statin

The Dangers of Statin Drugs

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So many people go to the doctor with high cholesterol and end up on a statin or cholesterol lowering drug for years, if not their entire lives. Dr. Peter Glidden says there is something fundamentally wrong with that and that prolonged statin use can lead to many more serious conditions.

“You’re central nervous system, your nerves and your brain are made from cholesterol. So, when you drive cholesterol into the ditch, the parts of the body that are made from cholesterol will suffer and eventually fail.”

http://tv.greenmedinfo.com/dangers-statin-drugs/

From the desk of Zedie.

Statin side-effects questioned.

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Statins

Drugs taken to lower the risk of heart attacks and strokes may have fewer side-effects than claimed, researchers say.

Their review of 83,880 patients, published in the European Journal of Preventative Cardiology, indicated an increased risk of type-2 diabetes.

But it suggested reports of increases in nausea, muscle ache, insomnia and fatigue were actually inaccurate.

It is a controversial area as the NHS in England is considering offering the drugs to millions more people.

The cholesterol-lowering drugs are already offered to about seven million people in the UK who have a one-in-five chance of heart disease in the next decade.

The NHS is considering offering the drugs to even healthier people who have only a one-in-10 chance of heart problems.

A team at the National Heart and Lung Institute in London analysed data from 29 clinical trials.

They suggested statins did reduce deaths, but contributed to a high rate of type-2 diabetes. One in five new cases of diabetes in people on statins were a direct result of taking the drugs.

obese man
Being obese, having high cholesterol, diabetes or high blood pressure all increase your cardiovascular risk

Their analysis suggested other side-effects appeared at a similar rate in people taking statins and those given dummy (placebo) pills.

One of the researchers, Dr Judith Finegold, said: “We clearly found that many patients in these trials – whose patients are usually well-motivated volunteers who didn’t know if they were getting a real or placebo tablet – that many did report side-effects while taking placebo.

“In the general population, where patients are being prescribed a statin for an asymptomatic condition, why would it be surprising that even higher rates of side-effects are reported?

“Most people in the general population, if you repeatedly ask them a detailed questionnaire, will not feel perfectly well in every way on every day.

“Why should they suddenly feel well when taking a tablet after being warned of possible adverse effects?”

Commenting on the study, Doireann Maddock, from the British Heart Foundation, said: “Previous research has demonstrated the safety and effectiveness of statins.

“While all medications have the potential for side-effects, this research may offer further reassurance to the many people in the UK who are prescribed statins.”

New US advice on cholesterol drugs.

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A third of all adult Americans should consider taking cholesterol-lowering statin drugs, according to the first such new guidelines in a decade.

It is estimated that 33 million Americans – 44% of men and 22% of women – would meet the threshold for taking statins, under the advice issued by two leading US medical organisations.

File photo of Atorvastatin Calcium tablets, a generic form of Lipitor, which is being sold under a deal with Pfizer.

The drugs are currently recommended for 15% of adults.

The guidelines for the first time take aim at strokes, not just heart attacks.

Under the current advice, statins are recommended for those who have total cholesterol over 200 and LDL, or “bad cholesterol”, of over 100.

But the new recommendations, issued by the American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology, place much less emphasis on setting numerical cholesterol-lowering targets for patients.

The advice introduces a new formula for calculating a patient’s risk of heart disease based on such factors as age, gender and race, instead of high cholesterol levels alone.

“This guideline represents a departure from previous guidelines because it doesn’t focus on specific target levels of LDL, or bad cholesterol, although the definition of optimal LDL cholesterol has not changed,” Dr Neil Stone, author of the report, said in a statement.

It is thought that more women and African-Americans, who are deemed to be at higher risk of stroke, could find themselves taking statins if they follow the guidelines.

The panel focused on four groups they believe statins would benefit most: people already suffering from heart disease; those with LDL levels of 190 or higher because of genetic risk; older adults with type 2 diabetes; and older adults with a 10-year risk of heart disease greater that 7.5%.

The panel also recommended a “diet pattern” based on vegetables, fruits and whole grains and moderate to vigorous exercise three to four times a week for all adults.

Roughly half of those drafting the guidelines had financial ties to makers of heart drugs.

But panel leaders said that no-one with industry connections was allowed to vote on the actual recommendations.

“It is practically impossible to find a large group of outside experts in the field who have no relationships to industry,” Dr George Mensah, of the AHA, told the Associated Press news agency.

He said the guidelines were based on solid evidence.

Many of the patents on popular statins, such as Lipitor and Zocor, have expired, with generic versions being offered cheaply.

But Crestor, a statin made by AstraZeneca, remains under patent, with sales of $8.3bn (£5.2bn) in 2012.

A Smarter Way to Prevent Heart Attacks

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Under new guidelines, one third of adults in the U.S. should consider using statins based on their overall health profile, not just their cholesterol number

360_hl_heart_0213

The well-established strategy among doctors for reducing cardiovascular disease has been to lower bad cholesterol, or LDL, to specific targets (below 100 or below 70 for people at high risk). No more. New clinical guidelines unveiled Tuesday take a more broad approach to assess a patient’s risk of heart disease and to prescribe twice as many Americans (one third of all adults) cholesterol-lowering statin drugs, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The cholesterol numbers have been deemed arbitrary and worse predictors of heart risk than doctors originally thought. Now, doctors are being told to dive more deeply into a patient’s background to assess their potential risk for heart attacks and to prescribe cholesterol-lowering statin drugs to high-risk patients. The formula for whether a patient ought to be prescribed a drug will include age, gender, race and factors beyond cholesterol, like whether someone smokes.

Though doctors say the new approach will limit how many people will be put on statins because of their cholesterol number, under the new formula, 33 million Americans — 44 percent of men and 22 percent of women — would meet the requirements to consider taking a statin. The current guidelines only recommend statins for 15 percent of adults.

And for the first time the treatment is focusing on strokes, not just heart attacks. ”We’re trying to focus the most appropriate therapy to prevent heart attack and stroke…in a wide range of patients,” said Neil J. Stone, professor of medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and head of the panel that wrote the cholesterol guidelines.

In the U.S., 600,000 people per year die from heart disease (accounting for about one in four deaths).

The Ugly Side of Statins.

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Story at-a-glance

  • A review of the published statin research revealed a categorical lack of evidence to support the use of statin therapy in primary prevention of heart attacks
  • Statins may actually increase cardiovascular risk in women, the young and people with diabetes
  • The cholesterol-lowering drugs are also linked to an increased risk of cataracts, memory impairment, diabetes, erectile dysfunction and over 300 adverse health effects
  • Lifestyle changes were far more effective, and safer, for primary heart attack prevention than statin drugs.

