ford brewer md mph
[email protected]
There are many reasons to stop statins, ranging from side effects to cost to fear to the need to switch to a more effective statin.
Two studies are mentioned: one saying that it's safe to stop statins, and another says it's not. Although these studies, like all studies, have problems. But I think they both reflect biologic medical realities.
The study showing safety was on stable patients. The study showing danger in stopping statins was on patients post strokes. Plaque instability is systemic; there is no such thing as one vulnerable plaque. The VULNERABLE PLAQUE THEORY is rapidly dying. Therefore the patients in the post-stroke study selected for patients with an arterial tree full on unstable plaque. The study showing safety selected for patients with stable plaques. Plaque instability appears to be a cyclical phenomenon, with cycles taking many months. So I would love to see a 2 year follow-up on the study showing safety in stopping plaques. I bet it would show regression to the mean.
About Dr. Brewer - Ford Brewer is a physician that started as an Emergency Doctor. After seeing too many patients coming in dead from early heart attacks, he went to Johns Hopkins to learn Preventive Medicine. He went on the run the post-graduate training program (residency) in Preventive Medicine at Hopkins. From there, he made a career of practicing and managing preventive medicine and primary care clinics. His later role in this area was Chief Medical Officer for Premise, which has over 500 primary care/ prevention clinics. He was also the Chief Medical Officer for MDLIVE, the second largest telemedicine company. More recently, he founded PrevMed, a heart attack, stroke, and diabetes prevention clinic. At PrevMed, we focus on heart attack and stroke and Type 2 diabetes prevention by reducing or eliminating risk through attentive care and state-of-the-art genetic testing, imaging, labs and telemedicine options. We serve patients who have already experienced an event as well as those have not developed a diagnosis or event. Our team of senior clinicians includes internationally recognized leaders in the research and treatment of cardiovascular disease, preventive medicine and wellness. We also provide preventive medicine by telemedicine technology to over 30 states. Contact Dr. Brewer at
[email protected] or visit http://prevmedheartrisk.com.
