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The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth: The Surprising, Unbiased Truth About What You Should Eat and Why Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S. See book keywords and concepts

Drugs that are affected include allergy medication (like Allegra), congestive heart failure medication (like Digoxin), blood pressure medicines and/or calcium channel blockers (like Cozaar, Plendil, Procardia, and Sular), epilepsy drugs (like Carbatrol and Tegretol), and cholesterol-lowering drugs (like Mevacor, Zocar, and lipitor), but there are probably tons more, so if your med isn't on that list, don't take a chance.

Supplement Your Prescription: What Your Doctor Doesn't Know About Nutrition Hyla Cass, M.D. See book keywords and concepts

For example, a patient might simultaneously be put on lipitor for cholesterol lowering, prednisone for respiratory relief, and Motrin for pain. How many of the health problems that crop up in this patient are caused by drug side effects and interactions? We just don't know, since we have no long-term studies on this. What I have seen is that patients that have been on multiple drugs over long periods of time often show an overall deterioration in their health.

Survival of the Sickest: A Medical Maverick Discovers Why We Need Disease Dr. Sharon Moalem See book keywords and concepts

If you knew that you might be able to reduce your excess cholesterol by getting enough sunlight to convert it to vitamin D, wouldn't you rather hit the tanning salon before starting a lifetime of lipitor? That's food for thought. CHAPTER IV HEY, BUD, CAN YOU DO ME A FAVA? Adistinguished-looking man, debonair to his core in a way that the bright orange prison coveralls cannot obscure, stands in his jail cell looking out at an attractive brunette who has presumed—presumed!—to question him. She's testing him—and he's having none of it. "A census taker once tried to test me.

Adaptogens: Herbs for Strength, Stamina, and Stress Relief David Winston, RH(AHG), and Steven Maimes See book keywords and concepts

Millions of people are taking prescription drugs such as lipitor, Zocor, Pravachol, Mevacor, and Crestor to lower cholesterol levels. The prescribing of these drugs is based on the hypothesis that high cholesterol levels cause heart attacks. Unfortunately, serious side effects have been reported for these drugs, which are prescribed for preventive purposes. Cholesterol reduction in some cases can be achieved without drugs, and adaptogens can help. Several adaptogens, when used along with dietary changes, exercise, and supplements, can help reduce cholesterol levels.

Supplement Your Prescription: What Your Doctor Doesn't Know About Nutrition Hyla Cass, M.D. See book keywords and concepts

He told me that his medication, lipitor, had lowered his total cholesterol to under 200. "My dad died young from heart disease," he told me, "and I sure am glad I know what to do to prevent the same thing from happening to me." I did my best to listen politely. Mark wasn't my patient, after all, and he seemed so happy and secure with the advice his doctor had given him. I didn't want to rock his boat. "Are you working out, too?" I asked him, noting to myself that he was not looking very fit or toned. "That part's been harder," he replied.

For example, widely prescribed statin drugs, such as Crestor and lipitor, block the activity of an enzyme that creates cholesterol in the body—but this action depletes the body of a substance called coenzyme Q10, which is vital for heart health. Enzyme A protein that accelerates the rate of chemical reactions, without being damaged or changed by the reactions. 5. Increased loss of nutrients through the urinary system. Any drug that causes an increase in urination can drain the body's levels of water-soluble nutrients, including B vitamins and minerals such as magnesium and potassium.

The Big Fat Health and Fitness Lie Craig Pepin-Donat See book keywords and concepts

A partial list of the best-selling drugs for 2005 compiled by IMS Health includes lipitor, Zocor, Nexium, Prevacid, Plavix and Zoloft, all of which advertise on TV. There is no question that pharmaceutical companies spend large sums of money on research and development (R&D), which exceeds that of DTC advertising.20 The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) argues that DTC spending compared to R&D spending is approximately ten percent, which is in line with other industries.