  • Statin cholesterol-lowering drugs are among the most widely prescribed drugs on the market, bringing in $20 billion a year.1 They are a top profit-maker for the pharmaceutical industry, in part due to relentless and highly successful direct-to-consumer advertising campaigns.

    Statins

    One in four Americans over the age of 45 now takes statins, typically for theprimary prevention of heart attacks and strokes. Traditionally, primaryprevention usually involves healthy lifestyle choices that support heart health, things like eating right and exercising, yet here we have millions of Americans taking pills instead.

    Has anyone unbiased stopped to find out if these drugs are really the best method for heart attack prevention? After all, as researchers noted in theOpen Journal of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases (OJEMD):2

    “…naive indiscriminate acceptance of novel mainstream therapies is not always advisable and prudence is required in unearthing harmful, covert side effects.”

    This is precisely the task that researchers from Ireland took on by completing an objective review of Pubmed, EM-BASE and Cochrane review databases.3Their results speak volumes…

    “It is beginning to dawn on some clinicians that contemporary treatments are not only failing to impact on our most prevalent diseases, but they may be causing more damage than good. A perfect example of such an issue is the statin saga.”

    The Evidence Is In: Lifestyle Trumps Statins for Primary Heart Attack Prevention

    For a drug therapy that appears to offer little by way of primary prevention, the risks were alarming. For every 10,000 people taking a statin, there were:

    • 307 extra patients with cataracts
    • 23 additional patients with acute kidney failure
    • 74 extra patients with liver dysfunction

    The landmark review revealed “a categorical lack of clinical evidence to support the use of statin therapy in primary prevention.” They also found that statins actually increase cardiovascular risk in women, the young and people with diabetes. The review also showed that statin therapy increased:

    • Muscle fatigabilty by 30% with more than 11% incidence of rhabdomyolysis (a life-threatening muscle condition) at high doses
    • Coronary artery and aortic calcification
    • Erectile dysfunction, which is 10 times more common in young men taking the lowest dose of statin.
    • Diabetes
    • Cancer

    The researchers noted:

    “There is increased risk of diabetes mellitus, cataract formation, and erectile dysfunction in young statin users, all of which are alarming. Furthermore there is a significant increase in the risk of cancer and neurodegenerative disorders in the elderly plus an enhanced risk of a myriad of infectious diseases. All side effects are dose dependent and persist during treatment.

    Primary prevention clinical results provoke the possibility of not only the lack of primary cardiovascular protection by statin therapy, but highlight the very real possibility of augmented cardiovascular risk in women, patients with diabetes mellitus and the young. Statins are associated with triple the risk of coronary artery and aortic calcification.

    These findings on statins’ major adverse effects had been under-reported and the way in which they [were] withheld from the public, and even concealed, is a scientific farce.

    … Cardiovascular primary prevention and regeneration programmes, through life style changes and abstaining from tobacco use have enhanced clinical efficacy and quality of life over any pharmaceutical or other conventional intervention.”

    If You Take Statins, Your Vision Could Be at Risk

    The featured review found an increased risk of cataracts with statin use, and this was supported by a new JAMA study,4 which further revealed that the risk of cataracts is increased among statin users, compared with non-users. As a main cause of low vision among the elderly, cataract is a clouding of your eye lens.

    It has previously been hypothesized that statin antioxidant effects may slowthe aging process of the lens, but the current study revealed that they, instead, raise cataract risk, again calling into question the usefulness of statins for primary prevention of heart attacks. The researchers concluded:

    “The risk-benefit ratio of statin use, specifically for primary prevention, should be carefully weighed, and further studies are warranted.”

    Certain Statins May Impair Your Memory and May Even Lead to Amnesia

    Still more research revealed that rats taking the statin Pravachol (pravastatin) had impaired learning, with lower abilities to perform simple learning and memory tasks.5 This isn’t exactly news, as in 2012, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced it would be requiring additional warning labels for statins, one of which warned that statins may increase the risk of memory loss and confusion. The warnings, particularly the one for memory loss, came as the result of anecdotal reports compiled over the previous year…

    Interestingly, the animal study found no association between another statin drug, Lipitor, and impaired memory in the rats. But Dr. Duane Graveline, a medical doctor and former astronaut, has written an entire book on this very topic, titled Lipitor: Thief of Memory.

    In my interview with him, Dr. Graveline shared his powerful story about how Lipitor caused him severe global transient amnesia, which is what brought him out of retirement to investigate statins. There have been thousands of cases of transient global amnesia and other types of cognitive damage associated with statin use, reported to the FDA’s MedWatch site. It is believed that statin drugs damage your brain by creating a cholesterol deficiency.

    Insufficient cholesterol results in your brain not having the raw materials it needs to make biochemicals critical for memory and cognitive function, including coenzyme Q10 and dolichols, the latter of which carry the genetic instructions from your DNA to help create specific proteins in your body that are crucial for cognitive function, emotions and mood.

    High Cholesterol Levels May Be Protective

    Any discussion of statins would be incomplete without a discussion of cholesterol – the ‘villain’ that these drugs mercilessly lower. Many buy into the conventional belief that lower cholesterol equals a lower risk of heart disease, but this is not always the case. And, in fact, high cholesterol levels are indeed protective in some cases, whereas low cholesterol levels are very clearly linked to chronic disease. Writing in OJEMD, researchers explained:

    “Cholesterol is crucial for energy, immunity, fat metabolism, leptin, thyroid hormone activity, liver related synthesis, stress intolerance, adrenal function, sex hormone syntheses and brain function. When prescribing HMGCoA reductase inhibitors [statins] one needs to be cognizant of the fact that the body had increased its’ cholesterol as a compensatory mechanism and investigate accordingly.

    We seem to have fallen into the marketing trap and ignored the niggling side effects with regard to the HMGCoA reductase inhibitors. The only statin benefit that has actually been demonstrated is in middle-aged men with coronary heart disease. However, statins were not shown to best form of primary prevention.

    … In actual fact, high cholesterol levels have been found to be protective in elderly and heart failure patients and hypo-cholestereamic [low cholesterol] patients had higher incidence of intra-cerebral bleeds, depression and cancer. … We are observing the revealing of the utmost medical tragedy of all time. It is unprecedented that the healthcare industry has inadvertently induced life-threatening nutrient deficiency in millions of otherwise healthy people. What is even more disparaging is that not only has there been a failure to report on these negative side-effects of statins, there has actually been active discouragement to publish any negative studies on statins.”

