The Commonly Used Drug That May Be Depleting Your Energy and Immunity
Dr. Paul Lanthois
August 04, 2009
I couldn´t believe my eyes when I was watching the morning Sunrise program on Channel 7 on Australian television. Their resident medical expert, Dr. John D´Arcy was gleefully sharing reports indicating that healthy people taking anti-cholesterol drugs called statins may reduce the risk of heart attacks. When asked if there were any side-effects to taking statins, he simply regurgitated the lie, "There are side-effects to all medications but the benefits far outweigh the risks. The most common side-effect is a small risk of some muscle aches and pains."
Conveniently, in his "advertorial" he forgot to mention that statin drugs have been shown to cause nerve damage, impair memory, and also cause myopathy (involving actual damage to muscle tissue), muscle pain, and weakness, tenderness as well as liver damage among other things. The most dangerous side-effect to statin drugs is a debilitating and possibly fatal muscle-wasting condition called rhabdomyolysis. And they recommend that healthy people should take this to lower their risk of heart attack. What about improving your diet, exercising and giving up smoking?
One reason that statin drugs have these side effects is that they work by inhibiting a vital enzyme (HMG CoA reductase) that manufactures cholesterol in the liver. However, the same enzyme is used to manufacture coenzyme Q10. This interference to Co Q10 production creates a subtle side-effect that can severely affect your productivity in the workplace.
CoQ10 is one of the antioxidants that we make in the body. CoQ10 is essential to the production of energy by mitochondria within each and every one of our cells. A study showed that statin drugs were shown to reduce CoQ10 by 50-54% (1). So in essence, statin drugs drain the batteries of all cells in your body by half, especially those in muscle tissue, which is particularly rich in mitochondria.
But there are more side-effects…In 1997, Haney found data showing that statins may cause a loss of mental acuity (2).
A study done in 2000 by Kwak et al (3)found that statin drugs can dramatically suppress the immune system. You would think that upon such findings there would be a worldwide recall on statins (3). Nothing was going to stop this multi-billion dollar juggernaut… Instead the authors became quite excited by the findings, suggesting that statins reduce your immunity so much that they could be used for suppressing your immune system if you require an organ transplant.
But what about the millions of people around the world who take statins and aren´t getting an organ transplant? Do you think that they would benefit from having their immune systems suppressed?
So there you have it… The three most common side-effects: loss of mental acuity, a 50 % loss of energy and a lowered immunity. What kind of affect does that have on your productivity and effectiveness at work and at home?
Many people with high cholesterol would consider that they have little choice but to take statins to reduce their heart disease risk.
Cholesterol isn´t the Darth Vader to our arteries and our heart that many well-meaning physicians would have you believe. Most of your blood cholesterol doesn´t come even from what you eat. Your liver actually produces most of your cholesterol. If you have a low-cholesterol diet, your liver will produce more cholesterol. If you have a high cholesterol diet, your liver will produce less cholesterol.
It´s good to remember that cholesterol is a vital component of every cell membrane. Cholesterol is also the precursor to all of the steroid hormones. You can´t make estrogen, testosterone, and a host of other vital hormones without cholesterol.
You may have heard of the good (HDL) and bad cholesterol (LDL) and that you should have low LDL levels; but LDL is not the culprit either. It is oxidized or damaged LDL that is the problem and that is due to a diet lacking antioxidant –rich foods (i.e. you´re not eating enough fruits and vegetables). It is not due to your LDL levels.
Rather than using cholesterol as an indicator for heart disease risk, many more informed physicians are now testing for more reliable bio-markers of heart disease like levels of homocysteine, lipoprotein (a), c- reactive protein, fibrinogen etc. (Oh but there aren´t a batch of drugs out there that can affect these)
I know that you many of you that have been religiously taking your statin medication may just dismiss this as scare-mongering or hippy rantings from a natural health practitioner. You may think that your doctor wouldn´t prescribe statins to you if the side-effects were as bad as I say.
Let me point out that I am not questioning the intent of your well-meaning doctor. Most doctors are too overworked to be able to access all the information available and most the information they receive are from drug companies. Are you aware that many decades ago, it was common accepted medical practice to prescribe cigarettes for stress relief? So good intentions don´t always lead to good outcomes. After all it is your health that´s at stake.
I don´t even recommend that you ditch your medications. I don´t recommend that you stop any medication without your doctor´s advice. But I do recommend that you get advice from a doctor that is informed.
Doctors from the Australian College of Nutritional and Environmental Medicine (www.acnem.org) and from the American College of Preventive Medicine (www.acpm.org) have the training in both drug therapies and more natural and preventive methods. They are in the best position to advise you of whether statins are really suitable for you. Go to their website and find a doctor in your area.
I have had so many patients that can´t believe the difference they have felt once they have had their medication reviewed by a well-informed doctor. The benefits of finding an alternative to statins may help improve your energy and immunity which can only mean better productivity at work.
References
1) Wollschlaeger, B. "Statin Drugs and Coenzyme Q10: A Potential for Drug Nutrient Depletion." Journal of the American Nutraceutical Association 4, no. 1 (2001):7-8.
