Dr. Dwight Lundell, former Chief of Staff and Chief of Surgery at Banner Heart Hospital in Arizona, told the world not to take statin drugs. “We physicians, with all our training, knowledge, and authority, often acquire a rather large ego that tends to make it difficult to admit we are wrong. So, here it is. I freely admit to being wrong. As a heart surgeon with 25 years of experience, having performed over 5,000 open-heart surgeries, today is my day to right the wrong with medical and scientific facts.”
Cholesterol is a lipid molecule that plays a crucial
role in various biological processes, including membrane
structure, cell signaling, and hormone synthesis.
His frontal attack tears apart the practice of prescribing medications to lower cholesterol and a diet that severely restricts fat intake. Doctors in this field have been continually bombarded with scientific literature, constantly attending education seminars, all of which insisted heart disease resulted from elevated blood cholesterol.
Who should take Statin drugs? No one! However, one in four Americans takes statin drugs. The pharmaceutical industry has convinced both patients and doctors that these drugs will prevent health problems down the road when they often cause them. As of recent data, approximately 92 million Americans are reported to be taking statins. This figure reflects a significant increase from 37 million users in 2012-2013, marking a 149% rise by 2018-2019. Statins are widely prescribed to manage high cholesterol levels and reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Statins are among the most commonly prescribed medications in the US, with usage continuing to grow.
This critical chapter highlights the difference between Natural Cardiology and the mainstream of cardiology, which dishes out statin drugs like cotton candy. Dr. James Roberts says, “Early in my career, I practiced invasive cardiology as I was taught. I was dealing with crises, putting out fires, and doing lots of invasive procedures. Because we were not dealing with the causes of arterial disease, the patients were coming back with more crises, so we were doing invasive procedures on the same patients over and over again. Of course, being paid each time, however, that is not the best way to practice cardiology. If you need an invasive procedure, you need an invasive procedure, but you should only need one.”
This is a testament to how ineffective modern cardiology is. It is the wrong approach to both heart and vascular disease. Statin drugs are a failure, causing, in all probability, more trouble than help. Magnesium is the ultimate medicine for the heart, and Cyclodextrins are the ultimate medicine for the vascular system. As we see below, statins compromise the heart. They are heart poisons over the long term.
Today, if you want to increase your chances of having cardiac arrest or many other heart problems, see your cardiologist, for they will undoubtedly prescribe a statin drug with hyped-up benefits and downplayed side effects. However, well-known side effects are numerous and sometimes deadly.
Some people who take statins report having muscle pains,
tenderness or weakness. Statins may damage the muscles.
Recent studies have raised concerns about the long-term effects of statin use on coronary artery calcification (CAC), suggesting that instead of providing protective benefits, statins may accelerate the process of calcification. This paradox raises essential questions about the mechanisms by which statins exert their effects and the need for further research to clarify their role in cardiovascular health.
Statins are Poisonous for the Heart
A review published in Clinical Pharmacology suggests statins may act as “mitochondrial toxins,” impairing heart and blood vessels muscle function by depleting coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), an antioxidant cell used for growth and maintenance. Multiple studies show statins inhibit CoQ10 synthesis; thus, anyone following their cardiologists’ advice should supplement their diet with COQ10.
CoQ10 is vital for producing ATP, the cell’s fundamental energy carrier. Insufficient CoQ10 inhibits ATP production, resulting in an energy deficit that could be a significant cause of heart muscle and coronary artery damage.
“We believe that many years of statin drug therapy result in the gradual accumulation of mitochondrial DNA damage,” according to the authors. A 2022 study published in Biophysical Journal linked reduced ATP to heart failure. A 2008 study published in BioFactors reaffirms the statin–CoQ10 link. Researchers evaluated 50 statin patients for side effects like fatigue and muscle pain.
The Main Effects are the Side Effects
A significant number of people taking statins (between 3 and 15%) develop mild to crushing muscle pain that can lead to permanent muscle problems, severe kidney problems, or death. The drugs can cause severe liver damage, and some recent reports have linked the use of one statin to neurological and memory problems.
The mechanism of statin drugs, disruption of mevalonate synthesis, prevents cells from making compounds essential for healthy cellular life. Crestor has the worst side effect profile among all statin drugs, and the FDA initially declined its approval. Crestor has been associated with muscle deterioration and kidney problems. In the study, those taking statins also had a higher risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.
Statins have also been tied to memory, concentration, and mood changes, among other problems. Other side effects of statins include a degenerative muscle disease called myopathy, which can be fatal. Bayer pulled its statin — Baycol — off the market in August 2001 because it caused too many cases of myopathy. Baycol was linked to 52 deaths worldwide.
Cardiologists Disregard Cancer Implications of Statin Use
An old study in the Journal of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention reports that women who have used cholesterol-lowering statin drugs for more than ten years have double the risk of two common types of breast cancer: invasive ductal carcinoma and invasive lobular carcinoma.
Published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), Dr. Thomas B. Newman and co-workers showed that all cholesterol-lowering drugs, both the early drugs known as fibrates (clofibrate, gemfibrozil) and the newer medications known as statins (Lipitor, Pravachol, Zocor), cause cancer in rodents at the equivalent doses used by man.
Dr. Gloria Troendle, deputy director for the Division of Metabolism and Endocrine Drug Products for the FDA, noted that the cholesterol-lowering drug gemfibrozil belonged to a class of drugs that has repeatedly been shown to increase death rates among users. Moreover, Dr. Troendle stated that she does not believe the FDA has ever approved a drug for long-term use that was as cancer-causing at human doses as gemfibrozil.
Going After The Children
Many doctors were incredulous about the aggressive new recommendation from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) for warding off heart disease in children, and for good reason. In 2008, the AAP recommended broader cholesterol screening for children and more aggressive use of cholesterol-lowering drugs starting as early as the age of 8 in hopes of preventing adult heart problems.
“What data shows this helps prevent heart attacks?” asked Dr. Darshak Sanghavi, a pediatric cardiologist and assistant professor at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. “How many heart attacks do we hope to prevent this way? There’s no data regarding that.” Dr. Sanghavi added that there is no data on the possible side effects of taking statins for 40 or 50 years.
“To be frank, I’m embarrassed for the AAP today,” said Dr. Lawrence Rosen of Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey, vice chairman of an academy panel on traditional and alternative medicine. He added, treatment with medications without any clear data? I hope they’re ready for the public backlash.” There is no long-term data on statin use in children. “We’re talking about potentially treating thousands and thousands of children simply to prevent one heart attack,” says Dr. Sanghavi from the University of Massachusetts. “That kind of risk-benefit calculation is absent from the AAP’s policy.”
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