    This is, in large part, why so many people are completely unaware that statin drugs have been directly linked to over 300 side effects,6 which include:

    Cognitive loss Neuropathy Anemia
    Acidosis Frequent fevers Cataracts
    Sexual dysfunction An increase in cancer risk Pancreatic dysfunction
    Immune system suppression Muscle problems, polyneuropathy (nerve damage in the hands and feet), and rhabdomyolysis, a serious degenerative muscle tissue condition Hepatic dysfunction. (Due to the potential increase in liver enzymes, patients must be monitored for normal liver function)

    Ask Yourself – and Your informed Physician — if You Really Need to Be Taking Statins

    I’ve long stated that the odds are very high — greater than 100 to 1 — that if you’re taking a statin, you may not even need it, as cholesterol is NOT the cause of heart disease. To further reinforce the importance of cholesterol, I want to remind you of the work of Dr. Stephanie Seneff, who works with the Weston A. Price Foundation.

    One of her theories is that cholesterol combines with sulfur to form cholesterol sulfate, and that this cholesterol sulfate helps thin your blood by serving as a reservoir for the electron donations you receive when walking barefoot on the Earth (also called grounding). She believes that, via this blood-thinning mechanism, cholesterol sulfate may provide natural protection against heart disease.

    In fact, she goes so far as to hypothesize that heart disease is likely the result of cholesterol deficiency — which of course is the complete opposite of the conventional view. So if your physician is urging you to check your total cholesterol, know that this test will tell you virtually nothing about your risk of heart disease, unless it is 330 or higher. HDL percentage is a far more potent indicator for heart disease risk. Here are the two ratios you should pay attention to:

    1. HDL/Total Cholesterol Ratio: Should ideally be above 24 percent. If below 10 percent, you have a significantly elevated risk for heart disease.
    2. Triglyceride/HDL Ratio: Should be below 2.

    Additional risk factors for heart disease include:

    • Your fasting insulin level: Any meal or snack high in carbohydrates like fructose and refined grains generates a rapid rise in blood glucose and then insulin to compensate for the rise in blood sugar. The insulin released from eating too many carbs promotes fat production and makes it more difficult for your body to shed excess weight, and excess fat, particularly around your belly, is one of the major contributors to heart disease
    • Your fasting blood sugar level: Studies have shown that people with a fasting blood sugar level of 100-125 mg/dl had a nearly 300 percent increase higher risk of having coronary heart disease than people with a level below 79 mg/dl
    • Your iron level: Iron can be a very potent oxidative stress, so if you have excess iron levels you can damage your blood vessels and increase your risk of heart disease. Ideally, you should monitor your ferritin levels and make sure they are not much above 80 ng/ml. The simplest way to lower them if they are elevated is to donate your blood. If that is not possible you can have a therapeutic phlebotomy and that will effectively eliminate the excess iron from your body

    Try This Instead for Primary Heart Attack Prevention

    Make no mistake about it, statin drugs are some of the most side effect-ridden medications on the market, and they frequently do more harm than good. Of utmost importance, statins deplete your body of CoQ10, which accounts for many of its devastating results. Therefore, if you take a statin, you MUST take supplemental CoQ10, or better, the reduced form called ubiquinol. If you are interested in optimizing your cholesterol levels (which doesn’t necessarily mean lowering them) and lowering your risk of heart disease and heart attacks, there are natural strategies available for doing so.

    • Reduce, with the plan of eliminating, grains and sugars in your diet, replacing them with mostly whole, fresh vegetable carbs and healthy fats. Also try to consume a good portion of your food raw.
    • Make sure you are getting enough high-quality, animal-based omega-3 fats, such as krill oil.
    • Other heart-healthy foods include olive oil, coconut and coconut oil, organic raw dairy products and eggs, avocados, raw nuts and seeds, and organic grass-fed meats.
    • Optimize your vitamin D levels.
    • Exercise daily, especially with high-intensity interval training (HIIT) exercises.
    • Avoid smoking or drinking alcohol excessively.
    • Be sure to get plenty of good, restorative sleep.

The Ugly Side of Statins: Systemic Appraisal of the Contemporary Unknown Unknowns.

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Story at-a-glance

  • A review of the published statin research revealed a categorical lack of evidence to support the use of statin therapy in primary prevention of heart attacks
  • Statins may actually increase cardiovascular risk in women, the young and people with diabetes
  • The cholesterol-lowering drugs are also linked to an increased risk of cataracts, memory impairment, diabetes, erectile dysfunction and over 300 adverse health effects
  • Lifestyle changes were far more effective, and safer, for primary heart attack prevention than statin drugs.
  • Statins

Statin cholesterol-lowering drugs are among the most widely prescribed drugs on the market, bringing in $20 billion a year.1 They are a top profit-maker for the pharmaceutical industry, in part due to relentless and highly successful direct-to-consumer advertising campaigns.

One in four Americans over the age of 45 now takes statins, typically for theprimary prevention of heart attacks and strokes. Traditionally, primary prevention usually involves healthy lifestyle choices that support heart health, things like eating right and exercising, yet here we have millions of Americans taking pills instead.

Has anyone unbiased stopped to find out if these drugs are really the best method for heart attack prevention? After all, as researchers noted in the Open Journal of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases (OJEMD):2

“…naive indiscriminate acceptance of novel mainstream therapies is not always advisable and prudence is required in unearthing harmful, covert side effects.”

This is precisely the task that researchers from Ireland took on by completing an objective review of Pubmed, EM-BASE and Cochrane review databases.3 Their results speak volumes…

“It is beginning to dawn on some clinicians that contemporary treatments are not only failing to impact on our most prevalent diseases, but they may be causing more damage than good. A perfect example of such an issue is the statin saga.”

The Evidence Is In: Lifestyle Trumps Statins for Primary Heart Attack Prevention

For a drug therapy that appears to offer little by way of primary prevention, the risks were alarming. For every 10,000 people taking a statin, there were:

  • 307 extra patients with cataracts
  • 23 additional patients with acute kidney failure
  • 74 extra patients with liver dysfunction

The landmark review revealed “a categorical lack of clinical evidence to support the use of statin therapy in primary prevention.” They also found that statins actually increase cardiovascular risk in women, the young and people with diabetes. The review also showed that statin therapy increased:

  • Muscle fatigabilty by 30% with more than 11% incidence of rhabdomyolysis (a life-threatening muscle condition) at high doses
  • Coronary artery and aortic calcification
  • Erectile dysfunction, which is 10 times more common in young men taking the lowest dose of statin.
  • Diabetes
  • Cancer

The researchers noted:

“There is increased risk of diabetes mellitus, cataract formation, and erectile dysfunction in young statin users, all of which are alarming. Furthermore there is a significant increase in the risk of cancer and neurodegenerative disorders in the elderly plus an enhanced risk of a myriad of infectious diseases. All side effects are dose dependent and persist during treatment.

