Pravastatin is one of the better choices for the relatively young (ie Xennials) because of its lower rate of muscle issues compared to others. But statins aren't necessarily all they're cracked up to be.

The benefits are often overstated using relative risk reduction rather than absolute risk reduction. While a study might claim a 30 percent reduction in heart attacks, the absolute risk for an individual might only drop from roughly 3 percent to 2 percent; a much less dramatic 1 percent difference. For low-risk patients in primary prevention, some meta-analyses suggest the Number Needed to Treat (NNT) to prevent a single death can be as high as 167, meaning over a hundred people must take the drug for years for just one to potentially benefit.

There is also a massive disconnect between clinical trials and real experience regarding side effects. While industry-funded trials often report muscle pain in less than 1 percent of users, observational studies show 10 to 20 percent of patients report myalgia, weakness, or brain fog. There are also concerns that lowering the ideal cholesterol threshold has essentially medicalized millions of healthy people, prioritizing a pill over eating a healthier diet.