|
[ Cholesterol Problems Archive ] [ Main Archives Page ] [ Glossary/Index ] [ FAQ ] [ Recommended Books ] [ Bulletin Board ] |
Search this site! | |
Comments?
Misty L. Trepke
www.searching-alternatives.com
Permananet Side Effects from Statin (Cholesterol) Drugs
http://www.spacedoc .net/statins_ permanent_ side_effects. html
I was still in practice, twenty years ago, when lovastatin, the
first statin drug, became available for use by we primary care
physicians.
We learned to expect liver inflammation and occasional muscle aches
and pains. With the dosages used at that time and with a relatively
small number of patients on the early statins, the side effect issue
impressed me as being acceptable. This is no longer true.
Today, with more potent drugs, millions of people taking them and
doses triple and quadruple those of the past, our side effect
profile has radically changed. Now, cognitive damage, emotional and
behavioral change, neuropathies and even neuro-degenerative damage
are increasingly recognized as associated with statin drug use. But
there is something even more perverse - the element of permanence of
some of these consequences.
The pharmaceutical industry has been quick to add such conditions as
neuropathy and amnesia to their long list of "disclaimers" in their
drug reference information. Yes, within the past six years, after my
own cognitive reactions to statins in the prevailing climate of
complete physician denial, drug companies have belatedly added
cognitive damage but not one word about permanent cognitive damage.
And the same for neuromuscular - yes, most of the drug companies
now admit that peripheral neuropathy may be a consequence of statin
use but have never mentioned it might be disabling, crippling or
permanent. The deliberate pattern of gross misrepresentation and
disinformation of statin drug side effects to physicians who
prescribe these drugs has created a climate where many physicians
will summarily dismiss patient claims of damage as impossible,
thereby placing them in harm's way.
The first evidence of permanence came from reports of cognitive
problems associated with statin use. Michael Hope was one of the
first to receive widespread media attention - a former CEO reduced
to unemployable status due to persistent loss of short-term memory.
Today, four years after the onset, Michael is still grossly
impaired. He is one of many hundreds who have persistent
cognitive deficits long after stopping their statin.
Next came reports of muscle aches and pains brought on by statin
drugs that persisted and even worsened despite promptly stopping the
statin. Two astronaut friends of mine, having no history of muscle
problems, experienced muscle pains shortly after their statin was
started for mild hypercholesterolemi a. Much to their dismay these
pains have persisted years after they stopped the offending drug.
They are but two of thousands of patients in this growing subgroup
of people with persistent and apparently permanent muscle symptoms
seemingly triggered by statin drug use. Current research indicates
that many of these have an unsuspected genetic predisposition. Some
of these cases respond to CoQ10, many do not.
Another growing reality is that of peripheral neuropathy,
particularly unresponsive to treatment, coming on soon after statin
therapy is initiated. Once this occurs, not only does it seems to be
permanent but tends to worsen in many patients. Hundreds of victims
are incapacitated, even crippled by this unfortunate side effect,
seemingly related to alterations in CoQ10 availability brought on by
statin drug interference with the mevalonate pathway.
Mevalonate pathway disruption also seems to be the mechanism of
action for another type of neurological disaster associated with
statin use, that of neurodegenerative disease onset shortly after
the start of treatment. Only in the past few years have we learned
of the unfortunate tendency of statins to promote the tau protein
formation while inhibiting the usual sequence of biochemical
reactions in the mevalonate pathway. Tau protein is now known to
promote the formation of neuro-fibrillatory tangles with secondary
neuronal damage, offering a possible explanation for the unusual
number of cases we are seeing of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis,
Parkinsonism, frontal lobe dementia and Alzheimers' disease and
other neurodegenerative conditions shortly after statins are
started. This suggests that these diseases are somehow being
triggered by statins. Need I add that these diseases are both
permanent and progressive.
Not only have statin drug companies failed to adequately warn
prescribing physicians of permanent cognitive loss associated with
statin use, they have failed to warn about permanent neuromuscular
and neurodegenerative consequences. Thousands of unsuspecting
patients have become victims and in most of these cases their
doctors, having had no advance warning from the pharmaceutical
industry, have tended to disregard patient complaints, offering
almost any explanation other than the correct one. Unfortunately, as
these damage claims come to the attention of the courts many MDs
will be forced to share liability with the drug companies. On
hearing hundreds of patient complaints about doctor rebuff
on this subject of statin side effects, I well recall the words of
Doctor Ellsworth Amidon, my professor of medicine at Vermont College
of Medicine, way too many years ago: "Listen well to the words of
the patient, my young doctors, for they are telling you the
diagnosis."