Primary prevention clinical results provoke the possibility of not only the lack of primary cardiovascular protection by statin therapy, but highlight the very real possibility of augmented cardiovascular risk in women, patients with diabetes mellitus and the young. Statins are associated with triple the risk of coronary artery and aortic calcification.

These findings on statins’ major adverse effects had been under-reported and the way in which they [were] withheld from the public, and even concealed, is a scientific farce.

… Cardiovascular primary prevention and regeneration programmes, through life style changes and abstaining from tobacco use have enhanced clinical efficacy and quality of life over any pharmaceutical or other conventional intervention.”

If You Take Statins, Your Vision Could Be at Risk

The featured review found an increased risk of cataracts with statin use, and this was supported by a new JAMA study,4 which further revealed that the risk of cataracts is increased among statin users, compared with non-users. As a main cause of low vision among the elderly, cataract is a clouding of your eye lens.

It has previously been hypothesized that statin antioxidant effects may slow the aging process of the lens, but the current study revealed that they, instead, raise cataract risk, again calling into question the usefulness of statins for primary prevention of heart attacks. The researchers concluded:

“The risk-benefit ratio of statin use, specifically for primary prevention, should be carefully weighed, and further studies are warranted.”

Certain Statins May Impair Your Memory and May Even Lead to Amnesia

Still more research revealed that rats taking the statin Pravachol (pravastatin) had impaired learning, with lower abilities to perform simple learning and memory tasks.5 This isn’t exactly news, as in 2012, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced it would be requiring additional warning labels for statins, one of which warned that statins may increase the risk of memory loss and confusion. The warnings, particularly the one for memory loss, came as the result of anecdotal reports compiled over the previous year…

Interestingly, the animal study found no association between another statin drug, Lipitor, and impaired memory in the rats. But Dr. Duane Graveline, a medical doctor and former astronaut, has written an entire book on this very topic, titled Lipitor: Thief of Memory.

In my interview with him, Dr. Graveline shared his powerful story about how Lipitor caused him severe global transient amnesia, which is what brought him out of retirement to investigate statins. There have been thousands of cases of transient global amnesia and other types of cognitive damage associated with statin use, reported to the FDA’s MedWatch site. It is believed that statin drugs damage your brain by creating a cholesterol deficiency.

Insufficient cholesterol results in your brain not having the raw materials it needs to make biochemicals critical for memory and cognitive function, including coenzyme Q10 and dolichols, the latter of which carry the genetic instructions from your DNA to help create specific proteins in your body that are crucial for cognitive function, emotions and mood.

High Cholesterol Levels May Be Protective

Any discussion of statins would be incomplete without a discussion of cholesterol – the ‘villain’ that these drugs mercilessly lower. Many buy into the conventional belief that lower cholesterol equals a lower risk of heart disease, but this is not always the case. And, in fact, high cholesterol levels are indeed protective in some cases, whereas low cholesterol levels are very clearly linked to chronic disease. Writing in OJEMD, researchers explained:

“Cholesterol is crucial for energy, immunity, fat metabolism, leptin, thyroid hormone activity, liver related synthesis, stress intolerance, adrenal function, sex hormone syntheses and brain function. When prescribing HMGCoA reductase inhibitors [statins] one needs to be cognizant of the fact that the body had increased its’ cholesterol as a compensatory mechanism and investigate accordingly.

We seem to have fallen into the marketing trap and ignored the niggling side effects with regard to the HMGCoA reductase inhibitors. The only statin benefit that has actually been demonstrated is in middle-aged men with coronary heart disease. However, statins were not shown to best form of primary prevention.

… In actual fact, high cholesterol levels have been found to be protective in elderly and heart failure patients and hypo-cholestereamic [low cholesterol] patients had higher incidence of intra-cerebral bleeds, depression and cancer. … We are observing the revealing of the utmost medical tragedy of all time. It is unprecedented that the healthcare industry has inadvertently induced life-threatening nutrient deficiency in millions of otherwise healthy people. What is even more disparaging is that not only has there been a failure to report on these negative side-effects of statins, there has actually been active discouragement to publish any negative studies on statins.”

This is, in large part, why so many people are completely unaware that statin drugs have been directly linked to over 300 side effects,6 which include:

Cognitive loss Neuropathy Anemia
Acidosis Frequent fevers Cataracts
Sexual dysfunction An increase in cancer risk Pancreatic dysfunction
Immune system suppression Muscle problems, polyneuropathy (nerve damage in the hands and feet), and rhabdomyolysis, a serious degenerative muscle tissue condition Hepatic dysfunction. (Due to the potential increase in liver enzymes, patients must be monitored for normal liver function)

Ask Yourself – and Your informed Physician — if You Really Need to Be Taking Statins

I’ve long stated that the odds are very high — greater than 100 to 1 — that if you’re taking a statin, you may not even need it, ascholesterol is NOT the cause of heart disease. To further reinforce the importance of cholesterol, I want to remind you of the work of Dr. Stephanie Seneff, who works with the Weston A. Price Foundation.

One of her theories is that cholesterol combines with sulfur to form cholesterol sulfate, and that this cholesterol sulfate helps thin your blood by serving as a reservoir for the electron donations you receive when walking barefoot on the Earth (also called grounding). She believes that, via this blood-thinning mechanism, cholesterol sulfate may provide natural protection against heart disease.

In fact, she goes so far as to hypothesize that heart disease is likely the result of cholesterol deficiency — which of course is the complete opposite of the conventional view. So if your physician is urging you to check your total cholesterol, know that this test will tell you virtually nothing about your risk of heart disease, unless it is 330 or higher. HDL percentage is a far more potent indicator for heart disease risk. Here are the two ratios you should pay attention to:

  1. HDL/Total Cholesterol Ratio: Should ideally be above 24 percent. If below 10 percent, you have a significantly elevated risk for heart disease.
  2. Triglyceride/HDL Ratio: Should be below 2.

