Tea, toast, marmalade, Daily Telegraph? and statin. For many Britons, breakfast wouldn't be breakfast without these ingredients. And for some 3.4 million, the most important is that little pill.

Last week, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (Nice) unveiled new guidelines stating that statins should be prescribed to people with a 20 per cent risk of developing heart disease. So we can expect them to appear on many more breakfast tables. In fact, new research suggests that as many as 14 MILLION PEOPLE AGED 40 OR OVER COULD BE ELIGIBLE TO TAKE THEM.

Statins, which were introduced in the late 1980s, include the brands Zocor, Lipitor and Crestor, have been hailed as a wonder drug. They lower cholesterol and, according to the British Heart Foundation, reduce the risk of dying from coronary heart disease by 25 per cent. Their use has also been associated with improved function of the endothelium (the lining of blood vessels), less plaque in the blood vessels, general anti-inflammatory action and even the prevention of blood clots. Further studies are under way to establish how helpful they are in fighting dementia, cancer and cataracts.

BUT IF YOUR HAND IS MOVING CLOSER TO THE TABLETS, HOLD FIRE. Because, despite global approbation, the murmurs that statins are not quite the Holy Grail are getting louder. And while many in the medical establishment are so confident of the benefits that they will not even countenance a debate, there are others who believe that these pills have been found wanting.

One such dissenter is Malcolm Kendrick, a Cheshire GP with a special interest in cholesterol and heart disease, and author of The Great Cholesterol Con (John Blake). Dr Kendrick believes that, for most people, STATINS ARE AT BEST POINTLESS AND AT WORST HIGHLY DANGEROUS. AND HE CLAIMS THAT THOSE WHO PRESCRIBE THEM AND THOSE WHO TAKE THEM ARE VICTIMS OF CLEVER GLOBAL MARKETING.

HE SAYS THE MARKETING BUDGET FOR CRESTOR, FOR EXAMPLE, WAS $1 BILLION FOR ONE YEAR ALONE. This hype, combined with our desire to find a drug that could make us live for ever, has won over even the most sceptical. And of course there have been numerous studies and trials to back the claims being made.

According to Dr Kendrick, the results have been presented in a "very oblique way".

"I'm not saying the data is wrong. But a major trial in western Scotland showed that a man who had suffered a mild heart attack had a 96.8 per cent chance of being alive after taking statins for five years. If he was on a placebo, that fell to just 95.9 per cent. SO YOU MIGHT LIVE A FEW DAYS LONGER IF YOU TAKE STATINS FOR FIVE YEARS THAN IF YOU DON'T. And this was in a high-risk population."

The problem is more serious if the patient develops rhabdomyolysis (muscle wastage that can lead to kidney failure). According to Dr Kendrick, drawing on figures from the US Food and Drug Administration, there have been a total of 416 deaths between 1997 and 2004 directly attributable to simvastatin (Zocor) alone.

Other side effects of statins include amnesia, cognitive problems, irritability and impotence. The World Health Organisation is examining reports that taking the drugs can lead to amyotrophic lateral dystrophy, a devastating neurological condition which rapidly progresses to death.

So what should you do, hands still hovering - now rather nervously - over that packet of statins? "If you tell your GP of your concern, he or she will most likely dismiss it," says Dr Kendrick. "BUT WE SHOULD BE QUESTIONING THE RESEARCH AND ASKING HARD QUESTIONS ABOUT THE ROLE PLAYED BY THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY IN PROMOTING THESE DRUGS."