time.....
To all the men on DS: finally a blog just for you. I promise more, consider this Men's Health blog # 1.
Dr O.
13
Interesting. My husband has been on statins for a few years now. He also started showing an elevated PSA level last year. His doctor sent him to a urologist for a biopsy. The biopsy came back positive for cancer. He had 2 small tumors on opposite sides of the prostate. He is in his final week of radiation treatment. Things have gone well considering some of the side effects we were told he may develop. I had to stop statins myself due to a high CK level. After taking Zetia for 6 months all my numbers were elevated...tri's so high they could not get an accurate count on the one cholesterol. I am now on Gemfibrozil and my numbers are coming down...added Niacin to boost it. The statins kept all my levels good, all Zetia did was take my money. Now I am kind of wondering about my husband continuing statins. I may have him ask his doctor about switching to Gemfibrozil as his cholesterol and tri's were only slightly elevated when he started the statins. What is your opinion on Gemfibrozil? My stepson was recently hospitilized after chest pain and was found to have a cholesterol overall number of 500 and I don't know what his tri's were. He is now on Gemfibrozil too. I personally do not think statins are all they are cracked up to be, neither is the very expensive Zetia.
By lorelei29 December 2, 2008 10:48pm
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This 'research" is just another plant by the drug companies, to generate a positive media article, in an attempt to increase market share. Inhibiting the mevalonate metabolic pathway is not going to do anything positive.
Don't fall for it.
By MedLab1 November 25, 2008 1:35pm
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Isn't it always?
By standstrong November 9, 2008 7:20pm
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If you put Statin in the water, what about the women who have normal levels of cholesterol? Is it just all about men, really?
By unduki November 9, 2008 4:08pm
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Dr. O...
I was referring to the ORIGINAL testing & studies done prior to a drug's approval by the FDA, certainly NOT USCSD's study.
During the first 6 yrs I was on lipitor, my dr didn't do the proper liver tests even tho I had a family history of liver issues AND I had thyroid AND fibro!
I lived all over the country and seen drs and have been told it's in my head & blown off more times than I care to count. I lost my mother because of an arrogant dr who said he would do one thing and then did another because he thought he knew everything. I almost lost my husband because of a dr who let him walk around with pneumonia. This same dr blew off a BULLSEYE rash on my vet's child!!! My daughter went TWO years being undx'd w/a tumor on her ovary! I've lost count of the number of drs she saw during that period. And, even tho they SAW it on an ultrasound, they just decided she'd hadn't emptied her bladder as instructed (even tho she used the restroom at the facility right before the test and right after they told her to!!!! So at 17 she had to have emergency surgery (where the hospital LOST her after surgery) to have the tumor & her ovary removed. And this is just the tip of the iceberg on my personal experiences and they all happened in different states (except for the idiot who can't dx pneumonia or Lyme)!
So what if MOST patients tolerate statins without any problems? What about the hundreds of thousands (or more) of us who don't?????? Are we just marginalized? Oh well, too bad that the quality of their lives and their health has been ruined.... Just like a LOT of drugs today, statins are a fairly new drug and we really don't know their long term effects yet.
The physical & psychological damage uneducated drs do to their patients is unconscionable, to say the least! SHAME ON the pharmaceutical companies. SHAME on the FDA and mostly SHAME on the dr's who are so careless with their patient's lives!!!
I just pray that no one else has to go thru what I and millions like me have (and continue to have) had to endure because of statins and all the other drugs with nasty side effects.
By SeaNymph November 9, 2008 11:51am
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eating blue berry will reduce PSA level. I absord testosterone BID from my MD. Prior to blue berry I was 2.5 after three months of blue berry BID I am 2.15. Lou
By louis51 November 9, 2008 10:09am
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Dr. O, with all due respect, that was a cheeky response. Of course we know you don't reallly want to put it in the water. Of course doctors should do testing. Of course of course of course. But the reality that WE live with is that doctors DON'T do what they are supposed to, and patients should not have to have a medical degree in order to evaluate every decision their doctors make. There is no reason to expect doctors behavior will improve. I am sure you are a very good doctor. MY doctor was a lemming. Probably still is, but after I went deaf in one ear and suffered dozens of effects from this unstudied drug on people with fibromyalgia (which turned out to classic undiagnosed Lyme disease), I didn't stay around to educate him. That's not my job. I am still picking up pieces. When I discovered he NEVER did a liver function test on me. The more flippand Pfizer becomes with it's expanded use of this drug, the more people will suffer unintented consequences of the drug.
