| Cholesterol Lowering Drugs and Cancer |  |
By Shane Ellison M.Sc.
2004 All Rights Reserved
Unknown to the public and most doctors, cholesterol lowering drugs
can be life threatening.(1) Due to the billions of dollars procured
form their sales, few people are discussing the darker side of
cholesterol lowering drugs known as statins.
In a letter to the Archives of Internal Medicine, Uffe Ravnskov MD,
PhD and colleagues show that in two of the three clinical trials
that included healthy people, the chance of surviving was better
without the use of cholesterol lowering drugs.(2) Numerous medical
journals have shown that cholesterol-lowering drugs significantly
increase ones risk of suffering from CoQ10 deficiency (paradoxically
leads to heart disease), rhabdomyolysis (kidney failure), erectile
dysfunction, loss of memory (transient global amnesia) and loss of
mental focus.
Furthermore, it appears that cholesterol-lowering drug use also
increases ones risk of getting cancer. As early as 1996 it was
shown in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) that
all cholesterol-lowering drugs caused cancer in rodents at the
equivalent doses used by man.(3)
Of course, extrapolation of this evidence of cancer from rodent to
human is very uncertain. Such an extrapolation would only hold true
if human studies also showed an increase in cancer rates. And in
fact that is what scientists are showing. Evidence from the
cholesterol-lowering trial known as CARE (Cholesterol And Recurrent
Events) showed that Pravachol (cholesterol-lowering drug made by
Bristol-Myer Squib) prevented the chances of suffering from a heart
attack by 1.1%. This miniscule benefit was accompanied with an
increase in breast cancer among women. Among the group taking
Pravachol, 13 cases of breast cancer were reported. Conversely,
there was only one case of breast cancer among non-users of
Pravachol.
That cholesterol lowering drugs can potentially cause cancer will
never be main stream.
Drug company funded studies for cholesterol-lowering drugs are very
short in nature. Considering that it takes a significant amount of
time for cancer to develop this side effect will continue to fly
below the radar.
The list of negative side effects from cholesterol-lowering drugs
continues. Researchers from the University of Denmark report that
about 15% of cholesterol lowering drug users over the age of 50 will
suffer from nerve damage as direct result of using statin drugs.
USA Today reported, "Statins have killed and injured more people
than the government has acknowledged".
About the Author
Shane holds a Master's degree in organic chemistry and has first-
hand industry experience with drug research, design and synthesis.
He knows American's want and deserve natural medicine not
prescriptions. Visit http://www.health-fx.net and for his book
http://www.healthmyths.net
References:
1. Cohen, S. Jay. Over Dose. 2001. ISBN 1-58542-123-5
2. Uffe Ravnskov, et al. Letter to Archives of Internal Medicine,
submitted on July 20,2002
3. Newman, Thomas B. et al. Carcinogenicity of Lipid-Lowering
Drugs. JAMA. January 3, 1996-Vol 275, No. 1
4. Julie Appleby and Steve Sternberg, USA TODAY. 08/20/2002
5. Sternberg, Steve. USA Today. 08/20/2001
|
|
