Statin Drugs - What Your Doctor May Not Have Told You!
For many years, authorities have been questioning the overall benefits, weighed against the side-effects of statins, and whether elevated cholesterol is even the real culprit in cardiovascular disease! Although Statin Drugs may achieve a significant decrease in your LDL cholesterol, after reading this article and doing your own due diligence, you may be much more cautious about deciding to use Statin drugs. Please thoroughly consult with your medical doctor before deciding to begin or stop taking these drugs, and please do more research about Statins and all of your possible alternative therapies...
Statin Drugs Have Many Side Effects You May Not Be Aware Of…
While these drugs lower the risk of heart disease, Statin drug users don’t have an overall lower mortality rate! Instead of dying from heart disease, while on these drugs, people’s death rates actually increase from other causes and Statin drug-induced side effects, for example…
1-Cancer rates increase in Statin Drug Users -- since Statins lower the production of a compound called NF-kB in white blood cells, which acts to fight cancers.
2-Statins also cause many problems if you lack adequate levels of Vitamin D -- I usually recommend 5000 IU Vitamin D3 supplementation to all patients, especially if they are on Statin drugs.
If you have lower then optimal vitamin D3 levels, taking Statin Drugs can cause Statin Associated Muscle Syndrome (SAMS). This affects up to 18% of users, with symptoms including muscle pain, weakness, cramping, and soreness. While it may be manageable by switching which statin drug you take or changing dosages, severe, rare cases can lead to a condition called Rhabdomyolysis, a serious and potentially fatal syndrome involving the rapid breakdown of skeletal muscle tissue.-2-
Vit D deficiency is also associated with an increased risk of…
• 22 types of cancer including breast, colon, and prostate
• Multiple Sclerosis
• Hypertension
• Rheumatoid Arthritis
• Type I Diabetes
• Chronic Pain Syndromes (* 90 % of people with chronic non-specific pain have a Vitamin D deficiency!)
• Osteoporosis
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3- Statin Drugs also lower Coenzyme Q10 production -- therefore, you need to supplement a costly additional 500-600 mg CoQ10 per day, depending on your body size.
Due this Co Q10 production deficiency…
• Statin drugs end up destroying connective tissue, and can lead to osteoporosis
• Statin users have a 14 times greater likelihood of peripheral neuropathy “pinched nerves” throughout their bodies
• 2 years on Statin drugs increase the likelihood of a peripheral neuropathy by about 26 times!
* 2 years on Statin drugs causes your risk of Diabetes to triple!
(Note: If you take Coenzyme Q10 with any diabetes medication, beware that it has a further blood sugar lowering effect, so consult your doctor or pharmacist to adjust your other medications first!)
The following two article provide an analysis of all research done on Co Q10 on Statins through 2025:
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12554813/
https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/JAHA.118.009835
4- Statin Drug use may lead to Liver Failure
5-Statin Drugs are linked with an increased likelihood of Multiple Sclerosis
6- Statin Drugs may cause transient Global Amnesia & Permanent Memory Loss
(https://www.health.harvard.edu/cholesterol-and-lipids/new-findings-on-statin-memory-loss-link
7- Statin Drugs increase you risk for Dementia & Psychiatric problems such as depression, anxiety, and aggression
8- Stating Drugs can worsen the quality of your sleep
A large study funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (a part of the National Institute of Health) which looked at sleep patterns of people who took the statin drug Zocor or Simvastatin found they had significantly worse sleep quality compared with people who took Pravachol or pravastatin, another Statin type of cholesterol-lowering drug. "The findings are significant because sleep problems can affect the quality of life and may have adverse health consequences, such as promoting weight gain and insulin resistance," said Dr. Beatrice Golomb, of the University of California at San Diego School of Medicine.
Many studies have shown that lowering cholesterol does not lower the risk of heart disease. For example, The Minnesota Coronary Experiment (Brittish Medical Journal 2016;353:i1246) studied 9423 subjects, and found that for each 30-point reduction in serum cholesterol, the death risk actually rose by 22%. While statin drugs lower bad cholesterol “LDL” levels, they don’t raise good cholesterol “HDL” levels, and this doesn't create an ideal health picture… and we see an increase in the risk of death.
Research has found that strangely, if Statin drugs in any way work to help fight heart disease, it is more as a result of their property of lowering inflammation in the body, instead of their other property of lowering cholesterol in the body!
Therefore, to avoid all of the above negative side effects of Statin drugs, below are ways to achieve the same inflammation lowering effect as Statin drugs, while also lowering bad LDL levels and raising good HDL levels – which is the ideal combination of effects that promote great health. The following supplements, foods, and suggestions (especially combined with diet and exercise), can achieve this ideal combination of effects...
Here are ways to reduce our body’s inflammation – One of the ‘real’ causes of heart disease -- While also lowering bad LDL levels and raising good HDL levels,
(1) Omega 3 fatty acids, found in fish oils.
