Pharmacists have the chance to make a difference

摘要

I loved Chris Brewer's Broad spectrum piece on why coronary prevention is a gamble(PJ,11 March,p290).For a while now I have been explaining to GPs that,when a patient asks if a statin will stop them having a heart attack,the correct answer is:"Yes,if you are the lucky one out of the last 35 patients I have prescribed this drug for,otherwise no."Contrast this with the effects of lifestyle interventions.As Bandolier1 pointed out,if we can deal with smoking,weight,diet and lack of exercise we can massively reduce heart disease and strokes,and probably cancer,bone disorders,arthritis,depression and erectile dysfunction.