You are so right! When people tell me they are tired of health care being run by insurance companies, I remind them that its really run by Big Pharma.  As delighted as I am with our president-elect, I doubt any "reform" in the health care industry will reduce costs and improve REAL care as long as Big Pharma has so much influence over everything medical - our education, our guidelines and algorithms for care, our fears about death, etc .

I blogged about this here- this is just another symptom of the national Janus mask when it comes to drugs- with one face, we frown out the pseudo-sanctimonious "war on drugs" which deems it unethical to use drugs for altering the state of consciousness- but with the other face we smile like junkies at the legalized drug industry which pushes drugs onto all of us, children and seniors alike- high blood pressure?- there's a drug for you- feeling blue? (sad or ischemic)- there's a drug for you- can't sleep at night?- there's a drug for you- need to boost your memory for that exam tomorrow?- there's a drug for you- no need to memorize this list- the public airwaves are saturated with drug ads- so much for the war on drugs- we've lost to the heavy $ artillery of the pharmaceutical industry

 

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I'm lucky, I can tolerate a statin (I take 10 mg of Crestor ever other day) but after reading some stuff by and about Ajit Varki and his chronic inflammation theory. I may swear off any mammal meat and milk products.

He believes that the human body treats Neu5Gc, which is found in all mammal tissue except human, as an invader making antibodies thus causing chronic inflammation.

Between that and going really low carb, swearing off all grains and beans, I may be able to get things under control without drugs.

 

 

I don't think the reduction in the primary end point (myocardial infarction, stroke, arterial revascularization, hospitalization for unstable angina, or death from cardiovascular causes) was minimal.

 

From the results, treating 25 of these patients (LDL<130 but high C reactive protein) with a statin over 5 years would prevent 1 of the above endpoints from occurring. That is pretty significant.

 

They had to stop this trial early because it was so significant. The safety review board thought it was not ethical to continue the placebo arm as they were at such a higher risk of having one of the above endpoints.

 

For those that can tolerate a statin, with LDL <130 and high CRP, this trial is pretty good evidence of the benifits statins can provide.

I also was told I needed a statin, YUCK! I have never felt worse in my life! Everyday I felt like I had the flu, every muscle and  bone hurt so much I wanted to die. I am only 43 too young to feel like that.  It took more than three weeks to get that garbage out of my system so I felt normal. I know I need to watch what I eat and now will find out my CPR level. Thanks!

yes, the first time i tried them i had frozen should for a year. then a few years later i tried another one , said it was different. well then i ended up in the er. stomach aches so intense i thought i must have cancer or was going to die. they had to give me a pain shot to knock me out.   they may be good for some people but you need to be careful.

David, Thank you for a most enlightening article on using satins. There seems to be increasing evidence that satins strain the essential parts of anatomy. My Dr seems to think that reducing inflamation is one of the keys to longer life. He is using Cerefolin NAC #90 with one tab a day. It seems to work for me. Another approach is to add larger doses of Vit D and 5mg of L-arginine a day. These combined have lowed both my inflamation and arthritis. I also have found that Byetta has lowered all my markers including cholresteral. This is just one person experience but it is significant for me. What about a column on lowering inflamation (C-creatin level) with methods you may be familiar with too. What do you think?

Ballot

I tried and suffered very much, I decided to stop. Then my doctor gave another one. with same symptoms. what is the use to suffer ? I was "happy" to read that many doctors try to "push" statins. every noe and then they try to do same with another drug. thanks for your article

I agree with the author.  Despite that, after repeated beaten down by 3 successive doctors concerned about my (low level) type II diabetes, I finally submitted to taking a statin.  It hasn't affected me physically with any aches and pains and I won't be tested until later this month, so we'll see what it does to the numbers.  My pre-statin cholesterol level was not very high - about 225, with my good cholesterol number being about 15 points over.  My following of the Framingham Heart Study http://www.framinghamheartstudy.org/ results, which initially identified cholesterol levels as an indicator, is that a higher than minimal good cholesterol is much more important than a slightly higher bad cholesterol number. 

 

My reluctance was based mainly on the politics involved when Republican administrations sold the study, first to Boston University, and later to a private company owned at least partly by pharmaceutical companies.  These politicians then replaced career scientists with pharmaceutical company employees and grantees on various boards of the National Institutes of Health.

 

I don't trust either political party, but placing the responsibility for advising people about cholesterol in the hands of companies that can benefit financially from higher drug usage seems to be irresponsible. 

