Effectiveness Of Statins Is Called Into Question

latimes.com:

Today, a majority of people who use statins are doing so for primary prevention of heart attacks and strokes. It is this use of statins that has come under recent attack.

Read the whole story: latimes.com

Comments

[vincealy]

06:20 PM on 08/11/2010

Not really news for years many Doctors have questioned the all powerful statins . Google Dr. Beatrice Goulome and statin side effects.

[vippy]

01:33 PM on 08/11/2010

I have been reading a lot and I have family overseas in Europe and I know that the scare about cholesterol is a myth which is clearly the cash cow for the USA. But it has people scared, everyone I talk to takes these meds including my husband who had an emergency heart bypass (5 arteries). I show him these articles and he was trying to get off the meds and then got chewed out by his doctor saying if he quits taking them to look for another doctor. So he is back on though people we know also take aspirins but then have internal bleeding and after that no more aspirins. He is just too scared not to take the pills and I will try again, on hand of this article and comments to get him to stop. I wished there was a doctor who would work with a person to get off the meds not take more.

[tacevad]

11:12 AM on 08/11/2010

Big Pharma makes Billions every year following a philosophy credited to PT Barum, there's a sucker born every minute. Explain the millions they pour into advertising on TV and print as anything other than their attempt to create a market.

[Max Hardcore]

01:44 AM on 08/11/2010

yah statins are garbage. LEAVE YOUR CHOLESTEROL ALONE!!!

Did you know 85% of the cholesterol in your body is produced from your liver, while the remaining 15% comes from the diet? If you take statins then you are refuting the wisdom of your own liver!

Cholesterol is a building block of all cells in the body. when you are sick or inflamed or whatever cholesterol levels rise to fulfill the need for cellular repair.

the high cholesterol scare is purely meant to swindle money. Yes its exactly what you've come to expect from capitalism.

Also, guess what...clogged arteries are not what's causing heart attacks!! Check out the myogenic theory of myocardial infarctions. The heart is not a pump!

What actually causes heart attacks is lactic acid-facilitated poisoning of heart cells stressing them beyond their capability. Clogged arteries come AFTER the heart attack in response to the trauma.

I know you dont believe me. Thats fine. remember the idea for later just in case we actually evolve past capitalist mythology.

[Conk]

10:10 AM on 08/10/2010

Where are all the allopathic twits, defending their glorious statins? Come on, let's hear some of your drivel. Try and defend the use of these vile poisons!

[StThomas]

03:33 PM on 08/11/2010

That the value of statins is being reassessed in the light of new evidence is to be approved of; nobody evidence-based will object.

[ddanimal]

11:41 PM on 08/09/2010

This is the amazon listing for "Statin Damage Crisis", a book written by a doctor who suffered neurological side effects from taking statin drugs.

http://www.amazon.com/Statin-Damage-Crisis-Duane-Graveline/dp/1424338697/ref=pd_sim_b_1

About the book:
The purpose in the choice of the title The Statin Damage Crisis is to draw attention to the thousands of statin damaged people who have written to Dr Graveline about their disabling neuropathies, myopathies and a variety of neurodegenerative conditions such as ALS and Parkinsonism associated with statin use. Although much of the book's content will be familiar to readers of Statin Drugs Side Effects, ( this was originally planned as a new edition ) the Statin Damage Crisis adds much new material that Dr Graveline has learned of in the past two years. Dr Graveline states: "Early on my NASA doctors told me my amnesia response to statins was nothing but a coincidence but I persevered to write my first book, Lipitor, Thief of Memory." "Then I learned of statin damage to nerves and muscles and profound behavioral and personality changes, demanding I write a second book, "Statin Drugs Side Effects." Even this broadly encompassing book was insufficient to describe what I have learned more recently of the truly dark side of statins - their ability to alter the very fabric of our makeup." "I had long wondered why muscle and nerve damage seemed permanent and even progressive like my own ALS-like condition.

[HollyH]

11:15 PM on 08/09/2010

The doctors are in bed with the big pharm. companies. The outcome of their love affair with the drugs that they push on us is ugly. They are even putting children on them b/c the U.S. children have elevated levels of cholesterol. Instead of eating right and exercising, do the easy thing take a very expensive pill. In Europe the recommended numbers for cholesterol are way higher than ours and guess what? They have less heart disease. I took statins for six months and my muscles ached like crazy. I took myself right off of them and I don't believe in the U.S. way of health care. I am a nurse also, but I hate Western medicine.

[ddanimal]

10:26 PM on 08/09/2010

50% of heart attack victims have NORMAL cholesterol levels.

That should tell you something about statins and the ridiculous corporate-led war on cholesterol.

[ddanimal]

10:25 PM on 08/09/2010

Statins are a $25 billion per year scam. Not mentioned in the article are the side effects they cause, such as liver damage and death.

Also, the war on cholesterol is misguided. There are MANY risk factors for heart disease, and many (such as homocysteine) are a better predictor of CVD risk than cholesterol.

http://www.amazon.com/Statin-Drugs-Effects-Misguided-Cholesterol/dp/0970081790/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1281407083&sr=8-1

[Moshe]

04:27 PM on 08/09/2010

The future of medicine is in herbal treatments and prevention.

But all the money is in drugs you can patent and high-tech treatments.

The Big Drug corps won't touch herbals because they can't get a patent on a natural plant and the herbals are cheap, no big profits.

They do use plants to make about half of their drugs, but the patented forms are highly concentrated extracts, so concentrated that they have side-effects ranging from the unpleasant to the fatal.

As long as medicine is about money and not wellness, those in the business will continue to put their profits ahead of your health.

[freeballn83]

07:00 PM on 08/09/2010

prevention like vaccines?

[katmeyster]

01:57 PM on 08/09/2010

I took myself off statins (with Dr's acquiescence) because after reading (as much as a lay person can) the various medical studies quoted by Gary Taubes in Good Calories, Bad Calories, I realized that I could change my cholesterol profile through diet. Before this my total cholesterol was OK, but my triglycerides kept increasing, even on statins. I now know that it is the triglycerides and type of cholesterol particle that is important for heart health. With a very low carb diet, elimination of all sugar, grains, and processed foods (its not that hard), and an increase of saturated fat from sources like coconut oil, I have changed my cholesterol to being perfect for heart health without statins (very low trys especially). The bonus is that I am also now off blood pressure medicine because the diet also lowered my blood pressure to within normal limits. It is really quite amazing what you can do just with diet. Oh yeah, and even though the weight is slowly coming off, I also am no longer at risk for diabetes. Doctors either don't know the importance of diet, or assume that patients won't bother to try, but it is important to at least provide the information. Some of us are ready to get off the meds and get healthier without all the side effects (don't tell the pharmaceutical industry I told you this).

[Max Hardcore]

01:47 AM on 08/11/2010

right arm...you down with WAPF? either that or your doctor is. Woohoo the wisdom is spreading.

[katmeyster]

02:07 PM on 08/11/2010

Definitely down with the Foundation. I love the work by Fallon and Enig especially.

[Guitarsandmore]

01:45 PM on 08/09/2010

Crestor is the only one that works for me.