Statins increase the incidence of liver damage

This post includes a synopsis of a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine 2006; 355:549-559 August 10, 2006 and a recipe for deep fried quail.

Study title and authors:
High-Dose Atorvastatin after Stroke or Transient Ischemic Attack

Karam JG et al The Stroke Prevention by Aggressive Reduction in Cholesterol Levels (SPARCL) Investigators

Books:

This study can be accessed at: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa061894

The study divided up 4731 patients who had had a stroke into 2 groups who had treatment of either (i) 80 mg of a statin drug per day or (ii) placebo.

Elevated liver enzymes may indicate the liver is damaged.

The study found:
(a) The statin group had a 66% higher incidence of  hemorrhagic strokes.
(b) The statin group had a 2.31% more deaths.
(c) Elevated liver enzyme values were more common in patients taking statins.

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Recipe of the day

Deep Fried Quail

Ingredients:

Food Mall: Quail

3-4 birds per person

8 cloves garlic
2 centers lemon grass
1 T black pepper (crushed)
1/4 cup olive oil

Instructions:
This is rather low-rent, but my favorite quail dish is deep-fried. Take your birds and marinate them with garlic, lemon grass, black pepper (crushed) and oil overnight. Reduce marinade to a fine emulsion in a mortar and rub it into the quail (inside the body cavity, under the skins, etc.)

Allow them to come to room temperature, dry them off, and then deep fry them in oil. They'll puff up and then deflate. Cook them to your taste (either very crispy or not so). I serve them Vietnamese-style with salt and pepper powder (roast white peppercorns with salt and some lemon zest, then crush) and limes. Squeeze the lime on the quail, dip in salt/pepper combo, and eat. They are great served with pickled carrots and daikon (again, Vietnamese-style).