THE HIDDEN TRUTH ABOUTcholesterolloweringdrugsby Dr Elizna HanekomStatin drugs are the most widely soldprescription medicine in history: in2004, Pfizer’s block-buster drug, Lipitor,became the first prescription drug toamass a staggering $10 billion in annualsales. But, the price to society is muchhigher: Lipitor, and other drugs inthe statin class, are not only loweringcholesterol. These drugs apparentlyruin perfectly good lives withserious side effects that lead to slowPART TWOdegradation into physical disability -and still heart disease remains thenumber one killer in the developedworld.SIDE EFFECTS OF STATIN DRUGS:Side-effects are usually said to affect2-6% of patients. In fact, a recentmeta-analysis noted side-effects in20% of patients above the placebo rate.(Newman CB, 2003. Am J. Cardiology:.92) Most medicines destined to causeadverse effects will do so early on, butnot the statins, where side-effects usuallymanifest many months after commencingthe therapy. To maintain theirlipid-lowering effects, statins must beadministered on a life-long basis. Giventhe complete lack of data on the effectsof decades of statin administration, userscan consider themselves part of amass experiment in progress.54 <strong>Biophile</strong> Issue <strong>16</strong>
Patients can report statins’ adverseeffects on a new website at the Universityof California San Diego School ofMedicine: www.statineffects .com. Thesite will facilitate the opportunity forpatients to confidentially share informationabout their experience.Heart Failure:Statins have been shown to depletethe body of a vital substance knownas Coenzyme Q10. CoQ10 is a crucialcomponent of mitochondria, the intracellularengines responsible for producingall of a cell’s energy requirements.Since nearly all cellular functions aredependent on energy, CoQ10 is essentialfor the health of all human tissueand organs.The heart is especially susceptible,because it requires vast amounts of energyto function properly, and thereforehigh levels of CQ10. As the CQ10 diminishesin the heart muscle, the heartweakens over time, resulting in congestiveheart failure.( Silver MA 2004. Am.J.Cardiology:94) It is well documentedfrom biopsies that the severity of heartfailure correlates with the people whohave lowest CoQ10.Deaths from heart failure havedoubled nationwide in the US since theintroduction of statin drugs in 1989..Adding a double whammy - in patientswith chronic heart failure, lowserum cholesterol is also independentlyassociated with a worse outcome.( Rauchaus M et al 2003. J Am. Coll.Cardiology: 42)Cancer:It appears that cholesterol loweringdrugs in general also increases one’srisk of developing cancer. In their studypublished in JAMA (1996: 275)ThomasB Newman and co-workers show thatall cholesterol-lowering drugs - boththe early drugs known as fibrates, andthe statins - cause cancer in rodents atequivalent blood levels used in manAlthough the lag time betweenexposure to a carcinogen and clinicaldetection, is often a decade or more,a disturbing increase in breast cancerhas already been reported in theCARE statin trial as well as certain skinmalignancies in the Simvastatin trials.A report in 2006 from the Departmentof Haematology At the Toranon Hospitalin Tokyo, Japan - studying patientsbetween 1995 and 2001 - found a 224%higher frequency of statin use amongpatients with lymphoid malignancies,compared to control patients. (IwataH 2006 Cancer Science:97) From April1998 the FDA(US) allowed the exclusionof cancer from drug side-effects in thestatin drug trials..Cognitive Impairment:The incidence of memory impairment- complete memory loss for abrief or lengthy period -, confusion anddisorientation and loss of concentrationgoes under reported.Professor Golomb, Department ofMedicine at UCSD found that 15% ofpatients on statins developed some cognitiveside effects.She states” We have seen people whohave lost thinking so rapidly - from usingstatins - that they went from beingheads of departments to not being ableto balance a chequebook.”A study conducted at the Universityof Pittsburgh showed that patientstreated with statins for 6 months, comparedpoorly with patients on placeboin solving complex mazes, psychomotorskills and memory tests. (Muldoon MFet al 2000 Am. J. Med.: 108)Muscle and nerve damage:On public adverse effects reportingwebsites, patients using statin drugshave reported trouble talking andenunciating words, trouble swallowing,feeling fatigued all the time, pain andstiffness in the neck and calf muscles,weakness and muscle spasms. Inflammationof tendons and ligaments, leadingto rupture, can occur.Researchers from the Universityof Denmark report that about 15% ofcholesterol-lowering drug users overthe age of fifty will suffer nerve damageas a direct result of using statin drugs.( Gaist D et al Neurology: May 2002:58) Taking statins for more than twoyears raised the risk of nerve damage byabout 26%.Nerve damage, characterised byweakness, tingling and pain in handsand feet and difficulty walking, is oftenirreversible.Other:• Numerous studies have also linkedlow cholesterol to depression.• Statins have immune suppressing effects( Kwak B 2000 Nature Medicine:6)• Statins can cause difficulty in sleeping• Findings reported in the NEJM in2004, showed that twenty of fifty twobabies exposed to statins in the wombwere born with malformations• Statins are associated with impairedlibido and erectile dysfunction. ( CarvajalA 2006 Drug Safety:29)• Simvastatin decreased blood levels ofalpha-tocopherol(Vit E) by <strong>16</strong>.2%, betacarotene by 19.5% and CoQ10 by 22%compared to placebo.( Jula A. 2002. J.Am. Med. Assoc.:287).• A three year follow up in patientstaking statins, revealed a significantamount of calcium only in the coronaryarteries of the patients who had a heartattack, despite similar LDL cholesterollevels in the non-heart attack group..ConclusionThere is some recognition thatstatins operate to lower non-fatal heartattack rates by mechanisms other thancholesterol lowering. These effects ofstatins are independent of initial orfinal total cholesterol or LDL levels(Nielsen JV. 2001 BMJ:323) and thusthere is no way to determine “whoshould be treated” with statins, or whatthe dose should be.Researchers in the Department ofVeteran Affairs and at the Universityof Michigan School of Medicine, US,examined all the significant studiesthat have tested the link between LDLcholesterol levels and major cardiovascularoutcomes in patients with highLDL blood levels.Published in the Annals of InternalMedicine (2006) the researchers noted “current clinical evidence does not demonstratethat titrating lipid therapy toachieve proposed low LDL cholesterollevels is beneficial or safe“Statin use should be limited to highriskpatients, where dramatically shortenedlife expectancies may override anyconcerns about long-term side effects.Careful examination of the literatureon statin drugs, reveals false premises,minimal to no benefits, serious sideeffects leading to very low adherencerates, and safer, low-cost alternativesfor preventing cardiovascular deaths.(Newman C B, 2003. American J. Cardiology:92)Can honest assessment find any possibleuse for these dangerous drugs?Dr. Peter Langsjoen of Tyler, Texas,suggests that statin drugs are appropriateonly as a treatment for cases ofadvanced Cholesterol Neurosis, createdby the industry’s anticholesterol propaganda.If you are concerned about yourcholesterol, a statin will relieve you ofyour worries.Next Issue: Your Healthy HeartBibliography:Statin drugs side-effects. Duane GravelineMDwww.vitamincfoundation.orgThe Great Cholesterol Con Anthony Colpo<strong>Biophile</strong> Issue <strong>16</strong>55
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