Hello David,

 

I entirerly agree with your comments on the Jupiter trial.  These were my exact thoughts prior to reading your story.

 

Statins are wonderful drugs and probably have some antiinflamatory effects, but this study is pointless unless you are a phamaceutical company excited about the prospects to expand in the marketplace.

 

This is hardly what I call prevention.  How about effective programs educating the public and teaching how to avoid unhealthy lifestyle whcih can lead to heart disease, diabetes, etc...

 

Jeff Gerber, M.D.

Family Physician

Littleton, CO 80122

http://jgerbermd.com

 

 

You are not alone.  Is there ANY doubt that doctors are not reporting statin side effects?

 

Our "Ask Your Doctor" heroes are clearly NOT interested in letting us or the FDA know what you and thousands of us know.

 

But don't take my word for it.

 

http://docnews.diabetesjournals.org/cgi/content/full/4/12/1

 

 

My doctor too has tried to push statins on me I even took them for awhile and saw no improvement actually worsened my LDL from 85 to 100.

 When I asked to have the knowledge if I had type A or type B which is small and large cholesterol they had no idea what I was talking about. I then asked are they small or are they large and fluffy, still did not know what i was talking about.

 I decided to quit the statin and mind you my doctor wants me at a 70 for my LDL with statins I am as of last test at a 75 without them pretty darn close if you ask me. Also with statins I was getting such bad muscle spasms through my body that I was wishing I could just drop dead. Since not taking them I have had fewer spasms mainly because of my fibromyalgia and have felt a better out look on life in general.

  Do research  and avoid if possible.

An editorial in today's New York Times, makes a couple of points that I hadn't caught when I wrote here about "Statin Rage."

 

The statin in the JUPITER study that I wrote about was Crestor. Catch this comment from the Times editorial:

 

"Participants who took Crestor also had a worrisome increase in diabetes."

 

Since we already have diabetes, should we care? Of course, it could make our diabetes even harder to control.

 

But I am even more enraged at the conflicts of interest that the Times points out:

 

"The results must also be evaluated in the light of two potential conflicts of interest. The lead investigator stands to benefit from a patent involving the use of CRP to evaluate the risk of cardiovascular disease, and AstraZeneca financed the study whose results it is now trumpeting as 'dramatic.'"

 

How can we possibly think that the JUPITER study is objective!

 

David Mendosa

 

 

Inflammation as evidenced by elevated CRP levels is an important issue in health. However what few seem to be aware of is that magnesium deficiency is a significant factor in elevated levels of inflammation. Magnesium deficiency is common in North America affecting the majority of the population. Most people get less than the RDA. Some get less than half. Studies done where subjects who appeared to meet the RDA for magnesium were given supplemental magnesium showed improvements in their CRP levels.

 

But don't think for a minute that despite the overwhelming evidence of a deficiency of magnesium that your MD is going to suggest you start taking magnesium if your CRP level is elevated. Not a chance. In the post Jupiter era an elevated CRP level is the cue he or she needs to write up a script for their favorite statin.

 

Ever since I found out 4 years ago that I have T2 diabetes I have suspected that I suffer from a chronic long term magnesium deficiency. I have all the classic symptoms. And research has shown that diabetes and magnesium deficiency are joined at the hip. Diabetics also have a problem retaining and storing magnesium.

 

I have tried every form of magnesium I could find (oxides, citrates, aspartates, orotates, glycinates). The problem I ran up against is that I could not take enough magnesium to correct my situation without causing diarrhea. From what I have been able to find out correcting a long term chronic magnesium deficiency can take anywhere from 3 months to a year on dosage levels several times the RDA. Recently I found a breakthrough in the form of magnesium chloride hexahydrate. It is not terribly easy to get. I have my local pharmacy order it for me.

 

Powdered magnesium is mixed with water to obtain a standardized solution. The concentration I use gives me about 200 mg per half teaspoon. I usually take 4 doses spread throughout the day (800 mg). By the way, it doesn't taste that great. But I don't care. It works.

 

Magnesium chloride in a water solution is readily absorbed through the skin (i.e. transdermal). So you take in a lot more without any issues with diarrhea. A product is available called Magnesium Oil. It is not really an oil. A saturated solution of magnesium just feels oily to the touch. I am just starting to try this form.

 

Magnesium chloride has been called a miracle nutrient by many of its users. I am starting to think that the term fits. As for those MDs who suggest statins for elevated CRP, "It's the magnesium stupid!"

David,

Your writings and data are a pleasure to read and very helpful.