Additional risk factors for heart disease include:

  • Your fasting insulin level: Any meal or snack high in carbohydrates like fructose and refined grains generates a rapid rise in blood glucose and then insulin to compensate for the rise in blood sugar. The insulin released from eating too many carbs promotes fat production and makes it more difficult for your body to shed excess weight, and excess fat, particularly around your belly, is one of the major contributors to heart disease
  • Your fasting blood sugar level: Studies have shown that people with a fasting blood sugar level of 100-125 mg/dl had a nearly 300 percent increase higher risk of having coronary heart disease than people with a level below 79 mg/dl
  • Your iron level: Iron can be a very potent oxidative stress, so if you have excess iron levels you can damage your blood vessels and increase your risk of heart disease. Ideally, you should monitor your ferritin levels and make sure they are not much above 80 ng/ml. The simplest way to lower them if they are elevated is to donate your blood. If that is not possible you can have a therapeutic phlebotomy and that will effectively eliminate the excess iron from your body

Try This Instead for Primary Heart Attack Prevention

Make no mistake about it, statin drugs are some of the most side effect-ridden medications on the market, and they frequently do more harm than good. Of utmost importance, statins deplete your body of CoQ10, which accounts for many of its devastating results. Therefore, if you take a statin, you MUST take supplemental CoQ10, or better, the reduced form called ubiquinol. If you are interested in optimizing your cholesterol levels (which doesn’t necessarily mean lowering them) and lowering your risk of heart disease and heart attacks, there are natural strategies available for doing so.

  • Reduce, with the plan of eliminating, grains and sugars in your diet, replacing them with mostly whole, fresh vegetable carbs and healthy fats. Also try to consume a good portion of your food raw.
  • Make sure you are getting enough high-quality, animal-based omega-3 fats, such as krill oil.
  • Other heart-healthy foods include olive oil, coconut and coconut oil, organic raw dairy products and eggs, avocados, raw nuts and seeds, and organic grass-fed meats.
  • Optimize your vitamin D levels.
  • Exercise daily, especially with high-intensity interval training (HIIT) exercises.
  • Avoid smoking or drinking alcohol excessively.
  • Be sure to get plenty of good, restorative sleep.

High-Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein and Cardiovascular Disease.

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Abstract

The role of inflammation in the propagation of atherosclerosis and susceptibility to cardiovascular (CV) events is well established. Of the wide array of inflammatory biomarkers that have been studied, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) has received the most attention for its use in screening and risk reclassification and as a predictor of clinical response to statin therapy. Although CRP is involved in the immunologic process that triggers vascular remodeling and plaque deposition and is associated with increased CV disease (CVD) risk, definitive randomized evidence for its role as a causative factor in atherothrombosis is lacking. Whether measurement of hsCRP levels provides consistent, clinically meaningful incremental predictive value in risk prediction and reclassification beyond conventional factors remains debated. Despite publication of guidelines on the use of hsCRP in CVD risk prediction by several leading professional organizations, there is a lack of clear consensus regarding the optimal clinical use of hsCRP. This article reviews 4 distinct points from the literature to better understand the current state and application of hsCRP in clinical practice: 1) the biology of hsCRP and its role in atherosclerosis; 2) the epidemiological association of hsCRP with CVD; 3) the quality of hsCRP as a biomarker of risk; and 4) the use of hsCRP as a tool to initiate or tailor statin therapy. Furthermore, we highlight recommendations from societies and important considerations when using hsCRP to guide treatment decisions in the primary prevention setting.

Source: Journal of the American College of Cardiology

 

Pharmacogenetics and Statins: Genotyping Might Cut Muscle-Pain Risk.

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Strikingly wide variation among patients in plasma levels of atorvastatin and rosuvastatin, even with consistent dosing, is likely related to gene variants that affect the drugs’ uptake by the liver in some patients, suggests a prospective study [1]. The researchers propose that selective screening of some statin candidates for the presence of the specific polymorphisms could help individualize atorvastatin and rosuvastatin dosing with the goal of lowering the risk of statin side effects, especially myopathy.

In the study of 399 patients taking either statin, senior author Dr Richard B Kim (University of Western Ontario, London) toldheartwire , “We were surprised at the extent of interpatient [plasma-level] variability at the same dose. Tremendous variation–45-fold. That is to say, there were some people with very low blood levels and an excellent response to statins, and people with unexpectedly high levels and a reasonable response to statins.” It’s the latter group that appears to be at increased risk, given that statins affect lipoproteins in the liver, but the side-effect risk goes up with plasma levels.

“We also were surprised by the role of age. It really did look like, in our patients older than aged 75 with the wrong genetic makeup, the higher doses were particularly bad in terms of risk.”

The study was published online July 22, 2013 in Circulation: Cardiovascular Genetics with first author Dr Marianne K DeGorter (University of Western Ontario).

The group devised a potential management algorithm that includes genotyping and is aimed at avoiding adversely high statin plasma levels, acknowledging that whether it would prevent side effects has yet to be demonstrated. But Kim said it could add to efforts to avoid significant muscle enzyme elevations or actual rhabdomyolysis.

 

It really did look like, in our patients older than aged 75 with the wrong genetic makeup, the higher doses were particularly bad in terms of risk.

 

“It’s really an additional decision support tool that incorporates clinical and pharmacogenetic variables that I think gives the prescribing physician a point of reference regarding when to switch [treatments], how to switch, and dose considerations, with a mechanistic point of view in terms of drug level,” Kim said. The current study “does say that if you’re thinking high-dose in an older person, the [algorithm] might be particularly useful.”

In the 165 patients taking rosuvastatin, nearly all the explainable variability in blood concentrations could be attributed to two reduced-function polymorphisms, one in the uptake transporter gene SLCO1B1 (p<0.001) and the other in the efflux transporter gene ABCG2 (p<0.01), the group writes. In the 134 patients on atorvastatin, explainable blood-level variability was split between two polymorphisms in SLCO1B1 (p<0.01 and p<0.05, respectively) and the activity of cytochrome P3A (CYP3A). The analyses were adjusted for gender, age, body mass index, ethnicity, statin dose, and time from last dose, and echo a 2008 study which concluded that two SLCO1B1 variants were associated with simvastatin-related myopathy, as reported by heartwire . The screening concept is currently being applied to simvastatin therapy at least at one major center.

The group retrospectively tested their ideas, looking at the relationships between genotypic and clinical variables and statin dose, in a validation cohort of 579 patients taking either drug in a primary care setting in the US and at a referral clinic in Canada.

The group found that the transporter genotypes that raise statin concentrations were homogeneously distributed among patients taking a range of atorvastatin and rosuvastatin dosages. That is, the prescribing physicians, armed primarily with their clinical judgment to decide dosage levels, failed to achieve optimal dosing with respect to serum drug levels. But it seemed to be only patients receiving the highest dosages who showed higher-than-safe serum levels according to genotype- and age-based criteria.

“Although we didn’t quite get to the sample size we needed, it did seem like people with the wrong genetic makeup are more likely to stop a statin or switch to [another dyslipidemia drug],” Kim said, at least among patients on the highest statin dosages.

