Thanks gingernut. To be clear: I'm not looking for advice (just to understood what's on each side of the risk/benefit balance) and I haven't been prescribed anything (it's been suggested that a statin might be beneficial, despite not having high cholesterol levels).
That link is very positive about the benefits of statins but the
NICE guidance - statins for the prevention of cardiovascular events says "for patients without clinical evidence of CHD, statins significantly reduced all-cause mortality ... however,
no statistically significant differences were seen for cardiovascular mortality or stroke". To a medical layman this seems to be at odds with the guidance in the "CVA and Lipids" guidance - what have I missed?
If there isn't a known mechanism, and the stats don't show any significant differences, then what's the compelling evidence that justifies the risk of even minor side effects?
HFD