Thread by @Marion436842126

1/8 When there is no conflict of interest, no statistical shenanigans, and no ‘smoke & mirrors’ in a Statins trial, strange things happen. The ALLHAT (Antihypertensive and Lipid Lowering Treatment to Prevent Heart Attack Trial) lasted about 8 years and the results were /2

2/8 announced in 2002. This trial presented the unique characteristic of being sponsored - NOT BY A PHARMACEUTICAL GIANT but by INDEPENDENT pubic institutions. Despite a 17% reduction in cholesterol levels in the drug arm of the trial there was NO mortality benefit & slightly /3

3/8 lower rates of heart attacks and strokes among patients in the statin group, but the differences in rates between the two groups of patients were insignificant, I.e. no protective effect was observed. Since the trial included over 10,000 subjects, /4

4/8 one could hardly attribute this failure to an insufficient study population. The results of this trial were exceptionally bad news for the pharma industry, not what they wanted to hear. The day that the trial results were announced Michel de Lorgeril (Cardiologist) /5

5/8 happened to be attending a scientific meeting in London focused on Statins. He reported that when the trial results were disclosed all conversations around him immediately turned to “Are our sponsors going to let us down” ? “Will our funds run out ?” /6

6/8 “How are we going to subsidise our laboratories ? “Where will I find new grants for my students” ?
Any scientific questions were out of the window, gone, relegated to backstage, and during the following three days of his meeting, he found that /7

7/8 not one person attempted a reflective analysis of ALLHAT to establish why, despite lowering cholesterol with Statins, there was no benefit. All he witnessed was anxiety surrounding future funding. /8

8/8 Did it ever occur to these people that cholesterol is NOT the culprit in heart disease ?? . Not one bit.
All they were interested in was their funding $$$$.