Buyer Beware: Statins To Lower Cholesterol Are Not a Panacea

[kristopher]

Buyer Beware: Statins To Lower Cholesterol Are Not a Panacea
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/christiane-northrup/buyer-beware-statins-are_b_246566.html

I'm sure that many of you read about the study showing that Crestor, a popular statin drug manufactured by AstraZeneca, has been found to confer an additional and potentially even greater benefit than its ability to lower cholesterol. Researchers, funded by AstraZeneca, wanted to explain why half of the people who have heart attacks and strokes also have low cholesterol. They set out to determine whether inflammation, as measured by a C-reactive protein test (CRP), was an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Not surprisingly, they found that it was. They also found that Crestor lowered inflammation. Now, the study's researchers and others are recommending that anyone with inflammation (elevated CRP) take a statin to prevent heart disease--even those who are healthy and not at risk for heart disease. My advice? Buyer beware!

The study's so-called medical breakthrough--that reducing inflammation reduces the risk for heart disease--is not new! For years, I, and many other credible holistic doctors, have been saying that inflammation, not high cholesterol, is the root cause of heart disease--and all chronic degenerative diseases for that matter. I'm glad that this message is getting out. I'm just disappointed that the medical community is looking to solve yet another problem with a pill that suppresses a normal body function. But this isn't new either.

What also isn't new is Big Pharma finding a way to get as many people as they can on statins, whether they need them or not. This is why Big Pharma has been instrumental in revising the numbers used to determine "normal cholesterol." Did you know that, according to the New York Times, about 16 to 20 million people already take statins? Despite all the hype, many large studies involving statins have failed to show much benefit. Major studies have concluded there's no difference in death rates or cardiac incidences for those taking statins for high cholesterol. And just when there has been a lot of speculation about whether statins are safe, the makers of Crestor and Lipitor, etc., have identified several million more Americans who might die without these drugs. Hmmm.

It's likely that many medical organizations and government authorities will recommend that doctors now test regularly for C-reative protein (CRP), a marker of inflammation. Although this standard blood test has been around for years, the head researcher on the study (called Jupiter), Dr. Paul M. Ridker, owns a patent on a new CRP test. This, along with the fact that Dr. Ridker was paid by AstroZenica to do the study, raises some questions about its validity.

In the next few years, you may be under increased pressure to take statins, and I caution you...

Lots more at the link:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/christiane-northrup/buyer-beware-statins-are_b_246566.html

[canoeist52]

1. When they started recommending statins for children

I knew for sure it was a scam. I read "The Cholesterol Myths" by Dr. Uffe Ravnskov

"The only effective way to lower cholesterol is with drugs, but neither heart mortality or total mortality have been improved with drugs the effect of which is cholesterol-lowering only. On the contrary, these drugs are dangerous to your health and may shorten your life."


http://www.ravnskov.nu/cholesterol.htm

[kristopher]

9. I recently fired my MD.

He convinced me to go on statins even though my cholesterol was 10 points below the *new lower* guidelines. I trusted him and didn't look into the cost/benefit balance of the drugs. After a time I started having a set of symptoms that I didn't relate to the statin. Complaints of unusual muscle aches, kidney pain and difficulty forming sentences in verbal exchanges were written off as "age related". When the kidney pains started becoming frequent and more acute I started looking for an explanation. It took about 10 minutes for the symptoms to lead me to statins. I immediately stopped the medication and called my doctor and fired him. In the 4 months since stopping the meds all of the symptoms have cleared up. I was especially struck by the demonstrable recovery of verbal skills. I've always been articulate, but I had degenerated to the point where virtually no sentence ended up as it was intended. I had no idea how important cholesterol was to the proper functioning of the body.

[snagglepuss]

17. Studies show people who are deficient in Vitamin D get muscle pain from statins

http://foodconsumer.org/7777/8888/H_eart_amp_B_lood_30/112805102008_People_with_vitamin_D_deficiency_more_likely_to_get_hurt_by_statins.shtml

"Statins cause muscle aches and pains in a whopping 38.8 percent of patients, according to nutritionist Byron Richards. New research showed that statins would cause the muscle pain more often in those who do not have sufficient vitamin D."