Supplement Your Prescription: What Your Doctor Doesn't Know About Nutrition Hyla Cass, M.D. See book keywords and concepts

I explained that it's a nutrient required by every cell of the body to transform carbohydrate and fat into energy, in the many "energy-producing factories" called mitochondria; and that the same mechanism lipitor employs to lower cholesterol also lowers production of CoQ10. 57 He was actually grateful for the information, and wondered why his doctor hadn't recommended that he take CoQ10 along with the drug. "I'm constantly amazed at how little attention most physicians pay to their patients' nutrient status," I told him, "and it's affected by the drugs they prescribe.

Timeless Secrets of Health & Rejuvenation: Unleash The Natural Healing Power That Lies Dormant Within You Andreas Moritz See book keywords and concepts

Golomb found that 98 percent of patients taking lipitor and one-third of the patients taking Mevachor (a lower-dose statin) suffered from muscle problems, such as severe calf pain and foot pain. An increasing number of long-term patients (after three years) develop slurred speech, balance problems and severe fatigue. These side effects often begin with restless sleep patterns. A new study (October 2007), announced by the media, found that fat soluble statins, such Zocor and Pravachol can cause sleep deprivation, resulting in obesity and mental disturbances.

You: Staying Young: The Owner's Manual for Extending Your Warranty Mehmet C. Oz., M.D. and Michael F. Roizen, M.D. See book keywords and concepts

Alternatively, you can take a 400 IU (international unit) supplement daily if you take it with vitamin C and are not taking statin drugs like lipitor. Vitamins B6, B,2, Yes Without B vitamins, your neurotransmitters don't work efficiently. folic acid To compound matters, without B vitamins, your homocysteine levels rise, and that doubles the risk of developing Alzheimer's. Homocysteine is an amino acid associated with stroke, heart disease, and Alzheimer's.

Our Daily Meds: How the Pharmaceutical Companies Transformed Themselves into Slick Marketing Machines and Hooked the Nation on Prescription Drugs Melody Petersen See book keywords and concepts

But all of them charged more for lipitor than the $96.99 price I found on the Internet site drugstore.com. The new Walgreens pharmacy was charging the most at $116.69. The most helpful pharmacist, the one behind the counter at Drug Town, suggested I ask the doctor to write a prescription for forty-milligram pills and then cut the tablet in two, allowing an order of fifteen pills, costing $59.09, to last the month through. With construction rampant on Civic Mills, there was a good chance more fast-food restaurants and gas stations would soon be built.

Before You Take that Pill: Why the Drug Industry May Be Bad for Your Health J. Douglas Bremner See book keywords and concepts

He went to his doctor, who checked his cholesterol and put him on lipitor. He developed muscle pain, and now he can't play tennis anymore." "That's called myalgia," I responded. "It's a possible side effect of statins. If he was a tennis pro he probably didn't have any risk factors for heart disease, like obesity, smoking, diabetes, or high blood pressure, right?" "Right. He's only forty years old and in perfect health." "And he went to the doctor because you nagged him because he hadn't had a checkup in years?" "Right." Poor woman.

She referred me to the Web site of the American Heart Association, whose expert panel profiled who was at risk for heart disease and who should be taking medications like lipitor to lower their cholesterol as a preventative. There was a series of "points" supposedly related to a person's risk of heart disease that were based on "risk factors" like age, diabetes, hypertension, family medical history, smoking, and history of heart disease. If the sum of these points was great enough, you were counseled to "talk to your doctor," and we all know what that means.

And I am afraid there are a lot of people who are getting more harm than good from lipitor and other LDL cholesterol—lowering statin drugs like it. Remember when Tom Cruise had a meltdown and started jumping on Oprah's couch and when he shouted at Matt Lauer that he didn't know anything about psychiatric drugs? In the aftermath of those episodes, an anchorwoman from the television show Dateline asked me to provide a psychiatric perspective on Cruise's comments.

Our Daily Meds: How the Pharmaceutical Companies Transformed Themselves into Slick Marketing Machines and Hooked the Nation on Prescription Drugs Melody Petersen See book keywords and concepts

In the German study, fewer diabetic patients taking lipitor had heart attacks or died from heart disease, but more of them died from stroke than those who had taken sugar pills. Dr. Robinson argued that the researchers should have looked only at the heart disease data and ignored the slightly higher death rate from stroke. The German scientists were blunt in their reply to Dr. Robinson's suggestion that they selectively report their data so that Pfizer's product, also known as atorvastatin, looked beneficial.

