By Dr. John Briffa
The Cholesterol Truth
Excerpts:
While some doctors and researchers seem keen to downplay the potential hazards of statins, their use is linked with a range of unwanted effects including muscle weakness, muscle pain, liver damage and kidney damage. These are all well-recognised side-effects from this form of medication. However, there is also some […]
by Sayer Ji
GreenMedInfo.com
Newly published research reveals that more frequent statin drug use is associated with accelerated coronary artery and aortic artery calcification, both of which greatly contribute to cardiovascular and all-cause mortality.
Published Aug. 8th, 2012 in the journal Diabetes Care, researchers studied patients with type 2 diabetes and advanced atherosclerosis and found that coronary artery calcification […]
by Dr. John Briffa
The Cholesterol Truth
Excerpts:
Ezetimibe is a cholesterol-reducing drug. Unlike statins (which reduce cholesterol production in the liver), ezetimibe blocks the absorption of cholesterol from the gut. It’s generally very effective at reducing cholesterol levels. On this basis, the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) licensed ezetimibe for use in the treatment of raised cholesterol […]
By Dr. Mercola
Tens of millions of Americans are taking cholesterol-lowering drugs—mostly statins—and some “experts” claim that many millions more should be taking them. I couldn’t disagree more.
Statins are HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors, that is, they act by blocking the enzyme in your liver that is responsible for making cholesterol (HMG-CoA reductase).
The fact that statin drugs […]
By Dr. John Briffa
The Cholesterol Truth
Excerpts:
While the cholesterol theory of heart disease is overwhelmingly accepted by members of the medical and scientific communities, you’ll find dissenters too. Recently, the Journal of Lipid Nutrition published an account of a discussion held during a scientific meeting held in Japan last year, and it makes for interesting reading, […]
By Dr. John Briffa
The Cholesterol Truth
Excerpts:
The Cholesterol Treatment Trialists (CTT) is a UK-based collaboration of doctors and researchers who, on the whole, push for aggressive treatment of cholesterol to low levels. I don’t think it would misrepresent the CTT’s view to say that, as far as supposedly unhealthy ‘LDL-cholesterol’ levels are concerned, ‘the lower […]
By Sayer Ji
GreenMedInfo.com
New Research: Statins Increase Risk of Polymalgia Rheumatica 14-Fold
Few drugs are as toxic to the organ they are prescribed to “treat” as statins. There are already hundreds of studies indicating that statin drugs are muscle-damaging (myotoxic) and nerve-damaging (neurotoxic), and yet they are somehow still legally allowed to be sold to millions of […]
by Dr John Briffa
The Cholesterol Truth
Excerpts:
In many countries, adults are urged to have their cholesterol levels regularly checked, and then take appropriate action in the form of lifestyle changes and/or medication if their levels are found to be higher than set guidelines.
In recent times, recommendations regarding cholesterol screening have been extended to children too. […]
by Jingjing Liu, Alice Li and Stephanie Seneff
MIT Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
Abstract—In recent years, consumers have become empowered to share personal experiences regarding prescription drugs via Web page discussion groups. This paper describes our recent research involving automatically identifying adverse reactions from patient-provided drug reviews on health-related web sites. We focus on the […]
The brain comprises only 2% of the body's total weight, yet it contains nearly 25% of the total cholesterol in the body. Are years of USDA low fat dietary guidelines, along with billions of dollars sold in cholesterol-lowering statin drugs, a key factor in the epidemic of Alzheimer's disease we see today?
by Dr John Briffa
The Cholesterol Truth
Excerpts:
Since cholesterol is believed to cause ‘cardiovascular’ diseases such as heart disease and stroke, and since statins reduce cholesterol, the general assumption is that statins reduce the risk of these conditions through their ability to reduce cholesterol. Actually, there is evidence that statins may not work, when they do, through […]
by Dr. Mercola
A UK Daily Mail headline from May 2012 read: “Why EVERYONE over 50 needs to be taking statins.”iIf you find the notion that taking medications should be construed as something for everyone, like drinking water or breathing air, as appalling as I do, then you will probably be equally taken aback by […]
by Dr John Briffa
The Cholesterol Truth
Excerpts:
When drug company PR extols the virtues of statin drugs, statistics will invariably be presented which make clear their supposed power to reduce the risk of, say, heart disease or stroke. Typically, this will be in the form of what is known as ‘relative risk’ reduction. For example, it is […]
by Dr John Briffa
The Cholesterol Truth
Excerpts:
Cholesterol in the body is carried around the bloodstream in the form of what are called ‘lipoproteins’. The two main lipoproteins are so-called low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-cholesterol) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-cholesterol). Conventional wisdom tells us that HDL-C is a marker for cholesterol being cleared from the inside of […]
Harlan Krumholz, professor of medicine and cardiologist at the Yale University School of Medicine, says there is no scientific basis to support treating LDL targets.
by Dr. Mercola
One in four Americans aged 45 and older take statin drugs to lower cholesterol and supposedly “prevent heart disease.”
That amounts to 32 million Americans or, as Peter Wehrwein pointed out in the Harvard Health Letter, the equivalent of the entire populations of Florida and Illinois combined.i
If you’re one of these millions, or […]
A new study reveals that cholesterol-lowering drugs may be contributing to an epidemic of arthritis and autoimmunity in exposed populations, adding to a growing body of clinical evidence that they may cause over 300 adverse health effects.
by Sayer Ji
GreenMedInfo.com
With the blockbuster cholesterol-lowering class of drugs known as statins being widely promoted for the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease, despite their having over 300 documented adverse health effects (including heart failure!), how does chocolate sound as a viable, heart-friendly alternative?
We already connect amorously with chocolate (to the tune of 6 billion lbs of cocoa […]
by Alliance for Natural Health
LDL cholesterol is demonized, but we’ve told you the other side of the story. Now a new discovery adds to the growing list of health benefits.
There may be a link between low levels of “bad” low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol—that is, not enough of it—and increased cancer risk, according to new […]
Health Impact News Comments: While Dr. Peter Osborne does not even address the issue of whether or not it is desireable to lower one’s cholesterol, and the dangers of doing so, he does an excellent job illustrating just how worthless statin drugs are in doing what they are prescribed to do, which is to […]
