Thomson Healthcare, Inc.
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 The authors say these findings strongly suggest berberine has promise as a new hypolipidemic drug, either alone or in combination with statins (Kong, 2004).
Diarrhea
In one study, patients with traveler's diarrhea randomly received berberine sulfate 400 mg in a single dose or served as controls. In treated patients, the mean stool volumes were significantly less than those of controls during 3 consecutive 8-hour periods after treatment. At 24 hours after treatment, significantly more treated patients stopped having diarrhea as compared to controls (42% versus 20%) (Rabbani et al, 1987). |
Dr. Abram Hoffer, MD, FRCP (C) and Dr. Harold D. Foster, PhD
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 More recently, Dr Graveline has reported that statins cause transient global amnesia.13
Mitigating Tobacco Use
The use of tobacco is very stressful to the heart. Niacin can mitigate some of its harmful effects, for example, by decreasing the elevation of free fatty acids caused by smoking. In one experiment, free fatty acids rose by 30% in the 30 minutes after the subject had smoked two cigarettes. Injections of nicotine also increased dogs' cholesterol levels by 34% and decreased the flow of blood in the coronary vessels. |
| A side effect of "statins" treatment. Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients 2004 Aug/Sept;253/254:85-89.
J4 McCracken RD. Niacin and Human Health Disorders. Fort Collins, Colorado: Hygea Publishing Co., 1994.
15 Yang J, Klaidman LK, Adams ID. Medicinal chemistry of nicotinamide in the treatment of ischemia and reperfusion. Mini Reviews in Medicinal Chemistry 2002;2:125-34.
16 Yang J, Adams JD. Nicotinamide and its pharmacological properties for clinical therapy. Drug Design Reviews 2004;1:43-52.
*7 Levenson CW. Zinc Supplementation: Neuroprotective or neurotoxic? |
Bottom Line Health
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| Yes, there is good evidence that statins are beneficial for people who already have heart disease and for at least some people who have diabetes. A good case can also be made for men who are at very high risk of heart disease (LDL, or "bad," cholesterol approaching 200 in addition to other risk factors).
•What other drugs do you think are being prescribed because of drug company influence? Antihypertensives—drugs used to treat high blood pressure—are good examples. |
| Patients who are taking high doses of statins can see their LDL cholesterol drop from more than 200 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) past a target goal of 70 to 80 mg/dL to as low as 40 mg/dL. Whether such low cholesterol levels are safe has been the subject of debate.
"We looked at patients who got to ultra-low [LDL] cholesterol levels, and wanted to make sure that was safe," says study coauthor Dr. Christopher P. Cannon, a cardiologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. |
| IMPLICATIONS
The introduction of statins in 1987 brought with it the hope that atherosclerosis could one day be reversed. That hope, however, has been elusive.
LDLs were reduced to 79 in previous studies. "We thought that was fantastic," Nissen says. "But all we got was no [disease] progression. Now, we can say that if you can get your patients to these very low levels of LDL with an intense statin regimen, particularly if it's accompanied by a major increase in HDL, then you are capable of partially reversing the disease," he says. |
Connie Bennett, C.H.H.C. with Stephen T. Sinatra, M.D.
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 My grievance is when we aggressively treat high cholesterol numbers and not patients, and when we overprescribe these drugs for healthy people, especially women. statins should be prescribed and chosen with great care and scrutiny. They may have many side effects, including changes in liver function; muscle pain or weakness; memory problems; depression; shortness of breath; and, on rare occasions, even death. |
Michael Friedman, ND
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 For example, red yeast contains numerous different types of statins and antioxidants and flavanoids.
It is also estimated that up to 2% of all patients receiving statin therapy will develop elevated liver enzymes (hepatic transaminases), a blood marker of hepatotoxicity. This may progress to liver failure. Patients taking statins should therefore have their liver enzymes checked every 3 to 6 months. |
Tori Hudson, N.D.
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 Other studies of pre- and postmenopausal women found that soy is beneficial for improving lipid parameters,107'108 with even more favorable effects in type 2 diabetic women with hyperlipidemia,109 decreasing lipid peroxidation better than estrogen,110 improving platelet function,111 decreasing homocysteine,112 and working synergistically with statins to achieve favorable cholesterol levels.113 New research states consuming 25 grams of soy protein (containing 50 mg of isoflavonoids) daily for five weeks may decrease systolic blood pressure by nearly 6 percent. |
Andreas Moritz
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 In other words, taking statins can easily kill you.
