US: Statin Nation

"I totally agree with the importance of making healthy foods affordable and promoting healthy eating patterns and physical activity. And, yes, they're most effective at a young age, when habits are being formed. But this doesn't negate the value of statin use in middle-aged and older people who are very likely to get heart disease because of risk factors.



Critics of statins argue that lifestyle changes are a lot cheaper than drugs. But generic statins cost about $50 a year. Can you get a year's worth of fruits and vegetables for $50?."


Dr. Roger S. Blumental professor of medicine and director of the Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Heart Disease and editor in chief of "Preventive Cardiology.