El Cajon Chiropractor - In the news : Statins

I have recently read 3 articles regarding the safety & efficacy of statin drugs for reducing cholesterol.  What these articles discuss is truly newsworthy.  Dr. David Seaman in the February 2012 issue of Dynamic Chiropractor discusses the misleading results of the JUPITER trial which was conducted to compare the reduction in cardiovascular events (heart attack, stroke, unstable angina, death) in 2 groups: those taking statins and a placebo group.  What was found was that 141 patients in the statin group had a cardiovascular event vs. 251 in the placebo group.  Pretty impressive, right?  The only thing is that there were 8,901 patients in each group.  When taken as a percentage, 1.6% of the statin group had an event vs. 2.8% in the placebo group.  So the drugs had a 1.2% greater reduction in events than the placebo group.  Not all that impressive.  That being said, statins are very effective in high-risk groups but their risk vs. reward is now being called into question.  Read the whole article here http://www.dynamicchiropractic.com/mpacms/dc/article.php?id=55781

The NY Times had this to add: "Widely prescribed statins can cause elevated blood sugar and problems with memory".  It has been suspected for years that statin drugs may cause muscle aches and memory problems, but newer studies suggest that taking statins can increase blood sugar levels.  In fact, the FDA has already had to add a warning the statin drug Crestor about the increased risk of diabetes.  Read the whole article here http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/29/new-safety-alerts-for-cholesterol-drugs/?scp=1&sq=statin&st=cse

An article by the well known web publisher Dr. Mercola, published way back in July of 2010, talked about this same subject.   Dr. Mercola talks about the mechanism of statins - "Statins are HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors, that is, they act by blocking the enzyme in your liver that is responsible for making cholesterol (HMG-CoA reductase). The fact that statin drugs cause side effects is well established—there are now 900 studies proving their adverse effects, which run the gamut from muscle problems to increased cancer risk...

Your body NEEDS cholesterol—it is important in the production of cell membranes, hormones, vitamin D and bile acids that help you to digest fat. Cholesterol also helps your brain form memories and is vital to your neurological function. There is also strong evidence that having too little cholesterol INCREASES your risk for cancer, memory loss, Parkinson's disease, hormonal imbalances, stroke, depression, suicide, and violent behavior."  Read the whole article here http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/07/20/the-truth-about-statin-drugs-revealed.aspx

The following is a list of statins available in the United States:

• Advicor  (lovastatin with niacin) – Abbott
• Altoprev (lovastatin) – Shionogi Pharma
• Caduet [atorvastatin with amlodipine (Norvasc)] – Pfizer
• Crestor (rosuvastatin) - AstraZeneca
• Lescol (fluvastatin) – Novartis 
• Lipitor (atorvastatin) - Pfizer
• Mevacor (lovastatin) – Merck
• Pravachol (pravastatin) -- Bristol-Myers Squibb
• Simcor (niacin/imvastatin) – Abbott
• Vytorin (ezetimibe/simvastatin) – Merck/Schering-Plough
• Zocor (simvastatin) – Merck

I'd like to reiterate that I am not a medical doctor and I am not suggesting that you stop taking your medications.  I am simply presenting facts from several sources that do suggest that you consider your options, do your own research, talk to your doctor about making some lifestyle changes, and be your OWN health advocate.

Dr. Dennis Barker DC is a Chiropractor in the Community of Fletcher Hills serving the cities of El Cajon, La Mesa, Santee and all of San Diego County.
Visit us at www.fletcherhillschiropractic.com