New drug fails to impress

Re “A new front on heart disease,” Nov. 10

I am not impressed with the results of the study of the statin drug rosuvastatin (Crestor) presented at the recent meeting of the American Heart Assn. The only significant statistic to consider in this study is the “absolute risk reduction,” which was only 1.2%: 120 people would have to take the drugs for two years to prevent one heart attack, stroke or death.

A proven treatment plan that would reduce the risk and possibly prevent or reverse cardiovascular diseases consists of a whole-foods, plant-based diet with minimal or no animal or dairy products, maintaining normal weight and moderate exercise, such as walking 30 minutes daily.

Robert J.

Hammond MD

Santa Maria

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AstraZeneca, maker of Crestor, funded this research. Dr. Paul Ridker, a lead scientist in the Jupiter trial, has worked as a consultant for several pharmaceutical companies, including AstraZeneca. Those two facts alone could cause a reasonable person to doubt the results of the study. But that information, as well as information about possible side effects, was buried in the article. This story appears on Page 1 without any mention of lifestyle changes that could benefit the same population.

Healthy people will demand that their doctors put them on Crestor. Score one for Big Pharma.

Chuck Petithomme

Burbank