The Cholesterol Conspiracy Podcast by Ladd McNamara, M.D.

This episode answers the question "How Beneficial are Cholesterol-Lowering Statin Drugs?"

• Chapter 18: How Beneficial are Cholesterol-Lowering Statin Drugs?
• Chapter 19: Cholesterol-Lowering Statin Drugs Deplete Co-Enzyme Q10

Chapter Excerpts

Conclusion: Lipitor (R) did not reduce the number of deaths from heart attack even though it lowered LDL cholesterol… In other words, lowering LDL cholesterol made NO difference in reducing the risk of death from heart disease.

…both groups receiving Pravacol (R) suffered an increased incidence of cancer. In other words, not one life saved.
…LDL cholesterol levels did not correlate to their risk of death.
Statin drugs showed no benefit in reducing the number of overall deaths.

Statin drugs can lead to unpredictable chaos on the cellular level, interfering with proper cellular functions and breakdown, as well as preventing repair of damaged cells.

Chapter References

• 22: Schwartz G, Olsson A, et al. Effects of atorvastatin on early recurrent ischemic events in acute coronary syndromes. JAMA 2001 285:1711-1718.
• 23: Arron M, member of The ALLHAT Officers and Coordinators for the ALLHAT Collaborative Research Group. Major outcomes in moderately hyper-cholesterolemic, hypertensive patients randomized to pravastatin vs. usual care: The Antihypertensive and Lipid-Lowering Treatment to Prevent Heart Attack Trial (ALLHAT-LLT). JAMA 2002 288:2998-3007.
• 24: Heart Protection Study Collaborative Group (writing committee: Collins R, Armitage J, Parish S, Sleight P, Peto R). MRC/BHF heart protection study of cholesterol lowering in 20,536 high-risk individuals: a randomised placebo-controlled trial. Lancet 2002 360:7-22.
• 25: Medical Research Council/British Heart Foundation Heart Protection Study. Press release. Life-saver: World’s largest cholesterol-lowering trial reveals massive benefits for high-risk patients. Available at www.ctsu.ox.ac.uk/~hps/pr.shtml.
• 26: Ravnskov U. Statins as the new Aspirin. Conclusions from the heart protection study were premature. British Medical Journal 2002 324:789.
• 27: Shepherd J, Blauw G, Murphy M, et al. Pravastatin in elderly individuals at risk of vascular disease (PROSPER): a randomized controlled trial. Lancet 2002 Nov 23; 360(9346):1623-30.
• 28: Matsuzaki M, Kita T, Mabuchi H, Matsuzawa Y, Nakaya N, Oikawa S, Saito Y, Sasaki J, Shimamoto K, Itakura H; J-LIT Study Group. Japan Lipid Intervention Trial. Large scale cohort study of the relationship between serum cholesterol concentration and coronary events with low-dose simvastatin therapy in Japanese patients with hypercholesterolemia. Circ J. 2002 Dec; 66(12):1087-1095.
• 29: Newman CB, Palmer G, Silbershatz H, Szarek M. Safety of atorvastatin derived from analysis of 44 completed trials in 9,416 patients. Am J Cardiol. 2003 Sep 15; 92(6):670-676.
• 30: Hecht H, Harman S. Relation of aggressiveness of lipid-lowering treatment to changes in calcified plaque burden by electron beam tomography. Am J Cardiol. 2003 Aug 1; 92(3):334-336.
• 31: Sever P, Dahlof B, Poulter N, Wedel H, et al. Prevention of coronary and stroke events with atorvastatin in hypertensive patients who have average or lower-than-average cholesterol concentrations, in the Anglo- Scandinavian Cardiac Outcomes Trial–Lipid Lowering Arm (ASCOTLLA): a multicenter randomized controlled trial. Lancet 2003 Apr 5; 361(9364):1149-58.
• 32: Jenkins A. Might money spent on statins be better spent? BMJ. 2003 Oct 18; 327(7420):933.
• 33: Liu Y, Coresh J, Eustace J, et al. Association Between Cholesterol Level and Mortality in Dialysis Patients: Role of Inflammation and Malnutrition. JAMA 2004 291:451-459.
• 34: Moore T, Psaty B, Furberg C. Time to act on drug safety. JAMA May 20, 1998 279(19):1571-1573.

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