What You May Not Know About Statin Drugs

Compiled by Dr. Michael B. Ackermanman

Although Statin Drugs may achieve a 30-50% decrease in your LDL cholesterol, please thoroughly consult with your medical doctor about alternatives to them.

Statin Drugs have many side effects you may not be aware of:

While these drugs lower the risk of heart disease, Statin drug users don’t have an overall lower mortality rate! Instead of dying from heart disease, death rates increase from other causes and drug-induced side effects, for example…

Cancer – rates increase since Statin drugs lower the production of a compound called NFicB in white blood cells, which would otherwise act to fight cancers.

Vitamin D - levels are lowered when cholesterol production is lowered by Statin Drugs
Thus you need an extra 1000 IU Vit D per day, or about 2-3000 IU total daily supplementation of Vitamin D3, if you are on Statin Drugs…
Without supplements, Vit D deficiency is associated with an increased risk of…
- 22 types of cancer including breast, colon, and prostate
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Hypertension
- Rhuematiod Arthritis
- Type I Diabetes
- Chronic Pain Syndromes (90 percent of people with chronic non-specific pain have Vitamin D deficiency)

Coenzyme Q10 - production is lowered when taking Statin Drugs
Thus you need to supplement an additional 500-600 mg CoQ10 per day.
Due to this Co Q10 production deficiency…
- Statin drugs destroy connective tissue
- Statin users have a 14X greater likelihood of peripheral neuropathy “pinched nerves” throughout their bodies
- 2 years on Statin drugs increase the likelihood of a peripheral neuropathy by about 26X !
Note: If you take Coenzyme Q10 supplements while on diabetes medication, you may suffer to great a blood sugar lowering effect. Consult your doctor or pharmacist first!

Transient Global Amnesia - is another side effect of taking Statin Drug

Multiple Sclerosis - Statin Drugs are linked with an increased likelihood of M.S.

A large study funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (a part of the National Institute of Health) which looked at sleep patterns of people who took the statin drug Zocor or Simvastatin found they had significantly worse sleep quality compared with people who took Pravachol or pravastatin, another non-Statin type of cholesterol-lowering drug. "The findings are significant because sleep problems can affect the quality of life and may have adverse health consequences, such as promoting weight gain and insulin resistance," said Dr. Beatrice Golomb, of the University of California at San Diego School of Medicine.

Statin Drugs - A Poor Choice for an "Anti-inflamatory"

Strangely, Statin drugs work to help fight heart disease more as a result of their property of lowering inflammation in the body, versus their other property of lowering cholesterol in the body! While they lower bad cholesterol “LDL’s”, they don’t raise good cholesterol “HDL” levels, which doesn’t create an ideal health picture. So if a person wishes to achieve the same inflammation lowering effect as Statin drugs while greatly affecting their cholesterol and HDL levels, the following supplements (especially combined with diet and exercise), can be better alternatives without all the dangerous side effects discussed above…

Omega 3 fatty acids* - found in fish oils. They are 44% better at reducing overall mortality compared with Statin drugs. A supplement should contain up to 2700 mg of EPA and 1200 mg of DHA total per day.

“Ruby Red” Grapefruit - research has shown than eating one per day gives you nearly the equivalent cholesterol lowering effect that Statin drugs have.


(SOURCES: Gorinstein, S. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, Feb. 3, 2006; online edition. News release, American Chemical Society.)


Psyllium husk fiber - (10 gm/day) and/or Ground Flax seed (50 gm/day)

Phytosterol and Stanol Esters - have been shown to significantly reduce total cholesterol with up to a 9-14% reduction in LDL cholesterol. They help to reduce absorption of cholesterol in your intestines and must be taken with meals.

Good formulas containing Phytosterols, which are best taken in ‘gel cap’ form are:

(1) Puritan’s Pride Phytosterol Complex
(2) Twin Lab Cholesterol Success
(3) Natrol Cholesterol Balance
(4) Vitamin Shoppe Advanced Cholesterol Formula

Eliminate excess Cholesterol, Saturated Fats, and Partially Hydrogenated Oils (containing Trans fat) from your diet…

Most people could achieve a cholesterol level of 150-180 by just adopting a low fat diet with a daily ingestion of no more than…

7-15 grams (65-135 calories) of saturated fat and
150-200 mg of cholesterol

Although saturated fat is the main dietary culprit that raises LDL, trans fat and cholesterol eaten in your diet also contribute significantly. Trans fat can often be found in processed foods made with partially hydrogenated vegetable oils such as vegetable shortenings, some margarines especially margarines that are harder), crackers, candies, cookies, snack foods, fried foods, and baked goods. Read labels which now are required to list the types of fat content in foods.

Cardiovascular Exercise

25 to 40 minutes, 3x per week, at least at 75% of your maximum heart rate level, i.e., (220-Your Age) X .75 = target heart rate. This frequency and intensity has been shown to increase HDLs and lower LDLs. If you are out of shape, start training at a lower heart rate level, for less time, and gradually build up to a 75% max heart rate level. A good rule of thumb is never exercise at a sustained level which has you breathing so hard that you cannot carry on a normal conversation.
Statin Drugs (Page 3)

Consider this Recent Article Reviewing Studies Which Have Been Done On Statin Drugs

In a revealing article, “The Case for Statins: Has it Really Been Made?” Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, October 2004; Volume 97, Number 10, pp. 461-464, the authors state:

The ‘positive’ outcomes of statin research studies “have been magnified by the manner of presentation of results...” For example, in a study where 100 patients take statin drugs, 2 will have a fatal heart attack. In 100 patients taking a placebo, 3 will have a fatal heart attack. The absolute risk reduction of a heart attack is clearly 1 percent. Yet the drug company spins the pathetic results by dividing 2/3 and publishing the relative risk, which is a 33 percent reduction of a fatal heart attack. This is dishonest. These authors claim an honest disclosure would be to state “if you take statins then, in seven years time, there is a one chance in about 120 that your death will have been prevented.”

** Be Sure to Never Discontinue Prescription Drugs Without the Advice of your Medical Doctor !