Can you suggest some sources I could utilitze to help me get better educated about the actions/inter-actions of the 'statins' I am taking?

 

 

Cheers,

 

Nolan K.

 

I want to state right away that I am not in the medical field at all, but I do have Metabolic Syndrome (diagnosed March 2003). I, too, was reluctant to take the prescribed statin drugs because of all the fearful side effects I had heard about. I was perfectly willing to take my B.P. meds and my diabetes meds, but I hesitated with the pile of Vytorin samples I had been given.

 

Then one day I was in my closet and saw the bag that had all the Vytorin samples in it, sitting in a box of stuff. I don't know what compelled me to, but I opened up a package of them, removed a pill, cut it in half and took it. Eventually I began taking a full pill and when I did not suffer any ill effects, I finally conceded and filled a prescription for Zocor. I have been on Zocor for a few years now and my kidney and liver functions are fine. My total cholesterol is down below 150 and I feel fine.

 

I realize that many people can't take statins because of the side effects, but a large body of evidence exists that proves statins' efficacy and benefits to health. Any doctor worth his/her salt will encourage their patients to try diet & exercise before beginning a pill regimen. The problem is, most of us don't really try. I hear people complain that all doctors want to do is push pills when you visit with them; what do you expect them to give you, a fruit basket?

 

Doctors by and large practice evidence based medicine and certainly statins are pushed heavily by drug companies; many doctors also receive stipends and incentives from these companies. But, based purely on the evidence, statins work as intended and have actually been around since the '50s when statins' benefits were first discovered by Japanese researchers (hence Red Yeast Rice which is chemically identical to certain statin varieties). They are a boon for those people that can tolerate them and to say that no drug has side effects is clearly false. Aspirin, for example, has been around for over 100 years, but is definitely inappropriate for certain people.

 

There is no reason to turn away from or stop using statins if you tolerate them well and are receiving some benefit from them. As for "pushing statins" because of the money factor, Zocor (the pill I mentioned above that I take) is now available generically and a number of others are due to lose their patent protection in the coming 2 to 3 years. I actually pressed to be put on Zocor because it was generic, not just because of cost, but because of safety: Generic status means the drug has been around long enough to no longer be protected by patent. Older drugs have a longer safety record and longer statistics behind them (patient effects, drug history and the like). In many cases an older statin, diabetes or B.P. medication can work just as well, if not better, than the newer, costlier drugs.

 

Medicine is about evidence and facts; pseudoscientific woo and fear-mongering have no place in your treatment options for diabetes, cancer, or any other serious condition. Discuss things thouroughly with your PCP, your endo, or any other experienced physician. Mr. Medosa's site excepted, don't trust the blather you hear on sites all over the Internet; Google is not a substitute for the facts. Those that can't tolerate statins, fine. Discuss your options with your medical doctor, not the hippy-dippy "alternative medicine" practitioner down the street.

While I was looking for something else on the Weston A Price website , I found this article Dangers of Statin Drugs “What You Haven’t Been Told About Popular Cholesteol Lowering Medicines” about midway down in the article see “Muslce Pain & Weakness.” www.westonaprice.org/moderndiseases/statin The most common side effect is muscle pain and weakness, a condition called rhabdomyolysis, most likely due to the depletion of Co-Q10, a nutrient that supports muscle function. Wonder why the doctors don’t tell us to take Co-Q with statins Joan

This all is certainly confusing. I've been on two different statins after the initial "it should be in the drinking water" and I asked my doctor if I should be on one. Due to the suggestion of my health insurance, I've been on the lower cost Crestor for several years. I've never had any symptoms of what I'd blame on the statin. While my total cholesterol has never been high, it certainly has lowered it. Last month's test was 121! Every test for years has been below 160 total cholesterol.

 

It was my understanding that I should continue using it for the anti-inflammation properties of the blood vessels that are believed to trigger some heart attacks. My family history isn't prone to heart conditions and both parents were well into their 80's, though they both secumbed to a failed heart.

 

I wish that I could weed out all the pills and shots that I don't need. The cost of them certainly dents my income available for more fun things in life and puts a burden on the company that I work for, which is self-insured. It is my dream that somehow, someday soon, there will be impartial wisdom that tells us what is worth spending money on and which is snake oil and quackery or self-serving. You, David, certainly are among those that I put my faith in.

 

I'm taking away from this discussion that the value of statins may be touted a bit too enthusiastically. Finding the dividing line of when one is called for remains a question in my mind.