This study was from 2008 but recent studies reach same conclusion.

Whether your on statins or not its crucial to get Vit D level tested and get your levels up because Vitamin D "is rapidly gaining a reputation as a panacea, promising to protect against disorders as diverse as juvenile diabetes and autism. ... More and more research supports the notion that vitamin D animportant compound.

Dr. John White is a molecular biologist at McGill University in Montreal. He's been studying the basics of how vitamin D interacts with our immune cells and says there is plenty of evidence that the sunshine vitamin spurs our immune system to produce natural anti-microbial agents. Dr. White has tested this in the lab and says vitamin D helps immune cells fight off some pretty nasty bugs.

Dr. John Cannell is a physician at the Atascadero State Hospital in California and the founder of The Vitamin D Council: a non-profit organization dedicated to changing the way the public and health-care professionals view vitamin D. Dr. Cannell points out that our bodies, when exposed to the sun, can make up to 100 times the amount of vitamin D we're getting from our diet, and far more than we need for maintaining healthy bones. He also says scientists have discovered specialized vitamin D receptors in cells throughout the body, implicating it is a switch that regulates important biological functions. A chronic lack of vitamin D, he argues, can explain a wide number of diseases. Dr. Cannell believes we should be getting far more vitamin D than we currently do.

http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/archives/07-08/jun07.html

[emilyg]

2. Lipitor saved my life.

[godai]

3. How?

Alone, doesn't seem that it can be life saving.

[canoeist52]

4. How would you know that for sure?

I was on Lipitor. I had aching joints and muscle cramps until I switched to simvastatin. Then I started reading about other's experience. I just don't believe it any more, but so far, I'm sticking with mu bp. meds.
Seems like a long list of side effects http://www.statinanswers.com/effects.htm

[emilyg]

6. I have familial high cholesterol

Watching diet, exercising did not help. Lipitor lowered it and kept it at normal levels. Some people do have reaction - I did not.

[kristopher]

8. You said Lipitor saved your life

When asked "How?" you state that you are taking the medication because you have been lumped into a risk pool derived from s statistical analysis based on a set of assumptions that are (in the view of many) suspect because of the relationship between pharma funding and research.

You have provided not one scintilla of evidence to support your claim that "Lipitor saved my life".

[emilyg]

11. I feel it saved my life - I did not

take Lipitor lightly. Did a lot of research (I'm a nurse) and asked family members (doctors) for their opinion. Each to his own. No need to get upset.

[kristopher]

12. No need to make such hyperbolic claims.

I'm not upset. You made a very profound statement and it turns out you can't support it. That is on you, not me.

[emilyg]

14. You're right. Happy now? 'bye

[mitchtv]

5. I decided that I'd rather die , than live on statins

I was weak and achey , and felt to weak to do anything, It took months to recover

[emilyg]

7. I'm sorry. I tolerate it well.

[canoeist52]

10. my short story-

Doc. said I had borderline high cholesterol. I tried a totally non-fat diet. I mean NOTHING fatty passed my lips for 4 months. I was determined not to take statins. Next blood test- my cholesterol went up. Go figure. I guess my body thought it was starving and compensated by producing more. Took lipitor for 1 yr then simvastatin for 5 yrs before I decided to stop fighting my body. Told my doc. I just don't believe it any more.

[snagglepuss]

18. What was you HDL level? That is a crucial number because HDL sweeps

LDL out of the blood stream and returns it to the liver to be excreted as bile.

[DavidDvorkin]

13. Statins deplete CoQ10

That causes weakness in some people. My wife's taking a statin and also takes CoQ10.

[emilyg]

15. So am I. Smart wife.

[mitchtv]

16. I am taking it now

but I don't remember if I was.