STATIN DRUGS - KNOW THE DANGERS

Reactions vary from, "You should be careful of what you read on the internet." to "Who are you going to believe, me or that website you read?" to a more inflammatory, "If you don't do what I say you will have to find a new doctor." And even, "If you don't take this statin you are going to die!"

None of this new material about statin drug side effects was taught in medical school, much of it has been minimized by the drug industry in their descriptive pamphlets for doctor information, much of this new information was not even known two years ago and most of the time it is the drug rep to whom the doctor must turn for enlightenment and need I add that therein lies the opportunity for gross misrepresentation.

If they think they as professionals are brainwashed by 40 years of anti-cholesterol hoopla, imagine the calculated mindset of the drug reps trained only to present their product in the best possible light.
Well I recall my own chagrin five years ago, when, while I was experiencing my own encounters with statin associated transient global amnesia (TGA), dozens of physicians and pharmacists assured me that, "Statins don't do that." Shortly after that I was to hear my FAA flight surgeon friend tell me that they were allowing commercial airline pilots to fly with statins because, "They didn't know that statins could do that."

Now there are have more than 500 documented reports of statin associated TGA and many thousands of reports of disabling forgetfulness, confusion, disorientation and aggravation of pre-existing senility and still we have MDs unaware of this reality. Despite the Pharmacotherapy publication by Wagstaff et al of 60 cases of statin associated TGA in August 2003, (gleaned from the FDA'S Medwatch repository) many practicing physicians still remain in the dark about this relationship of statins to cognitive dysfunction and dismiss any patient attempt to discuss it.

And, of course, this is not true only for cognition it is also equally true for CPK negative myopathy, persistent myopathy despite cessation of the statin, general fatigue, congestive heart failure, peripheral neuropathy, and a broad array of behavioral disorders, from irritability and aggression to depression and suicide. The documentation is there and it is easily found by anyone sufficiently interested to enter the proper search terms. Thousands of medical journal reports on this subject are now in existence.

And for those stalwarts who insist there is no significant cognitive loss with statin use, the twin studies of Muldoon (on both lovastatin and simvastatin and fully reported in traditional medical journals) document an amazing 100% cognitive impairment if sufficiently sensitive testing is done.
Yet, doctors still ignore, criticize or otherwise admonish their patients trying to bring this new information to his or her awareness. I remember well the words of Dr. Ellsworth Amidon, Vermont Medical College, professor of medicine in my medical school days, "Heed well the words of the patient, young man, for they are telling you the diagnosis."

Duane Graveline MD MPH
Former USAF Flight Surgeon
Former NASA Astronaut
Retired Family Doctor
www.spacedoc.net

Statin Drugs Side Effects

If you are on a statin drug or are thinking of going on a statin, this fully referenced book, Statin Drug Side Effects, is a "must read" for you. The unacceptable legacy of statin drug use at today's high doses is a trail of chronic aches and pains, numbness, weakness, confusion, fatigue, shortness of breath and even heart failure in hordes of unsuspecting victims. Only by knowing this information, and in consultation with your healthcare professional, can you make an informed decision about your health care.

If you are on Vytorin, Lipitor, Zocor, Crestor, Mevacor, Pravachol or Lescol you must read this book. Most of the statin side effects I discuss are unknown to your busy doctor. Although knowledgeable about muscle and liver problems, few have heard of statin amnesia and other forms of memory dysfunction and fewer still associate hostility, aggression and profound depression as statin related.

Many physicians have become victims of statin drug use and, like the author, now suspect the message of persuasive drug "reps" may not have been the entire truth. "Statin drugs don't do that" was a refrain I heard hundreds of times from physicians and pharmacists as I began to investigate my own mysterious reaction to Lipitor.

The Great Cholesterol Con sticks its hand in the air and yells 'The Cholesterol Hypothesis is not wearing any clothes.' Then runs like mad, whilst the great and the good, the powerful, the pharmaceutical companies the opinion leaders in cardiology give chase. For they all have much to lose.

Dr Kendrick takes the reader through the history of the cholesterol hypothesis, or diet-heart hypothesis and explains how it came to be. He then takes it apart piece by piece, showing that cholesterol and/or saturated fat does not (indeed cannot) raise cholesterol levels, and that raised cholesterol levels cannot, and do not, cause heart disease.

He then moves on to explain how statins work - not by lowering cholesterol levels - before looking at the real data on statins. He makes it clear that statistical manipulation has massively overestimated their benefits. The reality is that, for the vast majority of people they provide no benefits whatsoever. In a significant minority they cause horribly unpleasant and often debilitating side-effects. But with a fifty billion dollar industry resting on them, they are aggressively marketed and pushed relentlessly.

Dr Kendrick contends that the bottom line with statins is this: If you are a man who is already suffering from heart disease, statins can increase your life expectancy. Not by much, but they do work. For everyone else, statins do not increase life expectancy by one, single, day. So there is absolutely no point in taking them, at all.

The main message of this book. Stop worrying about your cholesterol level. A high level is much healthier than a low level, and if you have a high cholesterol level you will live longer.

Bio:
Dr Malcolm Kendrick (MbChB MRCGP) MD qualified in Aberdeen Scotland. He has worked in family practice for almost twenty years, and learned that treating patients is not like treating textbooks. He has specialized in heart disease and set up the on-line educational website for the European Society of Cardiology.

He is a peer-reviewer for the British Medical Journal, and has written articles on a wide range of subjects from Multiple Sclerosis to Stress and Heart Disease and the health benefits of sunshine. He is a member of the International Network of Cholesterol Skeptics (thincs) as he does not believe that a high cholesterol level causes heart disease.

The Great Cholesterol Con