{"id":476,"date":"2014-02-04T06:54:35","date_gmt":"2014-02-04T11:54:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.chaneyhealth.com\/healthtips\/?p=476"},"modified":"2014-01-27T23:55:11","modified_gmt":"2014-01-28T04:55:11","slug":"apple-day-keep-statins-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chaneyhealth.com\/healthtips\/apple-day-keep-statins-away\/","title":{"rendered":"Does An Apple A Day Keep Statins Away?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Latest On Diet And Heart Health<\/b><\/span><\/h1>\n

Author: Dr. Stephen Chaney<\/b>
\n<\/b><\/h2>\n

\"Apple\"<\/a>In a previous \u201cHealth Tips From the Professor\u201d I talked about how difficult it has been to prove that statins significantly reduce the risk of heart attack or cardiovascular deaths in a low risk population group. Now let\u2019s look at the other side of the coin \u2013 lifestyle change \u2013and ask how effective lifestyle change is at reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve all heard the saying \u201cAn apple a day keeps the doctor away\u201d. It dates back to Victorian England. It was the public health message of the day \u2013 much simpler and more concise than our current food guide plate.<\/p>\n

A prominent British doctor and his research team recently decided to see how accurate that saying really was. But they took their study one step further. They compared the effectiveness of an apple a day versus a statin a day at reducing the risk of cardiovascular deaths (Briggs et al, British Medical Journal, 3013;347:f7267 doi: 10.1136\/bmj.f7267).<\/p>\n

The results of that comparison may surprise you.<\/p>\n

Does An Apple A Day Keep Statins Away?<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

They used the data from the Cholesterol Treatment Trialist meta-analysis to estimate the effectiveness of statin drugs at reducing cardiovascular deaths. They used the data from the PRIME comparative risk assessment model to estimate the effectiveness of apple a day at reducing cardiovascular deaths.<\/p>\n

They asked what would happen if each of them were the primary intervention for the entire British population over 50 who were not currently taking statin drugs (17.6 million people).<\/p>\n

They assumed a 70% compliance rate for both interventions. In simple terms that means they assumed that 70% of the population would actually do what their doctors told them. (Patients must be more compliant in England than in the US).<\/p>\n

The results were interesting. They estimated that:<\/p>\n