My question is this: Why risk a patient's health or life by giving him or her a drug that has no effect whatsoever in preventing the problem for which it is being prescribed? The reason why the lowering of cholesterol levels cannot prevent heart disease is that cholesterol does not cause heart disease. In a recent heart disease study,7 lowering cholesterol levels was no longer part of the recommendations—but try to tell that to statin-prescribing doctors or drug makers! |
Melody Petersen
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 Aspinall explained that 30 to 70 percent of patients get no benefit from taking statins, which are designed to reduce cholesterol. As many as 50 percent of patients, she said, are not helped by antidepressants.
Often it is the most heavily marketed drugs that perform the worst.
For example, researchers have struggled to see any improvement at all in patients with Alzheimer's disease who take drugs like Aricept, which was promoted in 2005 with an ad showing a healthy grandmother playing and laughing with her grandchild. The ad's tagline: "Helping people be more like themselves longer. |
| In serious cases, the condition can cause paralysis and death as the kidneys shut down. All statins had been found to cause rhabdomyolysis in rare cases. But some Bayer executives began to worry that the risk for patients taking Baycol was higher than for those taking the other drugs.
The company's drug safety office was soon deluged with injury reports. On December 30, 1999, employees wrote that they had received sixty reports of patients hit by rhabdomyolysis in the United States in the last two months. |
| 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. Clues to its distinction began to appear almost as soon as Bayer began selling it. |
Hyla Cass, M.D.
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 THE CARDIOVASCULAR HEALTH SUPPLEMENT PROGRAM
The recommendations in the multivitamin/mineral program in Chapter 2 are likely to cover you on many of these fronts if you take statins or antihypertensive drugs. You may need to add more of some nutrients to match the dosages listed here for replenishing depletions and improving overall cardiovascular health. |
Jack Challem
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 Follow-up tests may be especially important if you have been taking metformin (Glucophage) to lower your blood-sugar levels or any drug (such as statins) to lower blood fats. With reductions in blood sugar and blood fats, you may need less of these medications, or your doctor may be able to wean you from them.
The tests we recommend at this point include
• Fasting glucose
• Fasting insulin
• Triglycerides
• High-sensitivity C-reactive protein
We haven't included the HbAlc test because it provides a composite of blood-sugar levels over the previous six to eight weeks. |
Hyla Cass
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| As I explained to Mark, any person on statins who experiences significant new muscle pain, weakness, or tenderness should let his or her doctor know, as it may be a sign of muscle damage. Continuing to take the drug in spite of muscle damage can lead to rhabdomyolysis, a potentially fatal condition. If you have myopathy taking CoQ10 is essential whether or not you continue on the drug. Myopathy is an obvious sign of CoQ10 depletion.
The good news is that CoQ10 is easy to supplement. |
| There is no relationship between blood cholesterol and heart disease risk in women over fifty or in men over seventy. statins given to these individuals are not only wasted, but expose them to risk of side effects that isn't outweighed by benefit to their hearts.
?A survey of South Carolina adults found no correlation of blood cholesterol levels with "bad" dietary habits, such as use of red meat, animal fats, fried foods, butter, eggs, whole milk, bacon, sausage, and cheese. Does that sound like heresy, or what?
? |
Mehmet C. Oz., M.D. and Michael F. Roizen, M.D.
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 And medicine can help too. statins work by decreasing the inflammation in the plaque, which slows the progression of the clogging process and reduces sudden ruptures that can lead to clot formation and sudden closure of arteries.
Ultimately, though, many of our recommendations are aimed at adding to your firefighting unit so it stays fresh and is able to quench the small fires and occasional meltdowns that occur within your arteries.
FACT01P
When you're over sixty-five, HDL is more important than LDL. |
Hyla Cass
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| FlBRATES: bezafibrate (Bezalip), ciprofibrate (Modalim), clofibrate (Atromid-S), fenofibrate (TriCor), and gemfibrozil (Lopid)
These drugs work well to lower triglycerides and "bad" LDL and raise "good" HDL (high-density lipoproteins); they may be used with statins in diabetics because fibrates help to reduce insulin resistance.
Actions: These drugs work through a mechanism similar to those of some blood sugar-lowering (hypoglycemic) drugs. |
Gerald E. Markle and Frances B. McCrea
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 TWO MORALITY TALES
Problems notwithstanding, ACE inhibitors, and especially statins, have saved lives. Our readers, having gotten this far in this book, surely welcomed the generally good news. And rightly so. Nonetheless, our task is to investigate (and, as we said in chapter 1, to debunk), not to feel good. With that in mind, we turn our attention to two cases since the turn of the millennium. |
Melody Petersen
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| AstraZeneca was developing a new cholesterol-lowering medicine, which would be the seventh entry in the class of drugs called statins. Executives at GlaxoSmithKline were talking about the company's new asthma drug called Advair, which was nothing more than a combination of two of the company's older medicines. The drugs had a new name and a fresh marketing campaign, but patients still had the same two drugs.
