More studies on cholesterol and Statin drugs

Did you know the number 1 selling drug in the US is Cholesterol lowering drugs? So those of you who know me know I am a big picture person. So the first question I ask is why do we want to use a cholesterol lowering medication. Well most cardiologist will give a drug to lower cholesterol to keep your arteries from becoming clogged. So the real end result is less heart attacks. Well guess what. There was a huge study done in Canada showing that the heart attack rate does not go down with cholesterol lowering medication. In fact about half of those that have a sudden heart attack have normal cholesterol. How can that be you may ask. The answer is because high cholesterol is not the cause of clogged arteries. Yes cholesterol is part of the plaque, but it is not what causes it. What causes your body to use the cholesterol is inflammation. As the cells that line the vessels become inflammed, they swell and start leaking blood into the muscle of the vessel. When this happens every bell and whistle goes off and a clot is formed, cholesterol is brought in as a band-aid to cover the leak and then it is hardened with calcium. So you can have normal cholesterol and still clogg your arteries if you have inflammation in your body. In my opinion it is a major health risk to take cholesterol lowering drugs. There are so many side effects to cholesterol lowering drugs such as the statin drugs. Some fo the side effects are brain deterioration, depression, Alzheimers, cancer, tendon ruptures, nerve disease, liver damage, increased insulin, muscle cramps to name a few. The other thing to keep in mind is that we need cholesterol in the body. It helps us make hormones and helps to bring essential fatty acids into our cell membranes. It is these essential fats that help to bring oxygen into every cell. Oxygen is a pretty important element not only for survival but also to thrive.

Dr. Cynthia Bye
360-695-8800