“Habitual fish oil supplementation is associated with a 13% lower risk of all-cause mortality, a 16% lower risk of cardiovascular mortality, and a 7% lower risk of cardiovascular events among the general population” (BMJ 2020;368:m456). These figures would probably be higher if people had a larger daily intake of fish oil. According to research, a daily supplement should contain 2700 mg of EPA and 1400 mg of DHA total per day, for most of its benefits to be acquired. “Burpless NatureMade Extra Strength Omega 3 Fish Oil”, “Viva Naturals Triple Strength Omega 3 Fish Oil”, or “GNC Triple Strength Fish Oil” are all good formulas which require less capsules, 4-5 soft-gels/day, to achieve 2700 mg EPA & 1400 DHA daily.
(WARNING: DO NOT ADD FISH OILS TO YOUR DIET IF YOU ARE TAKING ASPIRIN OR BLOOD THINNERS! STROKE OR SERIOUS BLEEDING PROBLEMS MAY RESULT. )
(2) “Ruby Red” Grapefruit -- research has shown that eating one per day gives you nearly the equivalent cholesterol lowering effect that Statin drugs have! (SOURCE: Gorinstein, S. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, Feb. 3, 2006; online edition. News release, American Chemical Society.)
(3) Psyllium Husk Fiber -- (10 gm/day) and/or Ground Flaxseed (50 gm/day)
(4) Phytosterol and Stanol Esters -- have been shown to significantly reduce total cholesterol with up to a 9-14% reduction in LDL cholesterol. They help to reduce absorption of cholesterol in your intestines and must be taken with meals.-5-
- Good formulas containing Phytosterols, which are best absorbed in ‘gel cap’ form are:
1. Puritan’s Pride Phytosterol Complete
2. Twin Lab Cholesterol Success
3. Vitamin Shoppe Super Phytosterols
(5) Citrus Bergamot Extract -- multiple recent studies have shown that by taking this supplement at 500 mg to 1000 mg daily, levels of bad LDL cholesterol and triglycerides drop very significantly while levels of good HDL cholesterol increase.
(https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=bergamot+and+cholesterol)
Most modern research is finding that Cholesterol is probably not the real culprit in cardiovascular disease. However, it still might be a good idea, to eliminate excess Cholesterol in the diet, and definitely certain "bad fats" which are primarily found in products containing 'partially hydrogenated oils.' These are oils through which hydrogen has been injected, in order to make them harder at room temperature, and have a longer shelf life. The problem is that the hydrogenation process creates "Trans Fats" as a by- product, and these are definitely bad for our cardiovascular health.
Trans fats - are found in any processed foods made with partially hydrogenated vegetable oils -- such as vegetable shortenings, and some margarines -- crackers, candies, cookies, snack foods, fried foods, and baked goods often contain these. If you read labels, they are now required to list the types of fat content in foods, including trans fats. A daily intake of only about 5 g of trans fat is associated with a 25% increase in the risk of coronary artery disease.
Medium Chain saturated fats - are very good for the body, and they actually lower cholesterol, increase immune function, enhance metabolic activity in all organs -- especially the brain and nervous system. Organic animal fats fall into this category, however, the best medium chained saturated fats come from: coconut oil, clarified butter (ghee), olive oil, avocado oil, raw nut oils, and especially fish oils.
Add Cardiovascular Exercise – 25 to 40 minutes, 3x per week, at least at 75% of your maximum heart rate level, i.e., (220-Your Age) X .75 = target heart rate. This frequency and intensity has been shown to increase HDLs and lower LDLs. If you are out of shape, start training at a lower heart rate level, for less time, and gradually build up to a 75% max heart rate level. A good rule of thumb is never exercise at a sustained level which has you breathing so hard that you cannot carry on a normal conversation.
(Be sure to consult your doctor before beginning any exercise program on you own.)*
In a revealing article, "The Case for Statins - Has it Really Been Made?", from the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, October 2004: Volume 97, Number 10, pp. 561-464, the authors state:
The ‘positive’ outcomes of statin research studies “have been magnified by the manner of presentation of results...” For example, in a study where 100 patients take statin drugs, 2 will have a fatal heart attack. Out of 100 patients taking a placebo, 3 will have a fatal heart attack. The absolute risk reduction of a heart attack is thus clearly only 1 percent. Yet the drug company spins the pathetic results by dividing 2/3 and publishing the relative risk, which is a 33 percent reduction of a fatal heart attack! This is intentionally misleading and dishonest. The authors of this article claim that an honest disclosure from the pharmaceutical companies, based on available research to date, would be to state that…
“If you take statins then, in seven years’ time, there is a 1 chance in about 120 that your death will have been prevented by this drug.”
In other words, would you take a medication with all the costs and dangerous side effects of Statin Drugs, if you knew that there was only less than a 1% likelihood it would prevent you from dying a premature death? Aren’t there other options for treatment and prevention of cardiovascular disease – such as some of those nutritional and lifestyle suggestions discussed above -- which could actually increase your chance of a longer and healthier lifespan?
