Loss of reason

摘要

Having read seven letters and the authors' reply on the issue as to whether or not statin treatment should be offered to people at low risk of cardiovascular disease (Nov 24, pp 1814-18), I was marvelling at the process of scientific reasoning that could weigh the pros and cons of a contentious issue in such a mature and logical manner. And then came the letter by Nicholas Wald and Malcolm Law.1 In it they support the use of statins in low-risk patients irrespective of the concentration of serum cholesterol, but then go on to propagate their previously voiced view (which was not relevant to the subject under "debate) that "blood-pressure-lowering drugs should be offered... irrespective of a person's blood pressure".