2)Haney,D. "Study: Cholesterol-lowering drug may dull your edge." Associated press, November 10, 1997
3)Kwak,B. et al "Statins as a newly recognized type of immunomodulator." Nat Med 6, no 12 (2000) 1399-402
Conveniently, in his "advertorial" he forgot to mention that statin drugs have been shown to cause nerve damage, impair memory, and also cause myopathy (involving actual damage to muscle tissue), muscle pain, and weakness, tenderness as well as liver damage among other things. The most dangerous side-effect to statin drugs is a debilitating and possibly fatal muscle-wasting condition called rhabdomyolysis. And they recommend that healthy people should take this to lower their risk of heart attack. What about improving your diet, exercising and giving up smoking?
One reason that statin drugs have these side effects is that they work by inhibiting a vital enzyme (HMG CoA reductase) that manufactures cholesterol in the liver. However, the same enzyme is used to manufacture coenzyme Q10. This interference to Co Q10 production creates a subtle side-effect that can severely affect your productivity in the workplace.
CoQ10 is one of the antioxidants that we make in the body. CoQ10 is essential to the production of energy by mitochondria within each and every one of our cells. A study showed that statin drugs were shown to reduce CoQ10 by 50-54% (1). So in essence, statin drugs drain the batteries of all cells in your body by half, especially those in muscle tissue, which is particularly rich in mitochondria.
But there are more side-effects…In 1997, Haney found data showing that statins may cause a loss of mental acuity (2).
A study done in 2000 by Kwak et al (3)found that statin drugs can dramatically suppress the immune system. You would think that upon such findings there would be a worldwide recall on statins (3). Nothing was going to stop this multi-billion dollar juggernaut… Instead the authors became quite excited by the findings, suggesting that statins reduce your immunity so much that they could be used for suppressing your immune system if you require an organ transplant.
But what about the millions of people around the world who take statins and aren´t getting an organ transplant? Do you think that they would benefit from having their immune systems suppressed?
So there you have it… The three most common side-effects: loss of mental acuity, a 50 % loss of energy and a lowered immunity. What kind of affect does that have on your productivity and effectiveness at work and at home?
Many people with high cholesterol would consider that they have little choice but to take statins to reduce their heart disease risk.
Cholesterol isn´t the Darth Vader to our arteries and our heart that many well-meaning physicians would have you believe. Most of your blood cholesterol doesn´t come even from what you eat. Your liver actually produces most of your cholesterol. If you have a low-cholesterol diet, your liver will produce more cholesterol. If you have a high cholesterol diet, your liver will produce less cholesterol.
It´s good to remember that cholesterol is a vital component of every cell membrane. Cholesterol is also the precursor to all of the steroid hormones. You can´t make estrogen, testosterone, and a host of other vital hormones without cholesterol.
You may have heard of the good (HDL) and bad cholesterol (LDL) and that you should have low LDL levels; but LDL is not the culprit either. It is oxidized or damaged LDL that is the problem and that is due to a diet lacking antioxidant –rich foods (i.e. you´re not eating enough fruits and vegetables). It is not due to your LDL levels.
Rather than using cholesterol as an indicator for heart disease risk, many more informed physicians are now testing for more reliable bio-markers of heart disease like levels of homocysteine, lipoprotein (a), c- reactive protein, fibrinogen etc. (Oh but there aren´t a batch of drugs out there that can affect these)
I know that you many of you that have been religiously taking your statin medication may just dismiss this as scare-mongering or hippy rantings from a natural health practitioner. You may think that your doctor wouldn´t prescribe statins to you if the side-effects were as bad as I say.
Let me point out that I am not questioning the intent of your well-meaning doctor. Most doctors are too overworked to be able to access all the information available and most the information they receive are from drug companies. Are you aware that many decades ago, it was common accepted medical practice to prescribe cigarettes for stress relief? So good intentions don´t always lead to good outcomes. After all it is your health that´s at stake.
I don´t even recommend that you ditch your medications. I don´t recommend that you stop any medication without your doctor´s advice. But I do recommend that you get advice from a doctor that is informed.
Doctors from the Australian College of Nutritional and Environmental Medicine (www.acnem.org) and from the American College of Preventive Medicine (www.acpm.org) have the training in both drug therapies and more natural and preventive methods. They are in the best position to advise you of whether statins are really suitable for you. Go to their website and find a doctor in your area.
I have had so many patients that can´t believe the difference they have felt once they have had their medication reviewed by a well-informed doctor. The benefits of finding an alternative to statins may help improve your energy and immunity which can only mean better productivity at work.
References
1) Wollschlaeger, B. "Statin Drugs and Coenzyme Q10: A Potential for Drug Nutrient Depletion." Journal of the American Nutraceutical Association 4, no. 1 (2001):7-8.
2)Haney,D. "Study: Cholesterol-lowering drug may dull your edge." Associated press, November 10, 1997
3)Kwak,B. et al "Statins as a newly recognized type of immunomodulator." Nat Med 6, no 12 (2000) 1399-402
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