By standstrong November 8, 2008 10:00am
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My mother, cousin, and a friend all had severe side effects from statin drugs - severe muscle pain, muscle weakness, fatigue. My one friend had muscle stiffness and pain so severe that he could not close his hand around a pencil anymore. The doctor said it was not related - despite it developing within weeks of beginning the drug. It finally got so severe that he went in to his pharmacist (since his doctor did not return his call) and the pharmacist said to stop the drug right away (possible rhabdomyolosis?). All three went off the drugs and the symptoms subsided immediately (although my friend that had the most severe reaction still has not completely recovered). The fact that this happened to three people that I personally know and the fact that none of their doctors reported these side effects to the FDA (and I have since learned that they are not required to - it is apparently a voluntary system), would certainly make me question whether statins are, in fact, tolerated well by most people. How many others have had severe side effects that have gone unreported.
By the way, two of those three went on to reduce their cholesterol levels to normal range in less than 6 months by making a few adjustments to their diet and taking some natural supplements. My brother, father, and another friend were subsequently diagnosed with high cholesterol and went straight to the natural route (knowing what happened to my mother) and were able to get back to the healthy range in less than three months.
So yes, I do think it is amazing just how many unintended effects statins appear to have. And there are obviously better ways to reduce cholesterol if physicians would just give patients a little guidance. My family/friends got their guidance from the associates at Whole Foods.
By SparkyKC November 8, 2008 1:12am
5
1) for sure we arent serious about putting it in the water...in fact when the push was made to make statins over the counter physicians feared that.
2) Of course you need to be watched closely on statins but remember most patients tolerate them well...without any problems.
3) Most academic institutions (USC included) dont allow drug companies on the premises...no drug company pens, etc are allowed in MOST academic facilities anymore...this is a study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Dr O.
By DrOrrange November 7, 2008 3:00pm
4
I agree with standstrong!!!! As a victim of the "wonder" statin drug, I am incensed that this drug - this one that can and DOES cause so much damage - is now being touted as a cure all for other things! I want to know why the FDA isn't forcing phizer to do further research into the debilitating side effects that many people suffer. There are/were at least two huge class action law suits because of this.
Is it really ok to create a one-panacea-cures-all for innocent consumers without addressing the SERIOUS and DEBILITATING side effects??? (See Univ of CA San Diego's recent massive study.) I called phizer to report the life-altering side effects that I am now stuck with and asked what phizer was doing to follow up, I was basically told that the small percentage of people who suffer side effects didn't warrant more research. Too bad for us hundreds of thousands of people...I guess we don't matter! All that matters is the money going into phizer's coffers.
Here are a couple of ideas:
1. How about creating a research pool where the pharmaceutical companies deposit their research monies and then an INDEPENDENT agent oversee ALL research instead of the drug companies? Maybe we'd get less biased results.
2. How about employees of the drug companies and the FDA, as well their family members take part in the clinical trials for a minimum of 5 yrs (10 would be better)? And if these people like and feel comfortable with the side effects, THEN and ONLY then, can they release the drug on the unsuspecting public.
3. How about drs become more educated (ie, read more than the slanted drug co brochures) about drugs? Or better yet, each dr's office employ a dr whose sole job is to be up on all the INDEPENDENT prescription drug research, then taking the patient's best interest into consideration, determine the best meds and dosages AND FOLLOW up w/the patient, LISTENING to (and not blowing off) their concerns about how the meds are affecting them.
I am furious that the majority of the medical community gets on the band wagon with these studies because I would doubt (based on personal experience) that they even know any more than what the drug reps and pharm co's tell them. In this day and age, w/HMO's and big medical conglomerates pushing drs to see more and more patients and the pharms handing out samples of drugs that supposedly cure everything, what dr has time to do his/her own research?)
4. How about the pharms & physicians INDIVIDUALLY dose people based on things like gender, weight, absorption rates, other meds being taken, etc.? The minimal dose fits all means that our kidneys must work overtime to filter out the normal over-inflated doses. Being on meds for years, especially multiple meds, will take its toll on our bodies in ways we can’t imagine.
All I can say is BUYER BEWARE!!!!
By SeaNymph November 7, 2008 9:41am
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Are you serious? Nothing should be universal. As statins have unexpected benefits, they also can ruin lives.
By standstrong November 7, 2008 5:47am
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Thats sounds interesting, however what side effects are associated with the drug. I was able to lower my PSA from 2.39 to 0.45 over 2 and half years with natural herbs and vitamins.i wrote a book about my approach and expierences called Advanced Prostate Cancer and Me.
By skidan November 6, 2008 12:23pm
1
Thanks Dr. O, very interesting.
By DrJeremy November 6, 2008 10:51am