The group’s proposed management algorithm recommends a maximum statin dosage that will result in plasma concentrations below the 90th percentile (reflecting an assumption that 10% of patients will have statin-related muscle issues) based on patient age and transporter-related genotype.

The algorithm is based on data predominantly from whites; the group cautions that some other ethnicities, “particularly Asians,” have increased sensitivity to statins.

Source: medscape.com

 

Pharmacogenetics and Statins: Genotyping Might Cut Muscle-Pain Risk.

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Strikingly wide variation among patients in plasma levels of atorvastatin and rosuvastatin, even with consistent dosing, is likely related to gene variants that affect the drugs’ uptake by the liver in some patients, suggests a prospective study [1]. The researchers propose that selective screening of some statin candidates for the presence of the specific polymorphisms could help individualize atorvastatin and rosuvastatin dosing with the goal of lowering the risk of statin side effects, especially myopathy.

In the study of 399 patients taking either statin, senior author Dr Richard B Kim (University of Western Ontario, London) toldheartwire , “We were surprised at the extent of interpatient [plasma-level] variability at the same dose. Tremendous variation–45-fold. That is to say, there were some people with very low blood levels and an excellent response to statins, and people with unexpectedly high levels and a reasonable response to statins.” It’s the latter group that appears to be at increased risk, given that statins affect lipoproteins in the liver, but the side-effect risk goes up with plasma levels.

“We also were surprised by the role of age. It really did look like, in our patients older than aged 75 with the wrong genetic makeup, the higher doses were particularly bad in terms of risk.”

The study was published online July 22, 2013 in Circulation: Cardiovascular Genetics with first author Dr Marianne K DeGorter (University of Western Ontario).

The group devised a potential management algorithm that includes genotyping and is aimed at avoiding adversely high statin plasma levels, acknowledging that whether it would prevent side effects has yet to be demonstrated. But Kim said it could add to efforts to avoid significant muscle enzyme elevations or actual rhabdomyolysis.

 

It really did look like, in our patients older than aged 75 with the wrong genetic makeup, the higher doses were particularly bad in terms of risk.

 

“It’s really an additional decision support tool that incorporates clinical and pharmacogenetic variables that I think gives the prescribing physician a point of reference regarding when to switch [treatments], how to switch, and dose considerations, with a mechanistic point of view in terms of drug level,” Kim said. The current study “does say that if you’re thinking high-dose in an older person, the [algorithm] might be particularly useful.”

In the 165 patients taking rosuvastatin, nearly all the explainable variability in blood concentrations could be attributed to two reduced-function polymorphisms, one in the uptake transporter gene SLCO1B1 (p<0.001) and the other in the efflux transporter gene ABCG2 (p<0.01), the group writes. In the 134 patients on atorvastatin, explainable blood-level variability was split between two polymorphisms in SLCO1B1 (p<0.01 and p<0.05, respectively) and the activity of cytochrome P3A (CYP3A). The analyses were adjusted for gender, age, body mass index, ethnicity, statin dose, and time from last dose, and echo a 2008 study which concluded that two SLCO1B1 variants were associated with simvastatin-related myopathy, as reported by heartwire . The screening concept is currently being applied to simvastatin therapy at least at one major center.

The group retrospectively tested their ideas, looking at the relationships between genotypic and clinical variables and statin dose, in a validation cohort of 579 patients taking either drug in a primary care setting in the US and at a referral clinic in Canada.

The group found that the transporter genotypes that raise statin concentrations were homogeneously distributed among patients taking a range of atorvastatin and rosuvastatin dosages. That is, the prescribing physicians, armed primarily with their clinical judgment to decide dosage levels, failed to achieve optimal dosing with respect to serum drug levels. But it seemed to be only patients receiving the highest dosages who showed higher-than-safe serum levels according to genotype- and age-based criteria.

“Although we didn’t quite get to the sample size we needed, it did seem like people with the wrong genetic makeup are more likely to stop a statin or switch to [another dyslipidemia drug],” Kim said, at least among patients on the highest statin dosages.

The group’s proposed management algorithm recommends a maximum statin dosage that will result in plasma concentrations below the 90th percentile (reflecting an assumption that 10% of patients will have statin-related muscle issues) based on patient age and transporter-related genotype.

The algorithm is based on data predominantly from whites; the group cautions that some other ethnicities, “particularly Asians,” have increased sensitivity to statins.

Source: medscape.com

 

Do You Take Any of These 11 Dangerous Statins or Cholesterol Drugs?

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Story at-a-glance

  • One in four Americans over the age of 45 are now taking a statin drug, despite the fact that there are over 900 studies proving their adverse effects, which run the gamut from muscle problems to diabetes and increased cancer risk.
  • Statins deplete your body of CoQ10, which can have devastating results. If you take statin drugs without taking CoQ10, your health is at serious risk. If you have symptoms of statin damage, such as muscle pain, take anywhere from 200 to 500 mg of CoQ10 or ubiquinol, which is the reduced form. Ubiquinol is the recommended form if you’re over the age of 25. For preventative use, take around 100-200 mg.
  • Statins also impair the function of all sterols, including cholesterol and vitamin D (which is similar to cholesterol and is produced from cholesterol in your skin), all your sex hormones, cortisone, the dolichols, which are involved in keeping the membranes inside your cells healthy
  • Odds are greater than 100 to 1 that if you’re taking a statin, you don’t really need it. The ONLY subgroup that might benefit are those born with a genetic defect called familial hypercholesterolemia, as this makes them resistant to traditional measures of normalizing cholesterol.
  • Statins are in fact classified as a “pregnancy Category X medication”; meaning, it causes serious birth defects, and should NEVER be used by a woman who is pregnant or planning a pregnancy.
  • calorie-counting

Tens of millions of Americans are taking cholesterol-lowering drugs—mostly statins—and some “experts” claim that many millions more should be taking them. I couldn’t disagree more.

Statins are HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors, that is, they act by blocking the enzyme in your liver that is responsible for making cholesterol (HMG-CoA reductase).

