statin dangers

I hope Dan will forgive me for copying this post :

HEART ATTACK ENTREES AND SIDE ORDERS OF STROKE

by Dan Yachter on Monday, June 27, 2011 at 1:56am

A study found that statin drugs are associated with destroying heart muscle function. Statin use is known to be associated with heart muscle disease, muscle weakness and rhabdomyolysis, a breakdown of muscle fibers resulting in the release of muscle fiber contents into the bloodstream. For the study, myocardial function was evaluated in 28 patients. According to Green Med Info:

“There was significantly better function noted ... in the control group vs the statin group”.

Clinical Cardiology December 2009; 32(12):684-9

(resource information below from Mercola.com).

Statins Fail Miserably at Heart Attack Prevention

Lies, lies, and more lies! The JUPITER study, which was published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2008,boasted that statin drugs could lower the risk of heart attack by 54 percent, the risk of stroke by 48 percent, the risk of needing angioplasty or bypass surgery by 46 percent, and the risk of death from all causes by 20 percent. As you might suspect, the funding for this study came from none other than Astra-Zeneca, the maker of statin drug Crestor -- and once again, we find that industry-funded claims of health benefits for highly profit-producing drugs need to be viewed with a healthy dose of skepticism. Two years after the original study came out, three articles were published in the Archives of Internal Medicine refuting the claims laid down by the industry-funded JUPITER study.

One of these studies titled “Cholesterol lowering, cardiovascular diseases, and the rosuvastatin-JUPITER controversy: a critical reappraisal,” carefully reviewed the methods and the results of the JUPITER trial and concluded that the trial was flawed and the results "do not support the use of statin treatment for primary prevention of cardiovascular diseases …"In addition, a second study, a meta-analysis of 11 randomized controlled trials, found no evidence to back up the JUPITER trial claim that statins can reduce your risk of death when used as primary prevention against heart disease.

Increased Risk of Stroke, Serious Side Effects: A new study found that statin drugs actually increase your risk of having a type of stroke caused by bleeding in the brain if you've already had one before. Among such patients, the risk of a second stroke was 22 percent in those who took statins compared with 14 percent in those who did not. There are two reasons why this might happen: the drugs may either lower your cholesterol too much, to the point that it increases your risk of brain bleeding, or they may affect clotting factors in your blood, increasing the bleeding risk.

At GreenMedInfo.com you can see 71 diseases that may be associated with these drugs, and this is only the tip of the iceberg. There are actually over 900 studies showing the risks of statin drugs, which include: Cognitive loss, acidosis, sexual dysfunction, immune system depression, neuropathy, frequent fevers, increased risk of cancer, serious degenerative muscle tissue condition, anemia, cataracts, pancreatic dysfunction, liver disease.

Are You Taking a Statin for No Reason?

For certain individuals who are at very high risk of dying from a heart attack, statin drugs may be useful -- but this is only true if you have strong heart attack risk factors (NOT if you simply have "high" cholesterol levels). It is important to note that it is also not necessary for you to remain on the drug for the rest of your life. Once your cholesterol ratios have been optimized by a course of treatment on statins, you can safely go off them if you have changed your diet, started exercising, and are getting chiropractic adjustments/removing nerve interference on a regular basis.

Dr. Mercola states: “I have seen a number of people with total cholesterol levels over 250 who were actually at low risk for heart disease due to their elevated HDL levels. Conversely, I have seen many people with cholesterol levels under 200 who had a very high risk of heart disease, based on their low HDL. Further, if you take statin drugs unnecessarily, there's a good chance your cholesterol levels will become too low, which is dangerous since your body NEEDS cholesterol -- it is important in the production of cell membranes, hormones, vitamin D and bile acids that help you to digest fat. Cholesterol also helps your brain form memories and is vital to your neurological function. There is also strong evidence that having too little cholesterol INCREASES your risk for cancer, memory loss, Parkinson's disease, hormonal imbalances, stroke, depression, suicide, and violent behavior – so keeping your cholesterol high enough is important”.