Dec. 9
Statins Cause Brain Dysfunction
Statins are the most profitable
medications in the history of Big Pharma. They are promoted as the go-to
medications to prevent/treat heart disease. A recent study found nearly 100% of
men and 62% of women aged 66-75 should take a statin medication even if their
cholesterol level is normal. (1)
Listening to conventional
cardiologists, the American Heart Association, the American College of
Cardiology and many other mainstream groups would have you believe that statins
should be placed in the water supply. If statins significantly lowered the risk
of heart disease–they don’t–and if statins were not associated with adverse effects–they
areؘ–then I could entertain a discussion on the widespread use of statins.
However, statins are associated with a wide range of serious adverse drug
reactions which should cause any health care provider to think twice or at
least to use caution when prescribing this class of medication.
Let’s look at some of the adverse drug
reactions from statins. The following numbers come from the FDA Adverse Events
Reporting System. The information was compiled by Philip Blair, M.D. When I saw
the huge numbers of serious reactions reported for statin users gathered from
Dr. Blair’s data analysis, I said, “holy cow”. Dr. Blair explained that the FDA
data, reported by practicing physicians in the trenches, shows frequent
associations between statins and numerous serious conditions. Keep in mind that
very few adverse drug reactions—from 1-10%–are actually reported to the FDA.
This information was first reported to me by my colleague Duanne Graveline,
M.D. Dr. Graveline suffered two transient global amnesia events and chronic
neuropathy all due to taking a statin medication. He has written an excellent
book about his experience with Lipitor. The book is titled, “Lipitor, Thief of Memory.”
Statins work by poisoning an enzyme
(HMG-CoA reductase) which is needed to produce cholesterol, adrenal and sex
hormones, memory proteins and maintain cell energy. The highest concentration
of cholesterol in the body is found in the brain. Can you guess an organ that
will suffer when cholesterol production is blocked? If you guessed the brain,
you would win the prize.
All of the following events occurred
from 2004 to 2014 and were gathered from the FDA Adverse Events Databases.
- Brain function: There were 36,605 reports of brain dysfunction which included memory impairment, transient cases of global amnesia, confusion, paranoia, disorientation, depression, and dementia related to statin use. Remember, this number is thought to represent only 1-10% of the true number of adverse drug reactions.
Can you imagine how quickly the FDA
would pull a vitamin from the market place if is shown to cause tens of
thousands of cases of brain dysfunction?
I have seen many patients suffer with a
decline in brain function from taking a statin drug. Knowing how statins
work—they poison an enzyme needed to make cholesterol—would allow anyone to
predict that brain problems will be more common from statin use.
Folks, statins are responsible for many
more adverse effects. In fact, there are well over 100,000 adverse event
reports related to statins. In addition to the brain, statins negatively affect
the functioning of the liver, kidneys, and muscles. I will report more about
these other adverse drug effects in later posts.
I wrote in my book, Drugs That Don’t Work and Natural Therapies That Do,
“You can’t poison a crucial enzyme or block an important receptor for the
long-term and expect a good result.”
Perhaps we could live with all these
adverse drug reactions if statins significantly lowered the risk for
cardiovascular disease. But, they don’t. Statins have never been convincingly
shown to prevent a first heart attack in both men and women. In men, the best
of the statin studies show a 1-4% reduced risk of preventing a secondary
cardiac event. In women, the numbers are worse.
It is shocking to me that so many
health care providers and nearly all cardiologists would ever prescribe these
medications for any patient. Heart disease patients are not developing heart
disease due to a statin-deficiency syndrome. Perhaps these health care
providers should start doing what doctors were taught to do: Search for the
underlying cause of the illness and address that.
More information about statins can be
found in my book along with recommendations about what you can do to avoid
taking a statin medication.
DrB
- JAMA Int. Med. Published online November 17, 2014. E1
- Duanne Graveline, M.D. Lipitor, Thief of Memory
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