The Food and Drug Administration recently approved a new class of cholesterol-lowering drugs that will cost more than $14,000 a year.
Why did a new class of super-expensive statins need to be developed? Partly because the older statins are coming off patent and cannot be sold at high prices anymore. Also because of the wide range of dangerous side effects associated with “regular” statins, of course!
Statins aren’t just incredibly dangerous—they’re ineffective. That is quite a combination! Dr. David Brownstein recently pointed out there is little evidence that statins work. They do not, in fact, reduce the incidence of mortality of strokes and heart attacks.
Why aren’t these facts better known? Part of the answer lies in the $29 billion of statin sales each year. One in four Americans over the age of 45 takes statins.
We also pointed out in our earlier coverage that cholesterol is not the problem and is in fact vital to human health. A real danger as we age is that our cholesterol levels can get too low—which is only exacerbated by taking statins!
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An Australian program called Catalyst did a two part on statins and their ineffectiveness. At first, they were not going to be allowed to present the information on the ineffectiveness of the drug and the other side effects, but I think in the end, they did present both parts. Is it still available?
I remember this. After running the program you mentioned on ABC, there was a big storm in the media, accusing the channel of a biased approach. As a result, the ABC funding was down, warnings were made to behave in future or face more cuttings. Now ABC is too scared to do anything that can upset people in power.
So, here’s my history. I had a open heart surgery in 2005. It was supposed to be an 8 way bypass because everything was completely blocked. Honestly, I don’t know how I was actually alive, when I saw the sonogram there was no blood-flow whatsoever! My only thought was “How am I alive?” The surgeon was only able to do a triple bypass because my heart was so small (lots of exercise), and so part of my heart was pronounced dead. In 2006, almost exactly a year later, I had to have Stents because the bypass was completely blocked! On Thursday October 15, 2015 I met with my Cardiologist to get the results of my Stress test from last month: He reported that my heart muscle is operating at 100% efficiency (what happened to the permanently dead part?) and that there is no evidence of ischemia (blockage) whatsoever. I am currently 63 and my blood pressure in the office today was 116/58, my pulse was 64. I do not take Statins–Cholesterol from food has nothing to do with Heart Disease! I don’t take prescription drugs as a general rule, except briefly for a specific purpose such as antibiotics if needed. I would love to share what really works, but I’m afraid I’ll be accused of practicing medicine without a license. I can tell you it is NOT pharma drugs! I have physical possession of the medical records that prove what I’m saying. Pharma drugs did NOT help at all with reversing heart disease! The right Supplements did!
As a “regular person” just contributing to a comment thread, you would not be “accused of practicing medicine without a license.” People give suggestions and advice (or at least share what works for them) all the time. So, please, do share what has worked for you.
And by the way, thanks for sharing your story. That is wonderful news!
Good for you! Certainly many other people could follow in your footsteps if they would do their own research and ignore TV drug ads, in particular. (I am 70 and don’t take any drugs. I have taken vitamins and other supplements for over 50 years.)
Rubbish. Free speech is protected and doesn’t constitute “practicing medicine without a license”.
After reading all I could find regarding statins, I notified my doctor that IF his prescription contained statins to not even bothering to writing it. He became quite frustrated with me because, in almost every Big Pharma drug in his cookbook, there existed statins. He would ask me what I wanted him to do with whatever my condition was at the time. He eventually decided not to treat me any longer. Evidently his cook book contained no pills or capsules that did not contain statins or steroids and he had nowhere else to turn for his easy prescriptions. Whatever happened to the sort of doctors I visited in my youth? They, at least, were capable and interested enough to delve into my symptoms. I am now 81 years old and in pretty good health and I attribute it to questioning the prescriptions offered.
Instead, I have discovered Chinese Herbal Remedies. They work as well as any “pills” from Big Pharma and have no side effects! I did compare the results of both “techniques” and, certainly, prefer the CHRs. Surprising to me is that the Chinese Remedies are also much lower in price. I did go through three surgeries for stents in my legs and was prescribed three different “remedies” by the surgeon – all for the heart. What surprised me, after speaking with someone who is on American pharmaceuticals is that the CHRs show effects within minutes rather than hours.
I did question the surgeon to find that he was prescribing three prescriptions for my heart. Presently I am using the CHRs for HBP and circulation. Had my condition not arisen so quickly (one morning after rising) I would have visited an acupuncturist. I was confused at the time and had been threatened that, should the situation not be looked into immediately, I very well could lose both feet. After the surgeries, it was discovered that “not all” problems had been attended to. This was obvious to me after having realized that a complaint I had questioned doctors for three years, still hadn’t been attended to. A fourth surgery was recommended which I have been able to avoid with the use of CHRs and acupuncture.
One comment I very often receive from those involved in Western medicine is that the Chinese don’t have a FDA. At that point I laugh.
And did anyone notice that the new “normal” levels for cholesterol have gone down, so now even more people’s cholesterol is “elevated” which of course means more naive patients taking these harmful drugs.
They even have guidelines suggesting that even normal people with no history of heart problems over the age of 50 take them wheather they need them or not. Just as “prevention!”
People if you are stupid enough to believe everything your dr is telling you, then good luck
Amen to that, Lawrence. Taking harmful drugs (and all of them are harmful) to prevent a stroke, for example, is an incredibly stupid thing to do. There are better ways.
Very weak analysis. These new drugs aren’t statins. They specifically target only the LDL receptors of which LDL oxidization is the true problem behind endothelial dysfunction, not cholesterol. Side effects haven’t been reported yet.
To reverse heart disease I took 1 gram of Ester C and 100 mcg of Vitamin K2 (MK-7) daily, and I became vegetarian. I’m not a very good vegetarian, but I do not eat meat or fish. The Ester C and vegetarianism worked well in the beginning, but I think I improved most when I started taking the K2. I take other supplements as well and I avoid some. I do NOT take Calcium ever in any form. I take Ubiquinol (CoQ10) when I can afford it. I avoid excess protein. I believe we are being way oversold on protein, it is the primary cause of Cancer. I do not use any of the new processed oils such as corn, soy or vegetable oil, throw them out! Canola is a GMO, I won’t use it. I use peanut oil for frying and baking. There are lots of other things that can help, but in my opinion the main things are the Ester C and vitamin K2. I take DMG periodically because it helps me sleep and it’s a good source of L-glycine. I take L-lysine periodically because it helps keep me from catching all the viruses that go around. Both of these amino acids are important for the production of collagen, so they also play a role in arterial repair. I believe Statins are responsible for the catastrophic rise in Alzheimer’s. It is important to note that humans don’t make Ascorbate (vitamin C) like all other mammals, which is why their are no lab animals to test heart disease medications on. Most important; I firmly believed that I would reverse the heart disease and prove my doctor wrong. Don’t discount the power of positive thinking and the power of intention.