Volume 3 Issue 1
Spring 2008 Statin Drugs & Cholesterol
Recently the popular media has had articles about the “statin” drugs used to lower cholesterol. These articles are questioning whether these medications are actually beneficial to people who take them. The evidence that a higher cholesterol level by itself directly causes heart attacks has never been well proven. There is an association between higher cholesterol and heart attacks but that does not prove causation.
The clinical trials that used statin drugs show that risk of heart attack is lowered in men below the age of 70 who have had prior heart attacks and in diabetics. The evidence is poor that people who have no history of heart attacks or diabetes will benefit from these expensive and dangerous drugs.
The statin drugs have a very high dropout rate (about 40%) in the first year of use due to frequent side effects of muscle pain and soreness. In addition, many people notice problems with poor memory on the drugs. Another infrequent complication is severe and rapid destruction of muscle tissue leading to acute kidney failure (rhabomyolysis). Finally, liver inflammation occurs fairly often and requires close monitoring of liver enzymes to prevent complications.
The most damning evidence against using statin drugs is that most studies have shown no reduction in overall mortality (death rate). Although heart attacks and cardiac deaths decline with statin use, the rates of other types of death increase to offset this lowering. The earlier studies showed increases in homicide and suicide in people who took statin drugs. Ongoing studies are looking to see if rates of cancer and cancer deaths are increased if using statin drugs. The evidence is inconclusive so far. In conclusion, I advise use of these drugs only in people who have been shown to derive actual benefit.
Controlling other risk factors (no smoking, normalizing blood pressure, regular exercise, attaining normal weight, eating a healthy diet, lowering stress levels) will have a much more positive benefit on heart and overall health.
Vitamin B-12 is an essential vitamin that is very commonly deficient, especially in vegans and the elderly. A vegan diet is deficient in B-12 since only animal foods contain B-12. Most vegans are aware of this and take supplemental B-12. The older person is likely to have low stomach acid production and low intrinsic factor production in the stomach lining. These conditions can lead to poor absorption of the B-12 in the small intestine.
The number of medical conditions caused by or aggravated by low B-12 levels is enormous. Conditions that low B-12 may cause include dementia, memory loss, multiple sclerosis, neuropathies, infertility (both male and female), mental illness, childhood learning and behavioral disorders, heart disease and stroke, cervical cancer and autoimmune diseases.
If you develop any of these medical conditions, tests of Vitamin B-12 status should be done. Although levels of B-12 between 200 to 400 pg/ml are in the low normal range, many people in this range are actually deficient. A more accurate test is the methlymalonic acid level. This is a functional status test that needs to be treated if the level is high. An excellent book "Could It Be B12?" by Sally Pacholok and Jeffrey Stuart explains the details of this very common nutritional deficiency disease. For more details of Vitamin B-12, see my website topic.
On a Personal Note
Now that spring is here, I have started a yearly spring liver cleanse. I will be doing more outdoor yard work, hiking and climbing. There is a tremendous energy flowing up from the earth as plants are starting to leave dormancy and enter into the headlong growth of springtime. This yearly cycle is particularly vigorous in the Sierra foothills. This vital energy is freely available to all who spend time observing and being in nature. No matter what your health issues, I strongly advise spending more time close to nature. Even if you live in the city and have difficulty getting away, you can grow a few potted plants or plant a small raised bed garden in a box.
I am studying the use of homeopathic-spagyric preparations. These have been used extensively in biologic medicine in Europe. The drops, tablets or capsules are helpful to promote drainage of toxins from tissues and eliminate stealth infections. They are generally well tolerated and safe. I will be adding them to my available treatments in the next few months.
Daniel Blodgett MD