The medical profession has done a good job informing the public about the risks of high cholesterol. Unfortunately, they're doing a bad job when it comes to treating people with cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins.

Researchers found that fewer than one in three people taking the drugs to prevent heart disease should have been getting them, according to the guidelines set out by the National Cholesterol Education Program.

The study was published in the January 8, 2001 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

By taking the drugs unnecessarily, these people are risking serious side effects, the researchers noted. The known side effects for various statins include hepatitis, jaundice, other liver problems, gastrointestinal upsets, and a variety of blood complications such as reduced platelet levels and anemia.

The study looked at 29,000 patients at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital and associated sites. During 1996, 1,575 of these patients were receiving statins, including more than a thousand who were being given the drug as "preventive" therapy.

Overuse of statin therapy was found among 69% of patients undergoing primary prevention, and among 47% of patients undergoing secondary prevention. Patients over the age of 70 were the most likely to be overmedicated.

The researchers suggested that the unnecessary treatment was caused either by doctors not following treatment guidelines or failing to keep up with current research on statins. They also suggested that some doctors tend to overprescribe if unsure of what to do in a particular case.

"They're also influenced by what their patients want, which is influenced by advertising," lead researcher Dr. Susan Abookire explained.

The hospitals were also lax about performing periodic testing to monitor liver function.

"Monitoring of liver function varied widely, and did not correlate with the risk of adverse events secondary to statin use," the researchers noted.