One of my hobbby horses as well.

I shall concentrate on one aspect.

If someone is hypothyroid when they start taking statins, there are
well-documented cases of nasty effects including rhabdomyolysis,
myopathy, myositis, bilateral leg compartment syndrome and myonecrosis,
and even renal failure (when taken with fibrate).

But I am aware of dozens of people who were offered statins whilst
hypothyroid - some known about, others not diagnosed. There does not
appear to be much use of thyroid testing of patients prior to starting
statins. (And yes, some did indeed commence regular statin-taking. So I
am not claiming the side-effects are automatic and universal.) At least
some people have had their thyroid problem diagnosed due to suffering
the side effects of statins!

The irony, however, is that hypothyroidism is a *cause* of cholesterol
problems. Many people, when they get their thyroid hormone levels right,
find their cholesterol levels normalise. In such cases it is quite
possible that cheap old levothyroxine[1] would cure the high cholesterol
*and all the other symptoms of low thyroid hormone levels*.

I wonder what would happen if all hypothyroid-related[2] issues were
fully treated? Would statins ever have been able to make their case?

Some of this is from PubMed and other web sources, some from personal
communications and posts on various places.

(Current diagnosed hypothyroidism in England is just over 2%.)

[1] I am aware that even some people who need it have problems just
taking cheap old levothyroxine for all sorts of reasons - some known,
some not.

[2] There are many people with what appear to have reasonably 'normal'
thyroid hormone levels who are actually hypothyroid or at least
subclinically hypothyroid. This is at least partly due to very
questionable setting of the reference ranges the main diagnostic test -
TSH. (Until recently the top of the range in the UK was often 10; it has
been reduced to around 4.95 in this area. It works opposite way round -
high TSH = hypo; low TSH = hyper.) But there are many other reasons -
not all of which are understood.

--
Rod

Hypothyroidism is a seriously debilitating condition with an insidious
onset.
Although common it frequently goes undiagnosed.
www.thyromind.info www.thyroiduk.org www.altsupportthyroid.org