Desperate Big Pharma Pushing to Double Statin Sales

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Source: http://www.naturalnews.com/Index.html

(NaturalNews) In the face of overwhelming negative science the statin marketing machine marches on, now suggesting that statins should be given to middle aged men and women even though they don't have elevated cholesterol. Apparently there is a critical mass of Big Pharma backed statin-pushers who have hoodwinked a nation under the false pretense of cardiovascular health and are now ready to go for the jugular. I have a few questions for any statin believers who happen to read this article: "If statins are so great then why does your liver see them as a poison that must be detoxified? Did your liver forget to read the American Heart Association's press release?"
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The Jupiter Study
This year's propaganda showpiece is the Jupiter study. Here is the official party line, so elegantly reported by the New York Times: "A large new study suggests that millions more people could benefit from taking the cholesterol-lowering drugs known as statins, even if they have low cholesterol, because the drugs can significantly lower their risk of heart attacks, strokes and death. The study, involving nearly 18,000 people worldwide, tested statin treatment in men 50 and older and in women 60 and older who did not have high cholesterol or histories of heart disease. What they did have was high levels of a protein called high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, or CRP, which indicates inflammation in the body. The study, presented Sunday at an American Heart Association convention in New Orleans and published online in The New England Journal of Medicine, found that the risk of heart attack was more than cut in half for people who took statins."

This sounds great, except the original risk in the study group was negligible. The data actually means that 120 people would need to take Crestor for 2 years to prevent 1 heart attack or stroke. At a cost of $3.45 a day, that's $300,000 for Big Pharma to stop one problem. Excuse me, but the only news here is the potential bilking of taxpayers and insurance companies.

Crestor, the statin drug used in this study, is the most toxic of all statin drugs. It works by overwhelming your liver's ability to clear it. A Public Citizen petition to the FDA to have this drug removed from the market was denied, as the current FDA is nothing more than a gatekeeper for Big Pharma profits. Unless corpses are showing up in droves at their door (as with the statin Baycol) the FDA looks the other way no matter what damage is being done.
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Read more: http://www.naturalnews.com/024792.html

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Just thought i would post this in remembrance of one of my coworkers who just died of liver failure. He was a avid meat eater and also on high blood pressure meds and little overweight but i am quite sure that cholesterol stuff got him first. I was once on that stuff for months myself but found those sharp pains that stuff gives just didn't seem right. High fiber,vegetables,oatmeal,vitamins and exercise is a better route. My HDL's are in good shape that way

[WriteDown]

1. Statins have saved my life...

so I can't complain. Lipitor and Tricor have done wonders.

[emilyg]

5. Lipitor saved my life.

[Hannah Bell]

14. how so? you mean it brought down your high cholesterol?

[Warpy]

2. Statin drugs save lives, but they're not risk free

and the organ you have to worry about isn't the liver, it's muscle tissue.

Anyone on a statin drug who experiences muscle pain or weakness or a change in urine color needs to stop the drug and contact his physician.

However, they're lifesavers for people who can tolerate them.

[MadinMo]

6. MrMadinMo took Lipitor and suffered muscle pain for a couple of years and

couldn't get the doctor to take him seriously about it because all of his bloodwork "looked good". Finally he demanded that they do a trial taking him off the statins for a period of time to see if the discomfort subsided. It did. They tried another statin, same thing, so now he is taking Zetia with no discomfort. It is in a different class of drugs from the statins. It has reduced his cholesterol somewhat but not to the extent the Lipitor did.

[NOLALady]

9. Hey,

I had the EXACT same experience with severe muscle pain in the legs. We changed statins and the pain didn't go away. Now I'm taking Zetia and Welchol.

[MadinMo]

12. Yes, it was in his legs mostly, but also in his back. Miserable.

Glad to hear you are doing well with Zetia,too.