Warner-Lambert scientists had discovered lipitor, but Pfizer wanted to sell it. The takeover also made Pfizer the most profitable drug company in the world. In 2001 Pfizer rang up sales at a rate of almost $4 million an hour and, by the end of the year, had turned $7.8 billion of those sales into profit. Bill Steere, the mastermind behind Pfizer's rise to power, announced in August 2000, a month after the details of the Warner-Lambert deal were finalized, that he would retire as the company's chief executive.

Drugs like Prilosec for AstraZeneca, Viagra and lipitor for Pfizer, Zocor for Merck. We need drugs in that range." For the public, the implications of such a business strategy can be devastating. People with rare diseases are ignored. So are the poor, who cannot afford the high prices that must be charged for a drug to become a megablockbuster. Instead, under this game plan, the drug company focused its resources solely on drugs with the potential to be sold on a massive scale to rich Americans. And it was not just Bristol-Myers that had devised such a strategy.

Before You Take that Pill: Why the Drug Industry May Be Bad for Your Health J. Douglas Bremner See book keywords and concepts

Torce-trapib, slated to be Pfizer's next drug, works by raising HDL, the "good cholesterol," and thus has a mechanism of action that is complementary to that of lipitor, which lowers LDL, the "bad cholesterol." Pfizer expected Torcetrapib to be its next best-selling medication. Unfortunately, after reviewing the data from a clinical trial of Torcetrapib, the independent monitors found that the drug appeared to be causing more subjects to die of heart attacks and other complications of high blood pressure than seen with placebo.

Our Daily Meds: How the Pharmaceutical Companies Transformed Themselves into Slick Marketing Machines and Hooked the Nation on Prescription Drugs Melody Petersen See book keywords and concepts

The drug companies have become marketing machines, selling antidepressants like Paxil, pain pills like Celebrex, and heart medications like lipitor with the same methods that Coca-Cola uses to sell Sprite and Procter 8c Gamble uses to sell Tide. Selling prescription drugs—rather than discovering them—has become the pharmaceutical industry's obsession. Prescription drug marketing now permeates every corner of American society—from Sesame Street to nursing homes to the nightly news.

Other companies were already selling five of these drugs known as statins, including lipitor, Zocor, and Pravachol. But that did not stop the plans of the executives at the German chemical giant. They needed a new bestseller and were excited by the fast-rising use of statins by Americans, who were reminded every day to watch the levels of cholesterol in their blood. Thanks to the marketers of the first statin pills, "Know your numbers" had become a mantra of the fifty-and-older set. There was something about Baycol, however, that made it stand out from the others.

Supplement Your Prescription: What Your Doctor Doesn't Know About Nutrition Hyla Cass See book keywords and concepts

For example, widely prescribed statin drugs, such as Crestor and lipitor, block the activity of an enzyme that creates cholesterol in the body—but this action depletes the body of a substance called coenzyme Q10, which is vital for heart health. Enzyme A protein that accelerates the rate of chemical reactions, without being damaged or changed by the reactions. Increased loss of nutrients through the urinary system. Any drug that causes an increase in urination can drain the body's levels of water-soluble nutrients, including B vitamins and minerals such as magnesium and potassium.

He told me that his medication, lipitor, had lowered his total cholesterol to under 200. "My dad died young from heart disease," he told me, "and I sure am glad I know what to do to prevent the same thing from happening to me." I did my best to listen politely. Mark wasn't my patient, after all, and he seemed so happy and secure with the advice his doctor had given him. I didn't want to rock his boat. "Are you working out, too?" I asked him, noting to myself that he was not looking very fit or toned. "That part's been harder," he replied.

