Dr. John's Health Matters

Sept 1, 2009 (Cbc.ca)—Combining a prescription cholesterol-lowering medication with omega-3 supplements may not be the best approach, a new review suggests.

Statins are medications that prevent the liver from producing cholesterol, which can help reduce the risk of heart attacks. Every year, Canadian doctors write more than 12 million prescriptions for statins, making them the most-prescribed drugs in the country. Omega-3’s are heart-healthy oils that some evidence suggests help reduce the risk of coronary disease.

In the Nov. 3 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine, Dr. Mukul Sharma, medical director of the Regional Stroke Centre at the Ottawa Hospital, and his team reviewed five different cholesterol-lowering medications that can be combined as well as omega-3 supplements sold over the counter. They concluded there is little evidence to support mixing them.

Bad cholesterol increase

In one case, the researchers found taking prescription medication with omega-3 had the opposite effect.

“Your bad cholesterol, the LDL, actually goes up,” Sharma said. “There isn’t a benefit in terms of heart disease, stroke or mortality.”

Most cholesterol patients may be better off taking higher doses of one drug instead of multiple medications, since there may be less chance of side-effects and long-term problems developing, he said. People are also less likely to take their medications the more that are prescribed.

For full article, see link above.