The fact that statin drugs cause side effects is well established—there are now900 studies proving their adverse effects, which run the gamut from muscle problems to increased cancer risk. For starters, reported side effects include:

Muscle problems, polyneuropathy (nerve damage in the hands and feet), and rhabdomyolysis (a serious degenerative muscle tissue condition) Anemia
Acidosis Sexual dysfunction
Immune depression Cataracts
Pancreas or liver dysfunction, including a potential increase in liver enzymes Memory loss

 

Muscle problems are the best known of statin drugs’ adverse side effects, but cognitive problems and memory loss are also widely reported. A spectrum of other problems, ranging from blood glucose elevations to tendon problems, can also occur. There is evidence that taking statins may even increase your risk for Lou Gehrig’s disease, diabetes, and even cancer. Statins currently available on the U.S. market include1 :

Advicor(lovastatin with niacin) – Abbott Crestor(rosuvastatin) –AstraZeneca Mevacor (lovastatin) –Merck Simcor(niacin / imvastatin) –Abbott
Altoprev(lovastatin) – Shionogi Pharma Lescol(fluvastatin) – Novartis Pravachol (pravastatin) — Bristol-Myers Squibb Zocor (simvastatin) – Merck
Caduet[atorvastatin with amlodipine (Norvasc)] –Pfizer Lipitor(atorvastatin) – Pfizer Vytorin(ezetimibe/simvastatin) – Merck/Schering-Plough  

Statin Drugs: A Surprising Cause of Diabetes

Statins have been shown to increase your risk of diabetes through a few different mechanisms. The most important one is that they increase insulin resistance, which can be extremely harmful to your health. Increased insulin resistance contributes to chronic inflammation in your body, and inflammation is the hallmark of most diseases. In fact, increased insulin resistance can lead to heart disease, which, ironically, is the primary reason for taking a cholesterol-reducing drug in the first place! It can also promote belly fat, high blood pressure, heart attacks, chronic fatigue, thyroid disruption, and diseases like Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and cancer.

Secondly, statins increase your diabetes risk by actually raising your blood sugar. When you eat a meal that contains starches and sugar, some of the excess sugar goes to your liver, which then stores it away as cholesterol and triglycerides. Statins work by preventing your liver from making cholesterol. As a result, your liver returns the sugar to your bloodstream, which raises your blood sugar levels.

Now, it’s important to realize that drug-induced diabetes and genuine type 2 diabetes are not necessarily identical.

If you’re on a statin drug and find that your blood glucose is elevated, it’s possible that what you have is just hyperglycemia—a side effect, and the result of your medication. Unfortunately, many doctors will at that point mistakenly diagnose you with “type 2 diabetes,” and possibly prescribe another drug, when all you may need to do is simply discontinue the statin in order for your blood glucose levels to revert back to normal. So if friends or loved ones you know are on a statin (and one in four Americans over 45 are) and they are told they have diabetes, please do them a favor and tell them about the information in this article.

Major Statin Drug Study Found to Be Flawed

A study known as the JUPITER trial initially suggested cholesterol-lowering statin drugs might prevent heart-related death in many more people than just those with high cholesterol. But two years after its publication in 2008, researchers came out saying the JUPITER results are flawed — and that they do not support the benefits initially reported. Not only is there no “striking decrease in coronary heart disease complications,” but a more recent report has also called into question drug companies’ involvement in such trials.

According to a report by ABC News2 :

“… major discrepancies exists between the significant reductions in nonfatal stroke and heart attacks reported in the JUPITER trial and what has been found in other research … ‘The JUPITER data set appears biased,’ [the researchers] wrote in conclusion.”

If You Take Statins, You MUST Take CoQ10

Statins deplete your body of CoQ10, which can have devastating results. If you take statin drugs without taking CoQ10, your health is at serious risk. Unfortunately, this describes the majority of people who take them in the United States. CoQ10 is a cofactor (co-enzyme) that is essential for the creation of ATP molecules, which you need for cellular energy production. Organs such as your heart have higher energy requirements, and therefore require more CoQ10 to function properly. Produced mainly in your liver, it also plays a role in maintaining blood glucose.

Physicians rarely inform people of this risk and only occasionally advise them to take a CoQ10 supplement. As your body gets more and more depleted of CoQ10, you may suffer from fatigue, muscle weakness and soreness, and eventually heart failure.

Coenzyme Q10 is also very important in the process of neutralizing free radicals. So when your CoQ10 is depleted, you enter a vicious cycle of increased free radicals, loss of cellular energy, and damaged mitochondrial DNA. If you decide to take a CoQ10 supplement and are over the age of 40, it is important to choose the reduced version, called ubiquinol. Ubiquinol is a FAR more effective form—I personally take it daily for its many far-ranging benefits. As for dosage, Dr. Graveline, a family doctor and former astronaut, made the following recommendation in a previous interview on statins and CoQ10:

  • If you have symptoms of statin damage such as muscle pain, take anywhere from 200 to 500 mg
  • If you just want to use it preventively, 200 mg or less should be sufficient

Statins Impair Numerous Biological Functions

Statin drugs also interfere with other biological functions, including an early step in the mevalonate pathway, which is the central pathway for the steroid management in your body. Products of this pathway that are negatively affected by statins include:

  • All your sex hormones
  • Cortisone
  • The dolichols, which are involved in keeping the membranes inside your cells healthy
  • All sterols, including cholesterol and vitamin D (which is similar to cholesterol and is produced from cholesterol in your skin)

It’s still uncertain whether statins actually deplete your body of vitamin D, but they do reduce your body’s natural ability to createactive vitamin D (1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol). This is the natural outcome of the drug’s cholesterol-reducing ability, because you need cholesterol to make vitamin D! It’s the raw material your body uses for vitamin D conversion after you’ve exposed your skin to sunlight. It’s also well-documented that vitamin D improves insulin resistance, so needless to say, when you take a statin drug, you forfeit this ‘built-in’ health-promoting mechanism, which is yet another clue as to how statins can cause diabetes.

Ninety-Nine Out of 100 People Do Not Need Statin Drugs

That these drugs have proliferated the market the way they have is a testimony to the power of marketing, corruption and corporate greed, because the odds are very high— greater than 100 to 1—that if you’re taking a statin, you don’t really need it. The ONLY subgroup that might benefit are those born with a genetic defect called familial hypercholesterolemia, as this makes them resistant to traditional measures of normalizing cholesterol.

And, even more importantly, cholesterol is NOT the cause of heart disease.

If your physician is urging you to check your total cholesterol, then you should know that this test will tell you virtually nothing about your risk of heart disease, unless it is 330 or higher. HDL percentage is a far more potent indicator for heart disease risk. Here are the two ratios you should pay attention to:

  1. HDL/Total Cholesterol Ratio: Should ideally be above 24 percent. If below 10 percent, you have a significantly elevated risk for heart disease.
  2. Triglyceride/HDL Ratio: Should be below 2.

