More Insane Uses For Statin Drugs
by Joseph Mercola
The question, 'Should statins be in your medicine cabinet?' has stirred up controversy and initiated debates among doctors and drug companies.
More Red Flags Raised Over
Statins
Bayer's statin, Baycol, was pulled from the market in 2001 after 31 deaths
were reported from a harmful side effect of the drug known as rhabdomyolysis,
a condition in which muscle tissue breaks down and could result in kidney
failure.
Doctors recommended taking AstraZenica's Crestor off the market after cases of rhabdomyolysis surfaced in trials of people taking 80-milligram doses
The FDA turned down the requests for over the counter prescriptions for Mevachor and Pravachol stating there wasn't enough documentation that the drugs were safe to take without a doctor's supervision.
Other experts stated that non-prescription statins were not a good idea because of all of the variables that needed to be taken into account such as possible health risks and benefits before a person decided to take them
One doctor explained that the statins worked by preventing the formation of cholesterol and that it helped reduce LDL cholesterol, which is considered the "bad" cholesterol. Past studies on statins have shown that they had the ability to lower the levels of C-reactive protein, a substance found in the blood that acts as an indicator of inflammation and heart disease.
What Statin Supporters Had
to Say
A spokesperson for AstraZenica discounted those who wanted Crestor removed
from shelves and claimed that it was just as safe as other statins They
also claimed that it was the hardest working statin in terms of decreasing
LDL cholesterol levels
The first over-the-counter statin, simvastatin (Zocor), will be available in the United Kingdom toward the end of summer
Merck spokesman is once again pushing for the sales
of an over-the-counter statin called Mevachor, a 20-milligram statin
USA Today, 28th June 2004
DR. MERCOLA'S COMMENT: Statins rake in about $15
billion per year in the United States, so I guess it is no surprise that
the drug companies feel the need to expand their market even more. The
drug companies have been able to fund research supporting their wonder
drugs supposedly helping prevent a range of other ills, including:
Alzheimer's
Glaucoma
Macular degeneration
Breast, colon and prostate cancers
Come on give me a break. Isn't $15 billion enough?
They did this in the past when they manipulated the lowering of national cholesterol guidelines to start their drugs. If it were up to them, they would sell their drug in bulk to all local municipalities so we could have it in our water supply.
They have brainwashed the doctors so effectively that last week I had a new patient's wife call me from the intensive care unit because her husband had a heart attack and they wanted to put him on Lipitor even though his cholesterol was only 150. Absolute insanity.
Fortunately, information can make a difference and my message is getting out that this is nonsense. If you type in statins in Google there are a quarter of a million hits that come up, but my page explaining the truth about statins is number one.
Folks, just remember that virtually no one needs
to be on these drugs, including Dr. Agatston. You may or may not realize
that the clueless author of the South Beach Diet actually takes statin
drugs. Apparently he is not aware that an optimized version of the low-carb
diet he promotes can normalize cholesterol in well over 98 percent of
people.
www.mercola.com
Free newsletter available from this site.
Further Resources
Need an eating plan to get you out of trouble?
Health Wars by Phillip Day
Food or Thought by Phillip Day
Click
here to purchase or review any of the above.
Click here for telephone
sales around the world.
Click here if you wish to contact Credence for
information on treatment options or resources.
