UK is the statins capital of Europe: With 1 in 8 now taking cholesterol-busting drugs, are they being used as a replacement for healthier living?



Eight million of us now take the drugs compared to five million in 2003

Britain is second in the world statin rankings only to Australia



Concerns GPs may give them as 'easy option' instead of improving lifestyle



Prolific: One in eight Britons now take statins, which cost 10p per day, but they may be over-used

Britain is the statins capital of Europe with more than one in eight of us taking cholesterol-busting pills.

Doctors say rising obesity is behind the increase in prescriptions for the drug, which protects against heart attack and stroke.

Almost eight million now take statins, which cost just 10p per patient per day.

But there are concerns that GPs are dishing them out as the easiest solution rather than persuading patients to adopt a healthier lifestyle, which can also lower the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

Eight million Britons now take statins compared to five million a decade ago.

Our ranking as the top prescriber of anti-cholesterol drugs in Europe – and second across the developed world – is a wake-up call a day after millions of Britons recover from over-indulgence on Christmas Day.

Only Australia hands out higher levels of such drugs, according to the comparison of 23 industrialised countries by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

In Britain, family doctors can earn bonuses for tackling cholesterol problems, raising questions about their real incentive to prescribe the drug.

One in five who take statins suffer side effects including muscle pain, memory disturbance, cataracts and diabetes.

The OECD study confirmed that Britain is the fattest nation in Europe, with 24.8 per cent of adults classed as obese.

Tam Fry, from the National Obesity Forum, said he feared GPs were prescribing statins too readily because it was easier than changing a patient’s habits.

‘Lifestyle advice has always got to be the preferred route, and of course it is of no expense to the NHS,’ he said. ‘There can also be side effects with statins.

Top of the poppers: The UK is second only to Australia for the proportion of its citizens taking statin drugs

‘But unfortunately now, because doctors are under so much pressure and because statins are known to be so successful, the simplest thing is to reach for the pad and write out a prescription.’

Valerie Paris, an economist from the OECD’s health division, pointed to the fact that those at risk of heart attack and strokes are often flagged up earlier in the UK.

‘The UK has quite high levels of obesity and is above average on alcohol consumption,’ she said.

‘But unlike in France, where doctors simply don’t ask about this type of thing, people with risk factors are detected earlier.

‘The question is though whether these people are given advice about improving their lifestyle, or are they put quickly on to statins?’

Doctors used to prescribe statins only to those with a 30 per cent risk of a heart attack in the next ten years, but this was lowered to those with a 20 per cent risk in 2005.

Medical regulators are considering whether to go further and follow American guidance which suggests the drugs should be given if the risk is just 7.5 per cent.

The drugs, pictured left, divide opinion. One in five people suffer side effects including muscle pain, cataracts and diabetes but some doctors say statins should be prescribed automatically to all people over the age of 50



Some cardiologists have suggested statins should be automatically prescribed to all from the age of 50. But others are disturbed at the practice of dispensing the pills ever more widely.

The OECD study says the use of cholesterol-lowering drugs, including statins, has more than tripled across member countries between 2000 and 2011. The US was not included in the research.

Highest levels of prescribing were in Australia, followed by the UK and Slovakia, which both prescribe the drugs to 13 per cent of the population.

The report, Health at a Glance 2013, showed the UK was among those with the highest consumption per capita in 2011, over 40 per cent more than the OECD average.

Dr Madina Kara, neuroscientist at the Stroke Association, said the drugs were very effective at protecting against heart attack and stroke and estimated to save 7,000 lives in the UK every year.