Homonculus, you have patiently waited for the renal evidence and I have made an error. This is where it comes from.
I went to Qintervention.org and entered my details. I came out with a 10% risk of CV event.
I then entered 'What if I were to go on statins?'
The side effects come out, on the website as
A few people may get unintended effects when starting statin treatment. The other interventions may also have a bearing on these risks.
With the interventions selected, you would have the following risks in the next 5 years:
0.1% risk of acute renal failure (ARF)
0.5% risk of cataract
1.2% risk of having abnormal liver function tests (LFT) severe enough for you to need to stop taking statins
0.3% risk of getting serious myopathy
I realise that I have got the ARF mixed up with the myopathy, but my figure of 2.1% side effects, over 5 years still stands. As I said earlier, it also does not mention the memory loss bit, which now has to be on the data sheet.
Ginger, regarding the 10% risk. I intend to be retested for cholesterol in a few months. I don't think lifetime medication based on a single blood sample is a good idea, and I'll raise the 10% with my GP then.
Finally, I quote from the Cochrane Foundation systematic review on statins. I trust this organisation to be impartial, and quote the author's conclusions, which are as baffling to me as I hope to you.
Authors' conclusions:
Reductions in all-cause mortality, major vascular events and revascularisations were found with no excess of cancers or muscle pain among people without evidence of cardiovascular disease treated with statins. Other potential adverse events were not reported and some trials included people with cardiovascular disease. Only limited evidence showed that primary prevention with statins may be cost effective and improve patient quality of life. Caution should be taken in prescribing statins for primary prevention among people at low cardiovascular risk.