LifeCare Chiropractic

The Best Chiropractic Care in Mesa, Arizona

Zocor

Statins and Your First Heart Attack

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IS THIS THE BEGINNING OF THE END OF STATINS (LIPITOR, CRESTOR, ZOCOR, VYTORIN, etc…)?

It should come as no surprise to regular readers of my posts that the research just does not support the use of statins to prevent a first heart attack.  The data is very, very weak.  Which would be fine if it didn’t cost the US alone some $20 BILLION per year.  Talk about money wasted.  And not a shred of evidence to suggest that they help prevent a heart attack, and plenty to suggest they harm.  But, despite the evidence, our country and medical system is absolutely convinced that statins are the savior for heart disease.

This meta analysis, reviewing over 65,000 patients over 11 studies with patients at a HIGH RISK of heart disease (forget those with only elevated cholesterol…), found NO EVIDENCE FOR THEIR USE IN PREVENTING THAT FIRST HEART ATTACK!!!  Seriously.  What more information do we need?  Any why do I have to spend hours educating patients that the drug they are taking is worthless to them?  Help!!

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Exercise and Your Cholesterol Lowering Drug. Don’t Bother

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Fitness is important for the heart. But what if a common drug used to “protect” your heart completely erased the benefit of exercise?

Quite the conundrum, huh?

Or, at least, it would be for the mainstream medical provider who puts any degree of faith in statins for high cholesterol.

For everyone else who knows the dangers and the incredibly limited benefit, there is no conflict.  It is very well established that statins pretty much suck for preventing a first heart attack and aren’t too much better for secondary prevention either.  Just to make it worse, the list of side effects are quite long and are highlighted in my eBook on statins that can be found by clicking here.

While the side effects of cholesterol lowering drugs are all of concern, the ones related to the heart are of the gravest concern.  After all, aren’t we all taking statins to lower our risk of having a heart attack?

The irony is so strong that it would be laughable if we weren’t spending $20+ billion per year on these drugs.

This particular study finds yet another particularly disturbing side effect of cholesterol lowering drugs.  Here are the details:

  • 37 sedentary overweight or obese adults
  • At least 2 prediabetes risk factors
  • 12 weeks of aerobic exercise training or
  • Exercise in combination with simvastatin (Zocor-40 mg per day)
  • Cardio fitness and mitochondrial function (as measured by citrate synthase activity) were monitored.

And here are the results that should make any cardiologist think twice about prescribing this worthless class of drugs:

  1. Cardiorespiratory fitness increased by 10% in the exercise group.
  2. In the exercise group taking the statins, there was only a paltry 1.5% increase.
  3. Skeletal muscle mitochondrial function in the exercise group increased by 13%.
  4. In the statin group?  A drop of 4.5% in mitochondrial function.

Regular readers of the Rantings will know that I consider mitochondrial function as the holy grail of longevity.  Preserve or improve it, and life it good.  Worsen mitochondrial function and all hell will break loose.

Look at these results again.  Exercise, yes exercise, became worthless in the face of the intake of statin drugs.  Worse than worthless, mitochondrial function deteriorated during exercise, something that should never, ever, ever happen.

If your doctor has told you to take statins to avoid heart attacks, there is just no way he or she is actually reading the medical research centered around cholesterol lowering drugs.  There is no other valid excuse to write that prescription.

Heart Disease Prevention With Sweets Instead of Lipitor

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prevent heart disease cholesterol drugHeart disease remains the #1 killer.  Prevention doesn’t take massive changes and does NOT require cholesterol lowering drugs like Lipitor or Crestor.

As a matter of fact, these drugs are likely to make your condition worse.  The latest numbers suggest that medicine needs to treat 1,000 for 5 years to prevent a measley 11 heart attacks.  For this society pays about $2400 / year per person in the US for Lipitor (yes, your copay may be less, but this is closer to the total costs).  I cannot begin to describe how incredibly inefficient this method is.

This particular study provides an interesting alternative.

Chocolate has already shown to be quite protective for the heart.  To review:

  1. 37% lower rates of heart disease, 29% lower risk of stroke
  2. 39% lower risk of heart attack and stroke with small reductions in blood pressure
  3. Makes blood less likely to clot and makes blood vessels healthier
  4. Lowers blood pressure
  5. Makes insulin work better and lowers blood pressure
  6. Cuts SECOND heart attack risk by 66% (that’s a VERY powerful response, by the way…)

Clearly, these results relate to dark chocolate, NOT milk chocolate.  The darker the better.  For those of you who think dark chocolate is too bitter, consider finding chocolate with berries and / or nuts mixed in such as those made by Endangered Species.  You should be able to find one that is perfect for you.

Back to this study…

Researchers did some number crunching on how many heart attacks could be prevented by consuming 100 grams of dark chocolate per day.  First, 100 grams is a LOT of chocolate to consume in a day (ok…maybe not that hard to consume…).  I usually recommend a few squares per day coupled with some walnuts, pecans or almonds.

The conclusion?

8.5 less heart attacks per 1,000 patients treated (1.5 of which were deaths prevented).  Not too far off from the statins, and when you consider the estimated cost of $42 per year vs $2400, we begin to get a clearer answer.  And, given the demonstrated protective effects of dark chocolate on second heart attacks, the benefits may be stronger over the long haul.

In addition, other than enjoyment and possibly choking on a chocolate bar, I’m not sure I’ve come across any studies on the side effects of dark chocolate consumption.  And really…if your cardiologist looked you in the eye and said, “Now Ms. Jones, I’m going to need you to take your dark chocolate every day to protect your heart…” just how high would YOUR compliance be with dark chocolate vs medications?

So, settle in for some dark chocolate and a glass of red wine after dinner and know you’re protecting your heart in some powerful ways.

Please share in the comments how YOU prefer to eat your dark chocolate…