Editor’s Note: This article is a product of the author’s research and is not necessarily a reflection of Meridian’s editorial stance. We understand that the use of statins is often standard procedure in medical care. Dr. Gardner always advises that you check with your own doctor in the decisions that you make concerning the care of your body.
Before starting this article on Cholesterol, I need to answer all of you who have written about the upcoming Ease on Down Weight Balance program. We have had some challenges with the Internet gateway, but they are nearly solved. So you can participate shortly. If you’d like to take the survey or get on the list to be notified when it’s available, please click here.
Take the following true-false test and see how you do. (The “correct” answers depend on if you follow the scientific studies or the present conventional medical philosophy.)
1) I will be healthier and live longer if my total cholesterol level is low, especially less than 200.
2) Lower cholesterol levels decrease my risk of heart disease.
3) Lower cholesterol levels increase my life span.
4) Statin medications (Lipitor, Zocor, Mevacor, Crestor, Pravachol, …) reduce cholesterol levels.
5) Statins decrease my risk of heart disease and risk of heart attack.
6) Statins increase my life span.
7) Statins are anti-oxidants.
8) Statins decrease my risk of stroke.
9) Statins interfere with production of CoEnzyme Q10, the major energy producing molecule in the body.
10) Side effects to statins are minimal, and certainly are outweighed by their benefits.
Answers:
1) False
2) False
3) False
4) True
5) False
6) False
7) True
8) False
9) True
10) False
Let’s talk about each of these concepts, but first we need to understand why we need cholesterol in our bodies.
1. Cholesterol makes all of our major hormones, including progesterone, estradiol, testosterone, cortisol (our personal steroid), and aldosterone (that regulates salt and water in our bodies).
2. Vitamin D (which should be classified a hormone) is made directly from cholesterol as the UV rays from the sun hit the skin and initiate that conversion.
3. Cholesterol is one of the most plentiful and important anti-oxidants in the body. It is in all cell membranes (all 30 trillion of them), protecting each cell membrane from the constant barrage of free radicals in the body.
4. Cholesterol is a precursor for bile, which assists in the breakdown of fat in the intestinal tract.
5. Cholesterol, along with omega 6 oils, protect the skin from becoming dry.
Let’s look at each of these questions and explore the science behind them.
Question #1- I will be healthier and live longer if my total cholesterol level is low, especially less than 200. False.
Question #2- Lower cholesterol levels decrease my risk of heart disease. False
Question #3- Lower cholesterol levels increase my life span. False
U Ravnskov printed a landmark article in the British Medical Journal in July of 1992, which looked at the science behind this issue of cholesterol, lowering cholesterol levels, and their effect on heart disease and longevity. He reviewed the finest 22 studies from around the world, documented the science behind them and drawbacks noted, and came to the following conclusion: Lowering serum cholesterol concentrations does not reduce mortality and is unlikely to prevent coronary heart disease. Claims of the opposite are based on preferential citation of supportive trials. His book, The Cholesterol Myth, reviews in greater depth this whole concept, and is easy reading for the lay and professional alike.
Joel M. Kauffman, Ph.D. reviewed this issue in his book Malignant Medical Myths. He examined relative risk of death with treatment, absolute risk of death with treatment, number of patients needed to treat for 1 year to prevent 1 death (or as shown in many studies, the number of patients needed to treat for 1 year to cause 1 death), and could find minimal to no overall improvement in death rate for treated individuals. And this is with the studies that have been released, while we know that many of the worst studies will never be printed. Kauffman found that the cholesterol level at which people live the longest is 272.
The much-touted Framingham study, after 30 years of follow-up, showed that those individuals whose cholesterol levels increased during that period of time had the longest life, and those people whose cholesterol had decreased had the greatest risk of dying. “For each 1% drop of cholesterol there was an 11% increase in coronary and total mortality.
” (Anderson et al., 1987)
If an examination is made of heart attack victims, it will be found that 1/2 have cholesterol levels above 200 and the other 1/2 have levels below 200, again establishing no relationship of cholesterol levels to heart disease.
Question #4- Statin medications (Lipitor, Zocor, Mevacor, Crestor, Pravachol, …) reduce cholesterol levels. True.
