Details

Created on Tuesday, 03 March 2015 04:51

A new study in the journal Atherosclerosis found that patients taking statin drugs developed increased coronary calcifications, which is the gold standard for diagnosing heart disease, compared to non-users.

When we think of heart disease, we think of cholesterol, which is soft.  But, the word “arteriosclerosis” literally means “hardening of the arteries.” And what do they harden with? Calcium.

Coronary calcium is not a test that I recommend routinely because there is a lot of radiation involved with it. But, I do not doubt the accuracy of it. So, if statin drugs increase coronary calcium, it is extremely bad. And apparently, they do that despite the fact that they lower serum cholesterol.

A second study in the journal Diabetes Care found that diabetics who take statin drugs also have increased coronary calcifications. And, they found a correlation between the frequency and size of the dose of statins and the degree of disease acceleration.  "More frequent statin use is associated with accelerated coronary artery calcification in Type2 diabetic patients with advanced atherosclerosis."

These findings are bad news for healthy patients who have been taking statins on a preventative basis just to lower their cholesterol, and it is bad news for those who are known to have heart disease who have been taking statins to slow the progress and reduce the risk of catastrophic events (heart attacks and strokes). Apparently, it doesn’t work either way, and even prior to this, there was never any impressive evidence that it worked. At best, even in the tweaked and finessed studies, there were claims of preventing 1 or 2 heart attacks- among 100 people taking the drugs. The picture was never too rosy for statin drugs.

And why should they ever have placed hope in these drugs in the first place? Think about how they work. They work by crippling the liver so that it can’t do what it wants to do and is supposed to do, which is: to make cholesterol. When did good health ever come from crippling the liver?

I was visited by a married couple recently who were both taking statins, having been put on them by the same doctor. He also advised them to eat a total 100% plant diet, so no animal foods, and I am not opposed to that. However, in addition, he put them on a statin drug. So, he wanted them to eat a diet that is totally devoid of cholesterol so that they weren’t getting any cholesterol from their food, and then, in addition to that, he was giving them a drug to cripple their cholesterol production by the liver, so that their cholesterol levels could be driven down severely and well below the normal physiological level. That’s how cholesterol-phobic their doctor was and is. And these are older people too, in an age-group for whom low cholesterol has NEVER been found to be beneficial or advantageous or life-prolonging.

Here’s the link to the article in Atherosclerosis:

http://www.atherosclerosis-journal.com/article/S0021-9150(12)00522-9/abstract

My view is that the vast majority of people should not even consider taking statin drugs. I am open to the possibility that those who have congenital hyperlipidemia, where the cholesterol level can rise to 600 or 700 or higher, MAY benefit from taking them. But, I am not certain I would take them even if that were my predicament, which fortunately it isn’t. What I believe strongly is that people should eat a plant-based diet, meaning one high in fruits and vegetables, and not just fruits and vegetables, but also other wholesome plant foods, such as raw nuts and cooked beans. I do not assume that a plant-based diet has to be completely vegan to be effective. If people eat mostly unrefined plant foods (as they should) but include some animal foods on a limited basis, they may do very well. But, in light of everything we know about the human body’s nutritional needs, especially in adulthood when growth has stopped, it makes no sense whatsoever to load up on large quantities of animal foods. And, note that the atherogenic effect of such a diet may be the result of other factors besides cholesterol. There is some evidence that animal protein itself may speed up the atherogenic process. So, it really does make sense to be cautious and restrained about how much animal food you eat. It isn’t filler food.   

Taking statin drugs is just a medical fad. Do you think it’s going to be in vogue 100 years from now? I doubt it. I seriously doubt it. And the main thing it does is create huge profits for pharmaceutical companies and the whole medical industry. You don’t have to support those people. And you certainly don’t want to do it at the expense of your health.