People who take strong cholesterol-lowering drugs to get their LDL very low don’t stop taking them more often because of side effects than those on regular doses.
Scientific Claim
Intensive lipid-lowering therapies achieving very low LDL-C levels (<40 mg/dL) do not significantly increase the risk of adverse events leading to drug discontinuation compared to standard therapy, based on data from 10 randomized trials.
Original Statement
“adverse events leading to drug discontinuation: OR 1.00, 0.87–1.15, P = 0.99;”
Evidence Quality Assessment
Claim Status
appropriately stated
Study Design Support
Design supports claim
Appropriate Language Strength
association
Can only show association/correlation
Assessment Explanation
The abstract presents a null result with precise statistics and no causal language. The verb 'do not significantly increase' correctly reflects the data. Methodology verification is limited, so 'association' is appropriate.
Evidence from Studies
Supporting (1)
Safety and efficacy of very low LDL-cholesterol intensive lowering: a meta-analysis and meta-regression of randomized trials.
This big study looked at 10 trials with over 100,000 people and found that lowering cholesterol very low doesn’t make people more likely to stop their medicine because of side effects—same as regular treatment.