I find there is about a 40 point drop in cholesterol levels with the use of statins. Unfortunately, based on the above science, there is no reason to have lower cholesterol levels; in fact, it will be harmful to your body. Your body predetermines the cholesterol level you should maintain. I’m not sure anybody knows how or exactly why your body decides its ideal level. If you eat more cholesterol, your body will make less cholesterol to maintain that level. Usually, only about 15% of the serum cholesterol concentration comes from the diet; 85% is manufactured in the liver. When physicians decide to interfere with the physiology of the body, it is important to establish clear benefit that cannot be gained by safer means.
Question #5- Statins decrease my risk of heart disease and risk of heart attack. False. Well, maybe true.
There is no decrease in fatal heart attacks, but there is a small decrease in non-fatal heart attacks. But the statistics show this decrease is less than the reduction seen with aspirin. And if there is a reduction in heart mortality from statins, but no reduction in overall mortality, then a natural conclusion is that statins must be killing people in some other way.
Question #6- Statins increase my life span. False.
Everybody agrees that statins will not prolong your life, including the pharmaceutical companies.
Question #7- Statins are anti-oxidants. True.
If statins decrease heart disease, it is because of its anti-oxidant properties (albeit an expensive anti-oxidant) and not because of its cholesterol-lowering properties. This is a little known fact about statins.
Question #8- Statins decrease my risk of stroke. False.
The reduction of stroke risk in the ALLHAT trial and the ASCOT trial was so small as to make it negligible. Again, knowing that negative data is suppressed and not in print makes it questionable whether barely significant data is truly significant. In fact, much of the data on women and statins shows an increased death rate, but nobody releases that information, focusing only on data from men, but prescribing for women just the same.
Question #9- Statins interfere with production of CoEnzyme Q10, the major energy producing molecule in the body. True.
Statins are an HMG-reductase inhibitor, which means it interferes with that enzyme, so the body does not product cholesterol. Unfortunately, the production of CoQ10 is also reduced, because it is downstream to this enzyme. CoQ10 is the major step in a 9-step process to form ATP, our body’s major energy source.
This is never mentioned in the statin literature, although the pharmaceutical industry is well aware of this fact. In fact, the first statin was submitted to the FDA with an option to include CoQ10 with the statin.
Because muscles require the most energy, they are often the first organ to feel the effects of the energy drop. This may result in muscle pain, aches, and stiffness. As it progresses, the muscle protein may actually start breaking down, releasing the muscle protein into the bloodstream for removal by the kidneys. If the kidneys get overwhelmed with the amount of this protein, they may go into kidney failure. This was the cause of the deaths for which Baycol was removed from the market in 2001.
Many of my patients complain of tiredness and weakness after being placed on statins. Unfortunately, because it takes time for the effects of statins to be evident, it is difficult to make the connection to statins, and they attribute it to getting older.
Question #10- Side effects to statins are minimal, and certainly are outweighed by their benefits. False.
In the CARE trial, the risk of breast cancer in women in the placebo group was 0.3%, while the risk in the provastatin group was 4.5%. No benefit here.
I’ve already mentioned muscle breakdown. Cerivastatin was removed from the US market after 772 cases of rhabdomyolysis (muscle breakdown) were seen over a 3 year period, resulting in 72 deaths.
Neuropathy has been reported in the British Medical Journal in 2001 by Elias Ragi, MD. In the elderly, 80% of his patients present with loss of coordination, documented by nerve conduction studies. Denmark reported a number of cases of polyneuropathy, more frequently occurring in patients taking statins for more than 2 years.
What will happen with 20 years of statin use?
Congestive heart failure (does the heart really need ATP?), chronic fatigue, confusion and vertigo have all been well documented.
Cholesterol has been given a bad name because of its role in vascular disease. (Or does it have a significant role in vascular disease? That is another topic—stay tuned.)
We have reviewed the science behind the cholesterol. I hope you find cholesterol to be the Hero that I do. Our bodies are incredible creations, designed to heal themselves when fed properly and placed in a healing environment, and the less we interfere with their natural healing properties, the healthier we may be.