[nolabels]

8. My experience on telling the doctor about it was him telling me those kind of things are normal

He quizzed me on the pains and he figured they should be tolerable and i should just endure them. I don't go to that doctor anymore but know many general practitioners main function is just to be licensed pill pushers. Nobody should leave their health up to anybody else. This should make extra sense knowing a good percentage of the health industry make there living off of people being ill. Helping people being more healthy and well just doesn't pay as good :shrug:

[LeftHander]

3. NPR did 20 minutes on Statin studies this A.M. all positive....nt

[Sal Minella]

10. Heard that. A pre-written infomercial designed to make listeners line up at their doctors' doors

and DEMAND to be put on statins ASAP. It's a wonder we've all lived this long without taking them, isn't it. Most of the time I think Public Radio is okay, but sometimes I just shake my head.

Public Radio can't run garbage like that statin story and still expect people to send them money. But then maybe they got enough money from Big Pharma to make up for listeners who will drop out.

[BootinUp]

4. I have read/heard enough over the last few years

to determine that the statin thing is complete waste of money. I don't remember hearing how damaging it could be to the liver before but then again I haven't been paying too much attention to it. Glad to hear you are in good health and thanks for the post.

[lelgt60]

7. Keep your fucking hands off my health...

I don't need a bunch of assholes trying to take a drug, WHICH I DETERMINED TO BE EXTREMELY BENEFICIAL, off the market.

I have no problem publishing your counter studies and warnings, in fact I invite them, and thank you. However, when you decide to become like the DEA, and remove my ability to take those drugs, I will fight you tooth and nail.

[louis-t]

11. Cardio doc asked me if I wanted to go on them.

I said no. Family history, but my LDL is 208, HDL 45, scan showed 0 calcified plaque, aced the stress test. Age 52. If you don't need them, don't take them.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

13. Whilst big pharma pushes what they push, food manufacturers have

learned from the naturalists and are adding stanols, sterols and phytosterols to various foods. I'll take this route any day of the week, month, year, etc.

1: Lipids. 2008 Nov 8. Links
Phytosterol-Enriched Yogurt Increases LDL Affinity and Reduces CD36 Expression in Polygenic Hypercholesterolemia.
Ruiu G, Pinach S, Veglia F, Gambino R, Marena S, Uberti B, Alemanno N, Burt D, Pagano G, Cassader M.

Department of Internal Medicine, University of Turin, Corso A. M. Dogliotti 14, 10126, Turin, Italy.

Dietary enrichment with phytosterols (plant sterols similar to cholesterol) is able to reduce plasma cholesterol levels due to reduced intestinal absorption. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of phytosterol-enriched yogurt consumption on the major serum lipid parameters, low density lipoprotein (LDL) receptor activity, LDL-receptor affinity, and CD36 expression in hypercholesterolemic subjects. Fifteen patients affected by polygenic hypercholesterolemia were evaluated in a single-blind randomized crossover study after a 4 weeks treatment with a phytosterol-enriched yogurt containing 1.6 g esterefied phytosterols (equivalent to 1.0 g free phytosterol). Lipid parameters were compared with a phytosterol-free placebo-controlled diet.

The effect of the two treatments on each variable, measured as percentage change, was compared by paired samples t test and covariance analysis. The treatment induced a modest but significant decrease in LDL-cholesterol levels (4.3%, P = 0.03) and a significant increase in high density lipoprotein (HDL) 3-cholesterol (17.1%, P = 0.01). Phytosterol consumption had no effect on LDL-receptor activity whereas patient LDL-receptor affinity significantly increased (9.7%, P = 0.01) and CD36 expression showed a marked significant decrease (18.2%, P = 0.01) in the phytosterol-enriched yoghurt patients. Our data show that the oral administration of a phytosterol-enriched yogurt has modest but significant effects on commonly measured lipid parameters. The improvement of LDL-receptor affinity and the reduction in CD36 expression may reflect an important antiatherogenic effect.