Lipitor, Severe Diabetes a Fatal Combination

July 6, 2006

http://www.mercola.com/2005/aug/13/lipitor_diabetes.htm

A study found that not only do cholesterol-lowering statin drugs failto help patients with severe diabetes, but statins may also doubletheir risk of experiencing a deadly stroke.

Lipitor Doesn't Work any Better Than Placebos

The study, led by Dr. Cristoph Wanner at the University of Wurzburg,Germany, was conducted on severely ill diabetics, and testedrelatively low doses of the statin drug Lipitor against dummy pills.

At the end of the four-year study, the patients who took Lipitorshowed virtually no difference from those who took the placebos interms of the combined risks of heart attacks, strokes and death.

Stroke Risk Doubled

However, when fatal strokes were looked at individually, more thantwice as many patients died on Lipitor (27) as died on the placebo (13).

Lipitor is currently the most commonly prescribed drug in the world.

New England Journal of Medicine July 21, 2005; 353:238-248

MedPage Today July 20, 2005

Dr. Mercola's Comment:

Let's say you have both high cholesterol and diabetes. Which of thefollowing methods of treatment would you prefer?

1. Taking a dangerous drug that: * More than doubles your risk of strokes. * May result in your experiencing numerous other harmfulside effects. * Fails to treat any of the underlying causes of your symptoms. * Does nothing whatsoever for your diabetes. * While it lowers your cholesterol, may actually cause heartfailure itself.

2. Using a safe and natural method that: * Simultaneously lowers your risk of heart disease and * Helps control your diabetes. * Treats the underlying causes of both problems. * Has no side effects other than better health.

I think it's safe to say that you probably prefer choice #2.

Statins such as Lipitor are a particularly bad choice for diabetics,based on the findings of this article, but they are a poor treatmenteven if your only worry is for your heart.

Statins lower cholesterol very well. Too well, actually -- cholesterolis a necessary and natural chemical in your body. Cholesterol:

* Waterproofs your cell walls. * Helps with cell repair. * Is vital for digesting fat, regulating hormone levels, andneurological function.

Despite cholesterol's infamous reputation, having too little of it inyour body is as dangerous, if not more so, than too much.

The result is that statins can cause numerous dangerous side effects,including:

* Muscle pain and weakness * Tingling and pain in your extremities * Dizziness * Cognitive impairment, * Depression * Pancreatitis * Increased cancer risk * Heart failure

The last one is rather counter to the whole supposed point ofcholesterol-lowering drugs, don't you think? And now there is thisadditional evidence that it more than doubles the risk of strokes indiabetics, in return for no benefits whatsoever.

Do you really think that taking a statin drug is a wise choice forlowering cholesterol?

Lipitor also completely fails to treat the underlying problems causinghigh levels of cholesterol in the first place. Statins inhibit anenzyme that causes your liver to produce cholesterol when stimulatedby high insulin levels.

A far more sensible method of treatment is to keep your insulin andleptin levels under control in the first place -- which is alsoexactly what you should be doing if you are diabetic. To naturallynormalize your cholesterol level and keep your diabetes under controlat the same time, switch to a low-grain diet and exercise regularly.

If you really want the "cure for cholesterol please review the articleI wrote on that earlier this year.