The Dangerous Side Effects of Cholesterol Lowering Drugs

We hear it day after day. Lower your cholesterol. High cholesterol contributes to heart disease and heart attacks. Television is overflowing with advertising campaigns launched by drug companies leading the consumer (and their doctors too) to believe they will benefit from cholesterol lowering drugs. The blanket term for cholesterol lowing medications is otherwise known as stain drugs. The truth is, statin drugs generate over 15 billion dollars in sales in the USA. THAT is a lot of money. To say the least. Did you know the author of The South Beach Diet Dr. Agaston takes statin drugs? Go figure.

The fact is, Bayer's statin drug, Baycol, was pulled from the market in 2001 after 31 deaths were reported. Deaths as a result of a condition called rhabdomyolsys, which means the breakdown of muscle tissue. Now, hear this out. The heart is a MUSCLE. Is there a problem here? Doctors themselves recommended taking Crestor off the market after cases of rhabdomyolsys surfaced in patients taking 80 milligram plus dosages daily.

The FDA turned down over the counter approval of both Mevachor and Pravachol stating there was not enough data supporting their safety.

More shocking is the possibility that long term use of statin drugs may indeed pave the way for cancer cell growth as published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, 1996. Researchers stated "all members of the two most popular classes of lipid lowering drugs (the fibrates and the statins) cause cancer in rodents, in some cases at levels of animal exposure close to those prescribed in humans. Longer term clinical trials and careful post market surveillance during the next several decades are needed to determine whether cholesterol lowering drugs cause cancer in humans. In the meantime, the results of experiments in animals and humans suggest that lipid lowering drug treatment, especially with the fibrates and statins, should be avoided except in patients at high short term risk of coronary heart disease." Right from the horses mouth. The problem. EVERYBODY is taking statin drugs. Today, they are simply equitable to medicinal candy.

There was a short gig where statin drug companies tried to convince the world that cholesterol lowering drugs actually help increase bone strength. Wrong. But are we surprised? Post menopausal women who took statins for three years after or more did not experience the increase in bone density as superficially promised. The research was conducted as part of the Woman's Health Initiative who studied over 94,000 post menopausal women across the USA. This data was presented at the 22nd annual meeting of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.

Let's not forget brain function and memory. Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh told at a meeting of the American Heart Association that patients taking Lovastatin had difficulty paying attention and had decreased reflexes. Transient Global Amnesia, or the inability to form new memories, has been linked to Lipitor. This type of memory loss can come on suddenly and also cause long term memory dysfunction as well. Sudden confusion, forgetfulness and disorientation are not uncommon. For those who have experienced such symptoms and side effects, impaired brain function is no laughing matter.

A well documented side effect of statin drug use is peripheral neuropathy. If you were not aware of this, well, you are now. What this means is the nerve endings in the hands and feet are damaged over time. A loss of sensation occurs which is often coupled with a tingling feeling, similar to that of a limb temporarily falling asleep. Why does this occur? Not rocket science by any means. The nerve endings are comprised of globs of fat and you guessed it, cholesterol. It is these specialized fat globs that are partially responsible for the conduction of nerve impulses through out the body. Reduce via a drug what the body's nervous system requires and you simply have nerve damage.

Here is the hard part. There are countless thousands out there taking statin drugs that fall into the borderline high cholesterol category. Quite often dietary adjustments and some mild exercise are all that are required to bring cholesterol into normal ranges. The consumption of fruits and vegetables, nuts and water coupled with a good power walk a few days per week are usually all that is required for this borderline population to reveal normal cholesterol levels. This seems a much better option than taking drugs which can offer so many unwanted and sometimes dangerous side effects. All in all, it might prove behooving for those taking statin drugs to schedule counsel with a nutritionist in order to avoid the dangerous side effects of statin drugs.

Dr. Marty specializes in the treatment of compromised immune systems with the use of microhealthsolutions.com glyconutrients. These microhealthsolutions.com essential saccharides, often reffered to as microhealthsolutions.com essential sugars have proven effective across a wide array of immune system difficulties.