GSE
Serious side-effects of statin drugs
Serious side-effects of statin drugs
Statin drugs (E.g. Lipitor®and Zocor®)
work by arbitrarily inhibiting the enzyme HMG-CoA
reductase
HMG-CoA reductase is necessary to
manufacture cholesterol in the liver. The liver produces about 75%
of the body's cholesterol.
Many body functions need cholesterol to function properly
• Cholesterol provides
cell membrane integrity. An essential component of
cell membranes (especially protective of nerve cells) ;
• Cholesterol
is a precursor for vitamin D, stress and sex hormones
• Cholesterol is required
for fat metabolism (being the raw material for making bile salts);
• Cholesterol is needed
by brain serotonin receptors for emotional stability. Its
deficiency is linked to depression, higher suicide risk and aggressive emotions
/actions.
• With a cholesterol
level in the blood of < 150 mg/dL your body is going to run short of supply. A
more optimum blood cholesterol level is ~200 mg/dL.
For more information on the many reasons for having sufficient
cholesterol, see -
Cholesterol - "Our Hero"
Statins quench the "spark" needed for cellular energy
production
CoQ10 is the "spark" that your cell mitochondria
need to produce ATP energy
molecules (the body's energy "currency")
from your food and is also
a major antioxidant in the body .
Statins block the body's production of CoQ10.
The inhibited enzyme HMG-CoA reductase is used to manufacture
coenzyme Q10.
Passi S et al, Statins lower plasma and lymphocyte ubiquinol/ubiquinone
without affecting other antioxidants and PUFA, 2003
CoQ10 - Spark and Dampener
Impaired mitochondrial function thus not only causes the body to produce less
energy, but because CoQ10 is an antioxidant ,
it also increases levels of damaging free radicals
in the mitochondria. The higher the statin dose and the longer duration of usage,
the greater the effects on mitochondria.
Evidence links statin use with:
Muscle pain/damage.
The most common statin side effect is muscle pain felt as soreness, tiredness
or weakness in your muscles; Various researchers estimate that ~1-8% of statin users
will experience muscle pain and weakness as a side effect.
- Peripheral
neuropathies (muscle damage outside the CNS
(spinal chord and brain)). Symptoms include muscle weakness, numbness,
tingling, pricking sensations, burning pain (especially at night) and/or sensitivity
to touch. Left undiagnosed, neuropathy can lead to deterioration of the muscles
and paralysis. This can affect throat muscles for swallowing, chest muscles for
breathing, and let's not forget that the heart is a muscle. A famous Danish study
of neuropathy as a side effect to statin use concluded that a long-term user of
statin drugs has a 4 -14 times greater risk of developing neuropathy than a person
who does not take statin drugs.
"Converging evidence supports a mitochondrial foundation for muscle AEs
(adverse effects ) associated with statins, and both theoretical
and empirical considerations suggest that mitochondrial dysfunction may also
underlie many non-muscle statin AEs
Evidence from RCTs (randomized controlled studies) and studies
of other designs indicates existence of additional statin-associated AEs,
such as cognitive loss, neuropathy, pancreatic and hepatic dysfunction, and sexual
dysfunction
American Journal of Cardiovascular Drugs, 2009
- Rhabdomolysis.
Rarely, statins can cause this life-threatening muscle damage (~ 1 case per
15 million prescriptions), which can cause liver damage, kidney failure and death.
When muscle fibers break down, the body must eliminate the excess waste products.
The waste products then overload the kidneys; apart from muscle pain, the other
major symptom of rhabdomyolysis is dark, red, or cola colored urine;
Liver damage.
Statins
can cause your liver to increase its enzyme production; if the increase is significant
and left to continue, this could lead to permanent liver damage. Concurrent use
of other certain other cholesterol-lowering drugs, such as niacin, increase the
risk of liver problems;In May 2000, the FDA warned about liver failure with regard
to statin drugs;
Tiredness.
In mice
experiments, administering statins lowered their ATP levels, and impaired energy
metabolism;
Statins can negate exercising benefits.
in a 2013 Duke University medical center study Simvastatin attenuates
increases in cardiorespiratory fitness and skeletal muscle mitochondrial content
(higher content can beneficially increase cellular energy production) when combined
with exercise training in overweight or obese patients at risk of metabolic syndrome.
37 overweight and sedentary participants (who had not exercised regularly
for 12 months) with at least 2 metabolic syndrome symptoms such as high BP, excess
abdominal fat and also somewhat elevated cholesterol levels were divided into two
groups (a) Given 40 mg/day of simvastin (Zocor) or (b) Received no medication.
After 12 weeks of being supervised doing 45 minutes/day walking or jogging
on a treadmill 5 days/week (and being instructed not to change their diet), the
results were almost unbelievable:
Cardiorespiratory (aerobic) Fitness
(average % change)
Skeletal muscle Mitochondrial content and enzyme activity
(average % change)
Unmedicated participants
Improved > 10%
13%
Participants taking Zocor 40mg/day
1.5% Some
had reduced aerobic fitness - 4.5%
"Low aerobic fitness is one of the best predictors
of premature death. And if statins prevent people from raising their fitness through
exercise, then that is a concern."
- John P. Thyfault, senior author of
study
Mikus CR ,
Boyle LJ ,
Borengasser SJ ,
Oberlin DJ ,
Naples SP ,
Fletcher J ,
Meers GM ,
Ruebel M ,
Laughlin MH ,
Dellsperger KC ,
Fadel PJ ,
Thyfault JP . Simvastatin impairs exercise training adaptations.
J Am Coll Cardiol. 2013 Apr 10. pii: S0735-1097(13)01403-4. doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2013.02.074.
[Epub ahead of print] PubMed
Memory impairment, ALS, some psychiatric disturbances.
Cognitive problems and memory loss are widely reported.
Potential Effect of Statin Drugs on Pilot Performance ;
Sexual dysfunction
Cancer.
Risk of cancer
is significantly associated with lower achieved LDL-C levels, which low levels may
in part offset any cardiovascular benefits.
Journal
of the American College of Cardiology July 31, 2007; 50:409-418
If you insist on using statin drugs, you need to supplement
CoQ10
CoQ10 - Spark and Dampener
Statin Producers Know that Statins Deplete CoQ10, but
keep it hushed
Two U.S. patents describe a method for counteracting
statin-associated myopathy and potential liver damage by concurrent administration
of the statins with CoQ10. Although U.S. package inserts
and marketing material do not mention the statins-CoQ10 link; both of these patents
were assigned to Merck & Co. (manufacturer of Zocor). However, for 20
years, the producers of statin drugs have not acted upon this information and have
failed to reveal the statin-CoQ10 connection to millions of statin users and to
the medical community.
- Merck®patent
prevents addition of CoQ10 to statin drugs. Since 1989, Merck
has held
US Patent No. 4,933,165 for the addition of CoQ10 to its anti-cholesterol
drugs lovastatin (Mevacor), simvastatin (Zocor) and pravastatin, in order to counteract
the side effects resulting from a dramatic CoQ10 deficiency in the human body. However,
to date, Merck has not used this patent, which also prevents other companies from
doing so.
- Another
unused Merck®patent is blocking the use of CoQ10 for the purpose of counteracting
liver damage.
US
Patent No. 4,929,437 .
Canadian magazine advertisements for statins carry
warnings of their effect on CoQ10
(ubiquinone) and Lp(a):
