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Only a limited number of patients benefit from statins, leading doctors claim.

They say that for those who have never suffered a heart attack or stroke “fewer than one in every 200 people who took a statin lived longer because of it”.

Prof James McCormack, Dr Aseem Malhotra and Prof David Newman, writing in an editorial for UK medical journal Prescriber, argue patients can safely stop taking the drug in event of side effects.

People would be better educated on changing their diet, exercise and smoking, the doctors write.

They say that around one in 10 patients suffer from effects including sore throats, nausea, digestive problems, muscle and joint pain when taking the drugs.

(Image: E. M. Welch/REX Shutterstock)

But they argue that for healthy people who have never had a heart attack or stroke, “statins likely have either no effect on mortality or at best less than 0.5% benefit.

"In other words less than 1 in every 200 people who took a statin lived longer because of it”.

They say 80% of cases of cardiovascular disease are linked to lifestyle factors.

The group is calling on the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (Nice) and the American Heart Association to to give more attention to individual preference when prescribing medicines instead of using treatment targets.

However, Dr Tim Chico, reader in cardiovascular medicine and consultant cardiologist at the University of Sheffield, said: “I completely disagree that treatment targets remove individual preference.

"These targets simply guide doctors as to which patients might benefit from a treatment.

“The decision whether to start or continue a drug treatment should always rest with the patient, with this decision guided by information from the doctor.”

(Image: PA)

He added: “This editorial seems to want to present a false choice between drug treatment or lifestyle factors such as diet, when both are important.”

But Sir Richard Thompson, former president of the Royal College of Physicians, said: “This editorial offers a timely reminder that it is not easy to discover how patients weigh the benefits of a medication against its risks.

“Setting a threshold for treatment based on the results of clinical trials further unbalances how doctors and patients discuss how to choose between a drug therapy or an alternative treatment.”