Duane Graveline MD MPH
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Messages in this topic (1) Reply (via web post) | Start a new topic
Messages
"Do not let either the medical authorities or the politicians
mislead you. Find out what the facts are, and make
your own decisions about how to live a happy life and how to work
for a better world." - Linus Pauling
We are not doctors or health care profesionals. Only people trying
to learn. This list is for educational purpose
only; learning different health and healing modalities and
exchanging opinions and experiences, and it is explicitly
NOT to give medical advice. Postings may be news related, purely
speculation or someone's opinion. There is no medical advise given
here and none should be taken. We are here to learn, evaluate, and
make our own decisions with our own health care providers.
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/searching-alternatives/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/searching-alternatives/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
mailto:searching-alternatives-digest@yahoogroups.com
mailto:searching-alternatives-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
searching-alternatives-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
In Reply to: Permanent statin damage? posted by Walt Stoll [93.1889] on September 23, 2006 at 06:46:46:
My 79-year-old father has been on all manner of cholesterol-lowering drugs. He had serious muscle weakness while on one (maybe Lipitor) and was switched to Coreg, apparently to no avail. He is now on the new flavor of the month, Zetia. His total cholesterol is only about 220, but he says his LDL is high. He has had a long history of blood pressure and heart problems, including a quadruple bypass quite a few years ago, so it's kind of hard to suggest that he doesn't need any of these drugs. I'm sure his diet isn't the best, but it's really hard to change the habits of a lifetime in someone of his age, and to convince him that the medical establishment doesn't really know what their doing.
So, while appalled at this article, I can hardly say I'm surprised. It's all money, money, money and ever-increasing greed motivating Big Pharma. It seems impossible to get the doctors to actually investigate these new drugs instead of listening to the pharmaceutical reps. But don't worry--they'll just invent a new drug to take care of the effects of the old one, and so on and so on...
Seriously, if there are any simple things that can maybe control cholesterol, I'd be glad to know them. My dad now lives in a retirement community where they apparently feed them very well in the dining room, but I don't know how much attention they pay to actual nutrition. And is it true that at least half the people who have heart attacks do not have high cholesterol?
Linda
In Reply to: Re: Permanent statin damage? posted by moonchild [1815.2844] on September 23, 2006 at 09:11:37:
Hello all,
Here’s what my thoughts are on this topic.
What causes heart disease, how do we prevent it, how do we measure it, and how do we treat it?
I think the cause of CHD is beyond cholesterol. The most significant risk factors we see today seems to be obesity and diabetes, lack of exercise, oxidative stress, high glycemic index foods, family history, TRANS FATTY ACIDS not saturated fatty acids, and vitamin and mineral deficiencies mostly due to unhealthy die etc. Basically the same risk factors as most autoimmune and degenerative diseases.
Here's more info on cholesterol:
High cholesterol in studies protect infectious diseases. Also people with familial hypercholesterolemia with high LDL-C and total cholesterol does not have the typical vascular lesions and the typical atherosclerosis that doctors associate with high LDL. Your doctor can read more info with the published paper below.
Ravnskov U.
High cholesterol may protect against infections and atherosclerosis.
QJM. 2003 Dec;96(12):927-34
How do we prevent it? Well, fight the risk factors: Fight obesity, control diabetes, increase exercise, healthy lifestyle, healthy diet, basically SR techniques, which I’m learning more and more as I visit Dr. Stoll’s site.
How do we measure it? This is a major problem right now. I don't know how many doctors still think that cholesterol causes CHD. So why measure cholesterol. Cholesterol seems to have a casual but not a causal relationship. Meaning cholesterol is not the cause of heart disease but a reflection of the factors that promote heart disease. For example, when a patient is stressed, their increase in steroid hormones also significantly increases their cholesterol level. Doctors should not diagnose a patient based on their cholesterol level alone.
If I wanted to measures a risk for heart disease, I would measure CRP level, homocysteine, LDL/HDL, and take account the patient’s lifestyle.
Moonchild, talk to his doctor and if he is not aware, give him these studies.
In a study with diabetic patients, 10 mg/day policosanol compared to lovastatin produces more advantageous changes in HDL and provide a better safety profile than lovastatin 20 mg/day. This study was published in Int J Clin Pharmacol Res. 1999;19(4):117-27
Also have him read the role of policosanols in the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease Nutr Rev. 2003 Nov;61(11):376-83
Hope this info helps you moonchild, and keep us updated on your issue.
In Reply to: Re: Permanent statin damage? posted by moonchild [1815.2844] on September 23, 2006 at 09:11:37:
Wow. Okay, I am taking a personal interest in this one b/c I am on lovastatin. Definitely gonna print some stuff up to take to the Dr and then refuse to take the meds like a good little girl.
