Not logged in
Statins: They still don't work
By Edward Martin on 01/28/2011
If your doc is pushing cholesterol meds, it's time to push back--because yet another new study finds they just don't work.
The researchers behind it even say their study proves that cholesterol isn't the best predictor of heart risk.
But since up to 75 percent of all heart attacks happen to people with normal cholesterol levels, the only surprise here is that this is somehow considered a groundbreaking discovery.
Researchers from Johns Hopkins University tracked 950 healthy men and women for five years. Half of the volunteers had the calcium buildup responsible for hardened arteries, while half did not.
And, wouldn't you know it, the calcium crowd suffered 95 percent of all heart attacks, strokes or heart-related deaths during the study period, according to research presented at a recent American Heart Association meeting.
The researchers conclude that only patients with high levels of calcium deposits in the arteries may benefit from statins...but I'd say even that's debatable since ordinary vitamin K has been shown to slow, stop and even reverse arterial calcification.
You'll find this extra special K in leafy greens--kale and spinach are loaded with the stuff--or in an inexpensive supplement.
But let's get back to statins and cholesterol levels, because another new study finds that while these meds may lower levels of LDL ("bad") cholesterol, they fail to prevent the heart risks associated with the low levels of HDL ("good") cholesterol.
And the researchers who conducted that study wrote in the Annals of Internal Medicine that "the magnitude of that risk is quite large."
While statins won't do a thing to help raise your HDL cholesterol levels, fish oil will--so here's today's lesson: Vitamin K and fish oil can do a whole lot more for your heart health than a statin ever will, especially if you combine them with the healthy lifestyle changes that will bring your waistline under control.
And if you need any more reasons to avoid statins, consider the latest bit of bad news to come falling out of the side effect tree: Researchers have found that statins may put some people at risk for a rare but very serious autoimmune disease in which the body produces antibodies that attack its own proteins.
The condition, called necrotizing myopathy, often starts as muscle pain--which is a common enough side effect of statins already.
But then, it gets far worse--even if the patient stops taking the statins.
The researchers wrote in Arthritis & Rheumatism that some of the patients have ended up in wheelchairs--and they might be the lucky ones, because at least one of them has died.
It's a rare side effect, to be sure. But why take the chance when you don't have to?
Printer-friendly versionAbout the author
Edward Martin writes House Calls, a daily letter chronicling the most cutting-edge alternative methods for beating diabetes and cancer, to the latest FDA foul-ups and Big Pharma conspiracies.
You can sign up here.
Email this Article
Comments
Gordon28
Can you please provide the citations to the journal articles for these new studies? Thanks.
Maude
I have an 81 year old friend whose doctor put her on a statin, and when she complained of muscle pain and weakness, he put her on 3 different pain meds (along with 2 for high blood pressure, 1 for rapid heartbeat, an allergy med, and a diabetes drug, though her sugar was still at 300, etc.). When I talked to her in August, the pain was so severe she was having a hard time getting to the mail box. I told her about the statin side effects and she stopped taking it immediately, but then she quit answering her phone and I had no idea what happened to her. Well, turns out she took the inevitable fall, and though she didn't break anything, ended up in a rehab center, and had to sell her house to help pay for it.
I found out where she was just before Christmas, but she was so drugged up she could barely talk. I finally got to talk to her again a couple of days ago, and though much better mentally, she can no longer walk at all (and was asking me to find her some leg exercises). And she had no idea what meds she was on. Today I managed to get her nurse to tell me that she is still being given a statin drug (Pravachol), along with various pain meds, etc.
Her 2 sons live in other states, and though I told them about this over a month ago, they've obviously done nothing to stop it (and they and their wives are all on statins, too). She now knows she's been taking it and is hopefully strong and clear minded enough to stop. I'm not there and no one will talk to me because I'm not family, so there's nothing I can do to intervene (other than calling the area ombudsman). In my opinion, what is happening to Ruth is criminal. This shouldn't just be the raging malpractice case that it is. I should be able to call the police and have her doctor and the rehab center charged with a crime. I tried finding her a civil attorney, but she has to be the one that calls them, unless declared incompetent, which she isn't, just heavily medicated.
And this is happening to who knows how many people! It's long since time for a class action suit! But in the meantime, do you or anyone reading this know of anything I can do to help my friend Ruth?
Lori
It's so true about statins. But it's important to be VERY clear about vitamin K. It's really not the leafy greens (that's vitamin K1), although they are a great source of nutrients, but it's vitamin K2 that dictates calcium deposition. We really don't convert K1 effeciently through bacteria as was once thought, so we need to be getting K2 through food. Fermented and cultured foods, like natto, full fat plain yogurt, full fat hard cheeses, egg yolks, real butter, animal organ foods, bone broths, and fermented vegetables are good sources. Notice that most of these foods are from animal fats (grass feeding increases the K2 in the animal product). Exactly the stuff we're told NOT to eat if we have "high" cholesterol. And gotta say it again - there's NO SUCH THING as "bad" cholesterol. LDL transports K2 from the liver to the cell. LDL goes bad with crappy eating, calcium dysregulation (which, of course, is prevented though K2), stress, which all causes inflammation. See the connection here? It all goes back to eating real food, ditching the refined grains, including whole, real fats, and ignoring the dogma that's really killing us.
Nancy
Hi! My husband had a heart attack in Nov 2010. He didn't even know he had it; just was having trouble breathing. They found blockages and a leaky valve. They said they can't do anything for his blockages because of where they were. I feel like I am just waiting for him to have another heart attack aned die. Is there anything he can take to clear the blockages since they cannot place stints or do surgery to clear them. Thanks in advance.
Seg
Nancy, don't loose faith your husband can benefit tremendously from IV Chelation together with Ozone therapy, it's called CHEZONE. Google Dr Frank Shallenberger he is the Grand master of this therapy. If you can't get to his clinic there are other people he trained, check out ACAM website to find a practisioner near you. Also don't believe a word they say about Dr Shallenberger they tried to smear his good name because he opted to treat his patients with natural therapies - read his rebuttal.
http://www.antiagingmedicine.com/
And best of luck to you .
tcajun
I have muscle pain and weakness, have had muscle enzyme checked is elevated, told to stop taking statins still presist going back to to blood work what else should the be looking for
Post new comment