The Truth About Cholesterol Lowering Drugs and Cholesterol

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http://www.mercola.com/article/statins.htm

 

 

The Truth About Cholesterol-Lowering Drugs (Statins), Cholesterol, and Health

Other than Baycol, the "statins" that are currently available in the US are:

 

Lipitor (atorvastatin) - Pfizer

Zocor (simvastatin) - Merck Pravachol (pravastatin) - Bristol-Myers Squibb Lescol (fluvastatin) - Novartis Mevacor (lovastatin) - Merck

Click on the individual drug names above to view their prescribing information, commonly known as the "package inserts".

 

Articles related to the Baycol/Statin safety issue:

 

 

Statins - Is the Danger is the Dose? - Here is the hard data on Baycol associated adverse reactions. If you or someone you know is taking one of the 'statin' cholesterol-lowering drugs, this is a "must read" article by Jay Cohen, MD, to help you understand the potential dangers that this exposes you to.

 

Baycol Pulled From Market as Numerous Deaths Linked to It - Baycol, a cholestrol-lowering drug (Statin), has been voluntarily pulled off the market because of numerous deaths associated with its use.

 

The Baycol Recall: How Safe Is Your Statin? - With the recall of Baycol, patients are now searching out a new drug to take its place, but are other statins really safe? Here are some precautions necessary for anyone taking Baycol or any statin.

 

Baycol: Another Fluoride Drug Bites the Dust - Baycol is just one of many fluoride drugs to be pulled from the market do to health hazards posed. Read about this and some of the others in this informative article written by Andreas Schuld and Wendy Small.

 

BMJ: Bayer faces potential fine over cholesterol lowering drug - Bayer might have to pay a fine to the German government of about $23,400 for withholding from the German authorities information on the drug's potentially fatal interaction with another drug.

 

Lipitor Tied to Liver, Kidney Injury, as Well as Muscle Damage - It seems that Baycol is not alone among cholesterol lowering drugs in posing serious dangers to the public. A number of legal actions are also being pursued against Pfizer Inc., the manufacturer of the Lipitor.

 

Reuters: Bayer pulls Baycol from Japan, mkt focus on suits

 

Reuters: Bayer admits Baycol linked to more than 1,100 cases of muscleweakness

 

AP: New fatalities linked to statin drugs

USA Today: Warning labels urged for cholesterol drugs

Reuters: Group Wants Tougher Warning on Statins

 

Reuters: Baycol News Prompts EU Review of Cholesterol Drug

USA Today: Pulled Drug May be linked to 52 deaths

 

Related stories can be found below:

 

 

New Cholesterol Guidelines Issued

 

New Cholesterol Guidelines for Converting Healthy People into Patients

 

Cholesterol Drugs: How Expensive Is Too Expensive?

 

Cholesterol Lowering Drugs Suppress Immune System

 

Low Cholesterol Causes Aggressive Behavior

 

Low Cholesterol Linked to Stroke Risk

 

Low Cholesterol Linked to Depression

 

Low Cholesterol Linked to Violence

HALF the population will be taking Statins

 

Excerpts from Public Citizen's Health Research Group's Petition To Require A Box Warning on All HMG-CoA Reductase Inhibitors (“Statins”):

"... Public Citizen, representing 135,000 consumers nationwide, hereby petitions the FDA pursuant to the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act 21, U.S.C. Section 355(e)(3), and C.F.R. 10.30, to add a black box warning and additional consistent bolded warnings about this serious problem to the label of all statins marketed in the United States."

" Doctors and the public must be warned to immediately discontinue use of statin drugs at the onset of muscle pain, muscle tenderness, muscle weakness or tiredness."

" Prompt cessation of the use of statins at the first sign of muscle pain, muscle tenderness, muscle weakness or tiredness and prompt evaluation by a physician including a blood test for creatine phosphokinase ( a measure of muscle destruction) may avoid the progression to more extensive muscle damage, rhabdomyolysis, and death."

"Rhabdomyolysis has been reported with all statins currently marketed in the United States."

 

About the Experts

Joseph Mercola, DO

Medical Director of the Optimal Wellness Center and www.mercola.com.

For more complete backround information CLICK HERE.

 

 

 

 

Uffe Ravnskov, MD

Born 1934 in Copenhagen, Denmark Graduated 1961 from the University of Copenhagen with an M.D. 1961-1967 various appointments at surgical, roentgenological, neurological, pediatric and medical departments in Denmark and Sweden. 1968-79 various appointments at the Department of Nephrology, and the Department of Clinical Chemistry, University Hospital, Lund, Sweden; 1975-79 as an assistant professor at the Department of Nephrology. 1973 PhD at the University of Lund. 1979-2000 a private practitioner. Since 1979 an independent researcher. A specialist in internal medicine and nephrology. Honoured by the Skrabanek Award 1998.

For more information, see Dr. Ravnskov's website at http://www.ravnskov.nu/cholesterol.htm.

If you would like more information about his his book The Cholesterol Myths please CLICK HERE.

 

 

 

 

Jay Cohen, M.D

Jay Cohen, M.D., is an associate professor of Family and Preventative Medicine and of Psychiatry at the University of California in San Diego. He is the author of 2 books and has has numerous papers published in peer-reviewed journals (see below). His latest book, Over Dose: The Case Against the Drug Companies, is due out in October.

 

 

 

 

Stephen Byrnes, PhD

Stephen Byrnes grew up in New York and attended Hunter College in New York City where he received his B.A. in Comparative Religion. After moving to Los Angeles, he completed his M.A. in Humanities at California State University at Dominguez Hills. He then received his Diplomate of Homeobotanical Therapy from the Australasian College of Herbal Studies, a state licensed and approved post-secondary school in Lake Oswego, Oregon, and his Doctorate of Alternative Medicine from the Canadian Alternative Medicine Research Institute (CAMRI), a government licensed and accredited post-secondary school in Vancouver, British Columbia. Dr. Byrnes is also a Senior Professor of the Institute. Additionally, Stephen studied Applied Nutrition with the Edison Institute of Nutrition.

To view Dr. Byrnes' CV,

Stephen is a board certified naturopathic doctor through the American Naturopathic Medical Certification & Accreditation Board. He is also licensed as a naturopathic physician within the state of Idaho, and as a naturopathic doctor in Washington, D.C. He is also a certified naturopath through the Natural Health Certification & Education Board. He also holds registration as a nutritional therapist with the International Organization of Nutritional Consultants.

Dr. Byrnes has had over 100 articles and papers published in health magazines and professional journals around the world. He also works for a clinic specializing in the holistic treatment of the elderly and the immune-suppressed. He is on the advisory board of the Weston A. Price Foundation and the editorial board of the magazine WellBeing.

He is also the author of three books:

Diet & Heart Disease: It's NOT What You Think (Whitman Books, 2001)

Digestion Made Simple (Whitman Books; 2000)

Healthy Hearts (Whitman Books; 2000).

With his extensive teaching and writing experience, Dr. Byrnes began the Academy of Natural Therapies to spread the teachings of natural health to all.