They put me on the statin NOT because my overall cholesterol was high, but because my GOOD cholesterol was low. They said I had familial hyperlipidemia???? But no one in my family has heart disease at a young age. My dad had a stent placed when he was 81.
I have had a dull ache in the area of the liver for about a month now, scans have showed no abnomalities. Could it be the statin?
In Reply to: Permanent statin damage? posted by Walt Stoll [93.1889] on September 23, 2006 at 06:46:46:
I do know that my mother has a lot of memory problems, also balance problems--a very unsteady gait.
I noticed they developed soon after starting to take Lipitor.
I will never take these drugs, even though my
doctor recommended me to.
My total cholesterol
was 270 at my checkup this year.
In Reply to: Re: Permanent statin damage? posted by Opti77 [1232.1351] on September 23, 2006 at 14:29:24:
Thanks, Opti77.
I could not have said it half as well.
Walt
In Reply to: Re: Permanent statin damage? posted by Music Mom [3092.2525] on September 23, 2006 at 20:27:31:
Hi MM,
Good possibility.
In Reply to: Re: Permanent statin damage? posted by Opti77 [1232.1351] on September 23, 2006 at 14:29:24:
Hi Opti,
Lets not forget about the benefits from taking Omega 3
in raising the good cholesterol levels.
Loosing weight can reduce cholesterol levels as long as one does not increase calorie intake from refined carbs.
A low Triglyceride level is as important as a low cholesterol level in reducing heart disease and heart attack risk.
In Reply to: Re: Permanent statin damage? posted by Music Mom [3092.2525] on September 23, 2006 at 20:27:31:
I'd say there's a good chance.
I went to the MD the other day to have him look at some marks on my back, which turned out to be scratches I somehow acquired. He wanted to put me on antibiotics for it. I politely told him No Thanks.
I don't trust in most MDs any more. They are too quick to prescribe things. IMHO they are making patients out of healthy people. They work in unison with drug company reps IMHO. When I saw Kleenex boxes with the names of statin drugs on them (given to the MD's office free by drug co. reps) I got the impression that the MDs there have an agenda to dispense as many drugs as possible. And this is supposed to be an alternative health center.
I say "if it isn't broken, don't fix it".
L
In Reply to: Re: Permanent statin damage? posted by Opti77 [1232.1351] on September 23, 2006 at 14:29:24:
Good points you make.
The dietary fats I prefer to use are :
I personally wouldn't touch Omega 3 oils with a ten foot pole. Coconut oil can do what Omega 3s can do and more and without toxicity. The best way to avoid Omega 3 deficiency is avoid Omega 6 excess. Omega 3s can be found in organic grass fed beef and butter.
L
In Reply to: Re: Permanent statin damage? posted by Opti77 [1232.1351] on September 23, 2006 at 14:29:24:
Thanks, Opti. I will check out the studies and had already decided to send him some info on policosanol. Unfortunately, he's in PA and I'm in NC. He seems pretty resistant to disregarding what the doctor says. I'll do my best to convince him.
Linda
In Reply to: Re: Permanent statin damage? posted by Lurch [140.2844] on September 24, 2006 at 12:16:51:
Lurch, I have encountered this opinion before, but I'm still confused because virtually all alternative people are so high on Omega 3s. I'm gonna consume my one bottle each of cod liver oil and flax oil and see if I notice any difference. If not, I'll give them up and finish my quart of coconut oil. And I'll make sure to take some extra vitamin E to counteract rancidity once the omega 3s hit body temperature.
Linda
In Reply to: Re: Permanent statin damage? posted by Lurch [140.2844] on September 24, 2006 at 12:16:51:
Hi Lurch,
If one uses Flaxseed oil, it is wise to worry about it being rancid from storage, even if it is kept in the fridge.
This is not the case with whole flaxseed, ground (daily) as needed.
The tablespoon of real natural fiber is not bad for you either.
In Reply to: Re: Permanent statin damage? (FRESH Flaxseed) posted by Ron [3195.2852] on September 25, 2006 at 12:23:38:
Ron,
Men need to watch taking flaxseed oil as it can lead to prostate problems. Pick another oil.
Silver Fox!
In Reply to: Re: Permanent statin damage? posted by Lurch [140.2844] on September 24, 2006 at 11:33:40:
Thanks Lurch. I thought as much....
MM
|
[ Cholesterol Problems Archive ] [ Main Archives Page ] [ Glossary/Index ] [ FAQ ] [ Recommended Books ] [ Bulletin Board ] |
Search this site! | |