FB-TW

Friday, April 20, 2012

The hidden truth about statins


The hidden truth about statins

June 12, 2010   by Chris Kresser
pillsandmoneyStatins are the most popular drugs in history. Drug companies made $26 billion selling statins alone in 2008. 25 million Americans take them, and the number is growing each year.

One reason why statins are the best-selling drug category by far is that 92% of people taking them are healthy. The FDA has approved the prescription of statins to people at low risk for heart disease and stroke, who don’t even have high cholesterol. Two years ago the American Academy of Pediatricians recommended that statins be prescribed for kids as young as eight years old.

With sales statistics like this, you’d think statins are wonder drugs. But when you look closely at the research, a different story emerges. Statins have never been shown to be effective for women of any age, men over 65, or men without pre-existing heart disease. Early studies did suggest that statins are effective for men under 65 with pre-existing heart disease, but later, more rigorous clinical trials has not confirmed this benefit.

In addition, statins have been shown to have serious side effects and complications in up to 30% of people who take them. Studies have also shown that the majority of these adverse events go unreported, because doctors are largely unaware of the risks of statins.

Watch the two videos below to learn the whole story. Or, you can read this article for a concise summary of the evidence.

Video Presentation

link

Handouts

  • Statin research summary: lists the eight statin studies performed in 2008 – 2009, including the drugs and populations studied and the results. If you’re currently taking a statin, you might consider printing this out and taking it to your doctor as a springboard for a conversation about whether statins are right for you.

References

ENHANCE
KasteleinJJ, AkdimF, StroesES, for ENHANCE investigators. Simvastatin with or without ezetimibe in familial hypercholesterolemia. N Engl J Med 2008;358:1431-43

CASHMERE
O’Riordan M. CASHMERE: no IMT effect with atorvastatin over 12 months. (
link)
ACHIEVE
O’Riordan M. ACHIEVE stopped: IMT study with Niacin/Laropiprant halted by Merck & Co. (
link)
SEAS
Rossebø AB, Pedersen TR, Boman K, et al. Intensive lipid lowering with simvastatin and ezetimibe in aortic stenosis. N Engl J Med 2008;359:1343-56

GISSI-HF
GISSI-HF Investigators, Tavazzi L, Maggioni AP, Marchioli R, et al. Effect of rosuvastatin in patients with chronic heart failure (the GISSI-HF trial): a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Lancet 2008;372:1231-9

CORONA
Kjekshus J, Apetrei E, Barrios V, et al. Rosuvastatin in older patients with systolic heart failure. N Engl J Med 2007;357:2248-61

AURORA
Fellström BC, Jardine AG, Schmieder ME, et al for the AURORA study group. Rosuvastatin and cardiovascular events in patients undergoing hemodialysis. N Engl J Med 2009;360:1395-407

JUPITER
Ridker PM, Danielson E, Fonseca FA, et al, for the JUPITER Study Group. Rosuvastatin to prevent vascular events in men and women with elevated C-Reactive protein. N Engl J Med 2008;359:2195-207

3 comments:

  1. As a former Critical Care RN, who fell terribly ill in 2002, after 3 years of Lipitor use, I am hell bent on discovering and sharing the truth about this "Cholesterol" scam....thanks for your work....

    ReplyDelete
  2. crandreww - Thank you for relating your experience. This blog is a result of my own personal experience with statin drugs and their ineffectiveness in preventing my heart disease and subsequent 6 heart attacks.

    ReplyDelete
  3. PI-Bill....as a former RN, I was horrified when I got the results of the Statin Effects Study, which I was a participant..."My use of Lipitor was the likely causal contributor to The Mitochondrial Mutations seen under electron microscopy of my brain biopsy, as well as the Holes seen in the biopsy of my brain" The holes seen were called Neuronal Apoptosis, a programmed cell death, in which our bodies are able to recognize which cells need to be replaced, and are replaced...this process is regulated by Ubiquinol, the reduced form of CoQ10, which I am sure you know is blocked in the mevalonate pathway as is CHolesterol, Dolichols, Vitamin D, Testosterone Steroid Hormones, along with about 200 other steps...But Cholesterol is the devil? Even though it accounts for the make up of Cell walls, Myelin sheaths, and a good percentage of the weight of our brain? I would love to share my story with you sometime, if you like....you can contact be at crandreww1999@yahoo.com....again thanks for ALL you do to get this world to WAKE UP!

    ReplyDelete

I appreciate appropriate comments but reserve the right to publish those with credible, verifiable, significant information to contribute to the topic at hand. I will not post comments with commercial content nor those containing personal attacks. Thank You.