Then there were the companies that tried to extend their rich monopolies by introducing what they said were new and improved versions of products that had become wildly successful. |
Brenda Watson and Leonard Smith
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 Moreover, there are hidden risks to statins that don't get publicized nearly as much as their touted benefits. For example, in August 2003, the FDA approved a statin drug called Crestor (rosuvastatin calcium). But because high amounts of it can cause muscle destruction that may lead to kidney damage (and failure), it can be prescribed only in small doses and requires doctors to monitor a patient's muscle enzymes and kidney and liver functions every three months. (For more about toxins and pharmaceutical drugs, see Appendix C. |
Hyla Cass
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| Dose: If you take statins, take 100-300 mg per day of this nutrient. Use a version that's packaged with oil and vitamin E to ensure the best possible absorption, or use along with a multi that contains vitamin E. For best results, take your CoQ10 with a food containing fat, such as vegetables in butter, scrambled eggs, nuts, or nut butter.
NUTRIENTS TO LOWER CHOLESTEROL
By now, I hope you understand why the cholesterol-lowering issue is less important than addressing the underlying inflammation. |
Andreas Moritz
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| If your doctor has told you that lowering your cholesterol with statins will protect you against heart attacks, you have been grossly misled. The number-one prescribed cholesterol-lowering medicine is Lipitor. I suggest that you read the following warning statement, issued on the official Lipitor website:
"LIPITOR?(atorvastatin calcium) is a prescription drug used with diet to lower cholesterol. LIPITOR?is not for everyone, including those with liver disease or possible liver problems, and women who are nursing, pregnant, or may become pregnant. LIPITOR? |
Peter J. Whitehouse and Daniel George
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 Several human trials are under way but have not so far demonstrated a consistent positive effect. statins can, however, cause serious muscle damage.
There are scores of medical stories in all forms of media that indicate a breakthrough is right around the corner. The overexaggerated promises made in headlines and on the evening news may be grandiose and comforting, but we must read with caution and learn to analyze these promises by sifting out the pertinent information from the pabulum. |
Stephen T. Sinatra, M.D.
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 It is extremely important that physicians be aware of the potential for statins to adversely affect coenzyme Qio levels. This effect certainly has major implications for patients with cardiac disease, and is especially true for patients with congestive heart failure or an overactive thyroid gland. These patients must be given supplemental doses of coenzyme Qi0 to offset the depleting effects of these cholesterol-lowering agents. |
| Cholesterol-lowering drugs such as statins can cause such a profound metabolic shift, resulting in muscle discomfort in susceptible individuals.
These genetic conditions are difficult to diagnose and are frequently left untreated by physicians who cannot pin down the cause of muscle soreness and long-lasting fatigue in their patients. Several studies have shown that high-dose ribose therapy is effective in reducing symptoms and improving the exercise tolerance and quality of life of afflicted patients. |
| In anyone taking statins, I prescribe coenzyme Q10, L-carnitine, and now D-ribose just in case a hidden genetic anomaly exists.
Finally, I want to report the benefit of ribose therapy in a genetic disorder called adenylosuccinase deficiency. This condition is rare and seldom seen in clinical practice, but its symptoms are so severe they warrant mention. Adenylosuccinase deficiency is an inherited disease that does not allow the body to make certain enzymes needed for energy metabolism, promoting the buildup of toxic intermediates in the cell. |
Mark Sircus
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 Sindrup European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology Volume 54, Number 11 ;835 - 838 January 1999
63 The Peripheral Neuropathy Caused by statins Petition to Pharmaceutical Researchers and Manufacturers of America and companies listed was created by Druglntel Statin Users with Neuropathy and written by John Lehmann. "We users of statin drugs have experienced some of the symptoms listed below [1] that characterize peripheral neuropathy (damage to nerves outside the brain). |
| American Academy of Neurology statins and risk of polyneuropathy.
65 Participants receive injections of the toxin in six places in the calf muscle and then the leg is put into a cast. The idea is that this will help prevent pressure on the ball of the foot during walking. The ball if the foot is the area most affected by foot ulcers and allowing an ulcer to heal completely helps prevent recurrence, (www.diabetes-and-diabetics.com/about-diabetes/diabetic-complications-02.php)
66 Botulinum toxin has been a concern as a potential biological warfare agent since World War II. |
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