New Study Shows Using Statins Actually Worsens Your Heart

Function

June 22, 2011

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A study found that statin

drugs are associated with decreased myocardial (heart muscle)
function.

Statin use is known to be associated with myopathy, 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”.

Dr. Mercola's
Comments:

The majority of people who use statin cholesterol-lowering drugs are

doing so because they believe lowering their cholesterol will prevent
heart attacks and strokes. How many of these people do you think
would continue to take them if they knew these very same drugs have
been linked to decreased heart muscle function and increased risk of
stroke?

No one in their right mind?

The truth is, the usefulness of statin drugs has received tough scrutiny
in recent months, and that scrutiny is well deserved. Take this study in
Clinical Cardiology. It found that heart muscle function was
"significantly better" in the control group than in those taking statin
drugs! The researchers concluded:

"Statin therapy is associated with decreased myocardial [heart muscle]

function."

What's often the end result when your heart muscle function is
weakened or decreased? Heart failure!

How Statins May Actually Cause Heart Failure

The Clinical Cardiology study did not address causes, but it's widely
known that statins lower your CoQ10 levels by blocking the pathway
involved in cholesterol production -- the same pathway by which Q10
is produced. Statins also reduce the blood cholesterol that transports
CoQ10 and other fat-soluble antioxidants.

The loss of CoQ10 leads to loss of cell energy and increased free
radicals which, in turn, can further damage your mitochondrial DNA,
effectively setting into motion an evil circle of increasing free radicals
and mitochondrial damage.

There are no official warnings in the U.S. regarding CoQ10 depletion

from taking statin drugs, and many physicians fail to inform you about
this problem as well. Labeling in Canada, however, clearly warns of
CoQ10 depletion and even notes that this nutrient deficiency "could
lead to impaired cardiac function in patients with borderline congestive
heart failure."

As your body gets more and more depleted of CoQ10, you may suffer
from fatigue, muscle weakness and soreness, and eventually heart
failure, so it is imperative if you take statin drugs that you take CoQ10
or, if you are over the age of 40, the reduced version called ubiquinol.

Statins Fail Miserably at Heart Attack Prevention

Originally, statin drugs were prescribed for secondary prevention,

meaning the prevention of a second heart attack or stroke if you'd
already suffered one and had clear signs of heart disease. But today a
majority of people taking the drugs are doing so for primary
prevention, i.e. "preventive medicine" -- to help prevent people with
certain risk factors of heart disease -- although otherwise healthy --
from having a heart attack or stroke in the first place.

This switch came largely as the result of the JUPITER study, which was
published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2008.

It 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

Statin drugs are frequently prescribed like candy for tens of millions of
Americans, but you need to think long and hard before deciding to
take your physician up on this prescription, as they have very real, and
very steep risks, and they are NOT right, nor safe, for everyone. Case
in point, 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 Neuropathy Anemia

Acidosis Frequent fevers Cataracts

Sexual An increase in Pancreatic

dysfunction cancer risk dysfunction

Hepatic
dysfunction.
(Due to the
Serious degenerative potential
Immune system muscle tissue increase in liver
suppression condition enzymes,
(rhabdomyolysis) patients must be
monitored for
normal liver
function)

Oftentimes statins do not have any immediate side effects, and they
are quite effective, capable of lowering cholesterol levels by 50 points
or more. This makes it appear as though they're benefiting your
health, and health problems that appear down the line are frequently
not interpreted as a side effect of the drug, but rather as brand new,
separate health problems.

But there's an ever-growing body of evidence showing that potentially

serious side effects begin to manifest several months after the
commencement of therapy. Further, according to a review published in
the American Journal of Cardiovascular Drugs, adverse effects are
dose dependent, and your health risks are also amplified by a number
of factors, such as:

 Drug interactions that increase statin potency

 Metabolic syndrome

 Thyroid disease

 Other genetic mutations linked to mitochondrial dysfunction

High blood pressure and diabetes are linked to higher rates of

mitochondrial problems, so if you have either of these conditions your
risk of statin complications increases. Additionally, since statins can
cause progressive damage to your mitochondria over time, and your
mitochondria tend to weaken with age anyway, new adverse effects
can develop the longer you're on the drug.

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..So,
odds are very high -- greater than 100 to 1 -- that if you're taking a
statin, you don't really need it.

The only two subgroups that might benefit are:

 Those at very high risk of heart attack (based NOT on your

cholesterol levels but on your heart attack risk factors)
  Those born with a genetic defect called familial
hypercholesterolemia, as this makes you resistant to traditional
measures of normalizing cholesterol

If you are not in one of those two categories, statin drugs are an
unnecessary health risk you're better off avoiding -- and you definitely
want to avoid the trap of taking them to lower your cholesterol when
your cholesterol is actually well within a healthy range.

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.

Do You Want to Optimize Your Cholesterol?

The goal of the tips below is not to necessarily lower your cholesterol
as low as it can go; the goal is to optimize your levels so they're
working in the proper balance with your body.

Seventy-five percent of your cholesterol is produced by your liver,

which is influenced by your insulin levels. Therefore, if you optimize
your insulin level, you will automatically optimize your cholesterol. This
is why my primary strategies for optimizing your cholesterol have to do
with modifying your diet and lifestyle:

 Reduce fructose, grains and sugars in your diet. It is

especially important to eliminate dangerous sugars such as
 fructose, which is found in soda and most processed foods. If
your HDL/Cholesterol ratio is abnormal and needs to be
improved it would also serve you well to additionally eliminate
fruits from your diet, as that is also a source of fructose.

Once your cholesterol improves you can gradually reintroduce

fruits at levels that don't raise your cholesterol.

 Consume a good portion of your food raw.

 Make sure you are getting plenty of high quality, animal-

based omega 3 fats, such as krill oil. Research suggests that
as little as 500 mg of krill per day may lower your total
cholesterol and triglycerides and will likely increase your HDL
cholesterol.

 Eat the right foods for your nutritional type. Examples of

heart-healthy foods and fats include olive oil, coconut and
coconut oil, organic raw dairy products and eggs, avocados, raw
nuts and seeds, and organic grass-fed meats as appropriate for
your nutritional type.

 Exercise daily. Make sure you incorporate Peak Fitness

exercises, which also optimize your human growth hormone
(HGH) production. When you exercise you increase your
circulation and the blood flow throughout your body.

 Avoid smoking or drinking alcohol excessively.

 Be sure to get plenty of high-quality, restorative sleep.