I explained that it's a nutrient required by every cell of the body to transform carbohydrate and fat into energy, in the many "energy-producing factories" called mitochondria; and that the same mechanism lipitor employs to lower cholesterol also lowers production of CoQ10. 57 He was actually grateful for the information, and wondered why his doctor hadn't recommended that he take CoQ10 along with the drug. "I'm constantly amazed at how little attention most physicians pay to their patients' nutrient status," I told him, "and it's affected by the drugs they prescribe.

In fact, lipitor (generic name atorvastatin) is the top-selling drug on the planet, a $20 billion industry. They've been heralded as "miracle drugs" that reduce cholesterol counts and battle inflammation. Less frequently used drugs for high cholesterol include the bile acid sequestrants and fibrates. BILE ACID SEQUESTRANTS: cholestyramine (Questran), colesevelan (Welchol), and colestipol (Colestid) Bile acid sequestrants are sometimes used in combination with statins, and may be used alone in women who are pregnant or breastfeeding.

For example, a patient might simultaneously be put on lipitor for cholesterol lowering, prednisone for respiratory relief, and Motrin for pain. How many of the health problems that crop up in this patient are caused by drug side effects and interactions? We just don't know, since we have no long-term studies on this. What I have seen is that patients that have been on multiple drugs over long periods of time often show an overall deterioration in their health.

The Liver and Gallbladder Miracle Cleanse: An All-Natural, At-Home Flush to Purify and Rejuvenate Your Body Andreas Moritz See book keywords and concepts

My endocrinologist wanted to put me on a cholesterol-lowering drug called lipitor,1 which I steadfastly refused. "I subsequently visited with Andreas Moritz, where I learnt to adjust my diet and cleanse my liver. After completing two liver cleanses, my blood cholesterol levels dropped to 177 mg percent. My 65-year-old doctor couldn't believe the result. He has never seen such a rapid turnaround. He was intrigued and wanted to learn more about the liver cleanse. "In addition, my required dosage of Synthroid?for my hypothyroidism has been reduced from 0.175 to 0.

If you take lipitor? tell your doctor about any unusual muscle pain or weakness. This could be a sign of serious side effects. It is important to tell your doctor about any medications you are currently taking to avoid possible serious drug interactions..." According to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, entitled "Cholesterol and Mortality," after age 50 there is no increased overall death rate associated with high cholesterol. The same study showed that for every 1 mg/dl drop in cholesterol in your body, your risk of death soared by a whopping 14 percent.

Timeless Secrets of Health & Rejuvenation: Unleash The Natural Healing Power That Lies Dormant Within You Andreas Moritz See book keywords and concepts

Side effects from using lipitor include gas, stomach pain or cramps, diarrhea, constipation, heartburn, headache, blurred vision, dizziness, rash or itching, upset stomach, muscle pain, tenderness, muscle cramps or weakness with or without a fever. Anything that constantly interferes with the digestion of food can practically cause any type of illness, including, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, skin disorders, rheumatism, and so forth. The most commonly experienced side effects are muscle pain and weakness. Dr.

What If Medicine Disappeared? Gerald E. Markle and Frances B. McCrea See book keywords and concepts

In 2002, more than 56 million prescriptions were written for Lipitor; as a group, statins were the third most prescribed drug. What can we conclude about their effectiveness? First, they do treat the sign. Blood cholesterol, particularly "bad (LDL) cholesterol" is reduced. One might therefore expect statins to be effective in the primary prevention of heart disease. Unfortunately and counterintuitively, treating the sign has little impact on dying from the disease. Statins are not effective in primary prevention.

Timeless Secrets of Health & Rejuvenation: Unleash The Natural Healing Power That Lies Dormant Within You Andreas Moritz See book keywords and concepts

The statin drugs that doctors use to push cholesterol levels down are lipitor (atorvastatin), Zocor (simvastatin), Mevacor (lovastatin), and Pravachol (pravastatin). If you decide to follow your doctor's advice and take one of these drugs, make certain to read the list of side effects so that you know the risks you are taking. If you want to obtain objective and untainted information on cholesterol, agencies like the National Institutes of Health and the American College of Cardiology are certainly not the places from which to obtain it.

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