I have seen a number of people with total cholesterol levels over 250 who were actually at low risk for heart disease due to their elevated HDL levels. Conversely, I have seen many people with cholesterol levels under 200 who had a very high risk of heart disease, based on their low HDL. Your body NEEDS cholesterol—it is important in the production of cell membranes, hormones, vitamin D, and bile acids that help you to digest fat. Cholesterol also helps your brain form memories and is vital to your neurological function. There is also strong evidence that having too little cholesterol INCREASES your risk for cancer, memory loss, Parkinson’s disease, hormonal imbalances, stroke, depression, suicide, and violent behavior.

Statins Should NEVER Be Used By Pregnant Women

One in four Americans over the age of 45 is now taking these drugs, and few are properly warned about the related health risks. Part of the problem is that many doctors are not even aware of all the risks. A study published last spring highlighted this dilemma.

Most disturbingly, the researchers found that physicians were lacking in awareness of the teratogenic risks3 (ability to cause fetal malformations) of statins and other cardiovascular drugs they prescribed for their pregnant patients. The study followed an earlier report, which had concluded statins should be avoided in early pregnancy due to their teratogenic capability4. An even earlier 2003 study5 had already established that cholesterol plays an essential role in embryonic development, and that statins could play a part in embryonic mutations or even death…

Indeed, it’s difficult to look at these facts and not reach the conclusion that the pharmaceutical industry is quite willing to sacrifice human lives for profit. Statins are in fact classified as a “pregnancy Category X medication.” Meaning, it causes serious birth defects, and should NEVER be used by a woman who is pregnant or planning a pregnancy.

Parents Beware: Outrageous Push to Put Kids on Statin Drugs!

In a bold attempt to increase profits before the patent runs out, Pfizer has introduced a chewable kid-friendly version of Lipitor. Its US patent for Lipitor expired in November 2011, and seeking to boost sales of the drug, children have become the new target market, and the conventional medical establishment is more than happy to oblige.

Researchers and many doctors are now calling for universal school screening of children to check for high cholesterol to find those “in need of treatment.” In addition, older siblings, parents, and other family members might be prompted to get screened as well, the researchers say, which would uncover additional, previously undiagnosed adults in need of the drug.

This is clearly NOT the way to improve public health. On the contrary, it could produce a new, massive wave of extremely dire health consequences in just a few years’ time.

So rather than improving school lunches, which would cost about a dollar a day per child, they’d rather “invest” ten times that for tests and drugs that in no way, shape, or form address the root cause, which is an improper, unhealthy diet! All they’re doing is allowing all the industries to maintain or increase their profits: Big Pharma, Big Sugar, Big Corn and the processed food industry.

Who pays?

You and your children! And in far more ways than one!

Optimizing Your Cholesterol Levels, Naturally

There’s really no reason to take statins and suffer the damaging health effects from these dangerous drugs. The fact is that 75 percent of your cholesterol is produced by your liver, which is influenced by your insulin levels. Therefore, if you optimize your insulin levels, you will automatically optimize your cholesterol. It follows, then, that my primary recommendations for safely regulating your cholesterol have to do with modifying your diet and lifestyle:

  • Optimize your vitamin D levels. Research by Dr. Stephanie Seneff has shed additional light on the extreme importance of appropriate sun exposure for normalizing your cholesterol levels and preventing heart disease. For more information, please see this previous interview.
  • Reduce, with the plan of eliminating, grains and sugars in your diet. Ideally, you’ll also want to consume a good portion of your food raw.
  • Make sure you are getting plenty of high-quality, animal-based omega-3 fats, such as krill oil.
  • Other heart-healthy foods include olive oil, coconut and coconut oil, organic raw dairy products and eggs, avocados, raw nuts and seeds, and organic grass-fed meats as appropriate for your nutritional type.
  • Exercise daily. Make sure you incorporate Peak Fitness exercises, which also optimizes your human growth hormone (HGH) production.
  • Address your emotional challenges. My favorite technique for stress management is the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT).
  • Avoid smoking or drinking alcohol excessively.
  • Be sure to get plenty of good, restorative sleep.

Unlike statin drugs, which lower your cholesterol at the expense of your health, these lifestyle strategies represent a holistic approach that will benefit your overall health—which includes a healthy cardiovascular system.

The Baycol Statin Recall and Safety Issue:

In August 2001, Bayer AG, the maker of Baycol (cerivastatin), a popular cholesterol-lowering drug used by about 700,000 Americans, pulled the medicine off the market after 31 people died from severe muscle breakdown, a well-recognized side effect of cholesterol-lowering drugs. Related articles follow:

Statins: Is the Danger in the Dose?

Here is the hard data on Baycol-associated adverse reactions. If you or someone you know is taking one of the statin cholesterol-lowering drugs, this is a “must-read” article by Jay Cohen, MD to help you understand the potential dangers that this exposes you to.

Baycol Pulled From Market as Numerous Deaths Linked to It

Baycol, a cholestrol-lowering drug (statin), has been voluntarily pulled off the market because of numerous deaths associated with its use.

The Baycol Recall: How Safe is Your Statin?

With the recall of Baycol, patients are now searching out a new drug to take its place, but are other statins really safe? Here are some precautions necessary for anyone taking Baycol or any statin.

Baycol: Another Fluoride Drug Bites the Dust

Baycol is just one of many fluoride drugs to be pulled from the market due to health hazards posed. Read about this and some of the others in this informative article written by Andreas Schuld and Wendy Small.

BMJ: Bayer faces potential fine over cholesterol lowering drug

Bayer might have to pay a fine to the German government of about $23,400 for withholding from the German authorities information on the drug’s potentially fatal interaction with another drug.

Lipitor Tied to Liver, Kidney Injury, as Well as Muscle Damage

It seems that Baycol is not alone among cholesterol lowering drugs in posing serious dangers to the public. A number of legal actions are also being pursued against Pfizer Inc., the manufacturer of the Lipitor.

Excerpts from Public Citizen’s Health Research Group’s Petition to Require a Box Warning on All HMG-CoA Reductase Inhibitors (“Statins”):

” … Public Citizen, representing 135,000 consumers nationwide, hereby petitions the FDA pursuant to the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act 21, U.S.C. Section 355(e)(3), and C.F.R. 10.30, to add a black box warning and additional consistent bolded warnings about this serious problem to the label of all statins marketed in the United States.”

“Doctors and the public must be warned to immediately discontinue use of statin drugs at the onset of muscle pain, muscle tenderness, muscle weakness or tiredness.”

“Prompt cessation of the use of statins at the first sign of muscle pain, muscle tenderness, muscle weakness or tiredness and prompt evaluation by a physician including a blood test for creatine phosphokinase (a measure of muscle destruction) may avoid the progression to more extensive muscle damage, rhabdomyolysis and death.”

“Rhabdomyolysis has been reported with all statins currently marketed in the United States.”

Souirce: mercola.com