50 Facts on Statins, Cholesterol and Heart Health

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50 Facts on Statins, Cholesterol and Heart Health Written and Contributed by Site Member Pat Dougan 1. Vitamin D is synthesized from cholesterol by sunlight. 2.

1 50 Facts on Statins, Cholesterol and Heart Health Written and Contributed by Site Member Pat Dougan 1. Vitamin D is synthesized from cholesterol by sunlight. 2. Cholesterol is the precursor for a whole class of hormones known as the steroid hormones that are absolutely critical for life... a primary component for most sex hormones, bile acids, aldosterone, cortisol and calcitriol (necessary for maintaining the proper calcium in our bodies.) 3. Cholesterol and fats are not related. 4. There is no connection whatsoever between cholesterol in food and cholesterol in blood. And we ve known that all along. Cholesterol in the diet doesn t matter at all unless you happen to be a chicken or a rabbit. Ancel Keys (fabricator of the cholesterol myth). 5. Fats and cholesterol are moved through the system by lipoproteins. 6. HDL, high density lipoprotein, (not cholesterol). 7. LDL, low density lipoprotein, (not cholesterol). 8. VLDL, very low density lipoprotein, (not cholesterol). 9. VLDL s are manufactured in the liver used to transport fat and cholesterol. 10. LDL s are the reduction of VLDL s after the fats and cholesterol have been delivered. 11. VLDL s are raised by eating carbohydrates. 12. High fat diets lower VLDL s... check out the results from the Atkin s diet studies or any of the other high protein low carbohydrate diets. 13. Regardless of the variability of VLDL s, LDL levels remain relatively constant. 14. It has never been proven that saturated fats raise or lower LDL s. Dr William Castelli, Director of the Framingham Study [the largest continuous study of its kind in the world] states that the more saturated fat one ate, the more cholesterol one ate, the more calories one ate, the lower people s serum cholesterol (LDL). Dr George Mann, New England Journal of Medicine,

2 regarding the diet-heart hypothesis: The greatest scam in the history of medicine. 15. Statins block the Mevalonate pathway in the liver affecting the distribution of other important items necessary for healthy cell production and operation. The most notable is CoQ10, a primary support for heart cell growth and operation. Reduce cholesterol synthesis by 50% and you also reduce CoQ10 by 50%. If you take statins, you must take CoQ10. Statin drugs are now known to suppress the nuclear factor-kappa B response and thereby open a veritable Pandora s box of unpredictable consequences. Statin drugs also inhibit dolichol, vital to the intricate process of neuropeptide formation, consequently another broad range of potential behavioral manifestations. 16. After an eleven year study, the Surgeon General s office could not find evidence to support the diet-heart hypothesis i.e. saturated fat causes heart disease. 17. Even taking the best possible figures, from selected trials, and painting them in the best possible light if you took a statin for thirty years, you could expect five to six months of increased life and that is only for men with pre-existing heart disease. For women it is pointless and cannot extend your life by even one day. 18. The French have the highest rate of saturated fat consumption in Europe (Switzerland #2) yet have the lowest rate of heart disease (Switzerland #2). 19. After World War II, Switzerland s fat consumption increased by 20%. Heart disease fell. 20. The PROSPER pravastatin trials (as published in The Lancet) showed that though there was a reduction in cardiovascular disease (CVD), the increase in cancer deaths completely offset the slight decrease in CVD. 21. Professor Michael Oliver, Finland study ten year follow up, found that people who followed the controlled cholesterol-lowering diet were twice as likely to die of heart disease as those who didn t. 22. High cholesterol is not a risk factor for strokes. 23. The cholesterol levels in Japan since WWII have risen by 20% but the rate of strokes has fallen by 600% 24. Framingham Study: There is a direct association between falling cholesterol levels and an increase in CVD death rate. 25. No controlled, randomized study has ever been done in which raising HDL levels has

3 reduced the rate of heart disease. 26. Veins don t develop atherosclerosis unless they are removed and used to bypass an artery. 27. The brain contains over 25% of the total amount of cholesterol in the body and cholesterol is over 2% of the total weight of the brain. If you want the brain to function, it requires cholesterol. 28. Low cholesterol levels lead to reduced serotonin [anti-depressant] levels in the brain 29. From the Royal College of Psychiatry paper titled Low Cholesterol May Indicate a Risk of Suicide Lower cholesterol levels were related to higher levels of self-reported impulsivity. 30. Statin drugs have been linked to over 300 side effects... primary known statin side effects: polyneuropathy e.g., sensation changes, memory, speech impairment, joint pain, muscle pain & muscle damage (widely reported), fatigue, liver damage, cancer, cataracts, sexual dysfunction, serious degenerative muscle tissue condition (rhabdomyolysis) , FDA Adds New Warning Labels to Statin Drugs... Liver damage, Memory loss and confusion, Type 2 diabetes, Muscle weakness studies that show statin drugs are dangerous. 33. In forty years examining the link between saturated fat, cholesterol and heart disease, NO direct role for these substances in the causation of cardiovascular disease has ever been established. At best, it is still a hypothesis. 34. Coronary heart disease (CHD) deaths have been declining which includes non-fatal disease CHD is not; it is remaining steady or even increasing i.e. people are having just as many heart attacks as ever if not more but emergency medical treatment has become increasingly adept at saving their lives. Framingham Study: Our data indicate that the decline in mortality was primarily the result of improved survival among persons with new cases of cardiovascular disease, rather than the result of a substantial decrease in the incidence of the disease. 35. The AHA (American Heart Association) earns more than $650 million/yr primarily from endorsements and licensing fees (drug companies). From the Wall Street Journal and stated by the president of AHA, Our philosophy was that to get more money from politicians, we had to show that good things were happening. 36. High cholesterol levels have been associated with increased mortality before the age of fifty, but after this age cholesterol levels in men and women showed NO relationship with cardiovascular disease (CVD), stroke, or total mortality. Framingham Study: Those whose cholesterol levels had decreased during the study experienced an increase in both total CVD and

4 mortality. 37. Muldoon s reports in the medical literature documenting cognitive impairment in 100% of statin users if sufficiently sensitive testing is done ,000 Osaka residents age 40 69: every 39mg/dl drop in blood cholesterol was associated with a 21% increase in overall mortality. The lowest overall mortality rate was in patients whose total cholesterol (TC) was between mg/dl. The highest death rate were observed in those whose TC was below 150mg/dl. 39. MRFIT, 36,0000 men between 35 57: Those in the lowest cholesterol category, less than 140 mg/dl, had a higher all-cause death rate than all but the very highest category. The lowest mortality was seen across the mg/dl. 40. Use caution when reviewing mortality results: total mortality vs. CVD mortality should take precedence. If you are dead, you are dead regardless of the cause. Overall total mortality begins to rise when blood cholesterol drops below 180 mg/dl. Low cholesterol showed significant associations with death from cancer, liver diseases, and mental diseases. the low cholesterol effect occurs even among younger respondents, contradicting the previous assessments among cohorts of older people that this is a proxy or marker for frailty occurring with age. 41. NHLICB, special conference: Evidence from a multitude of studies was presented linking low blood cholesterol levels to increase in various cancers, hemorrhagic stroke, respiratory and digestive diseases, and violent death. 42. Muldoon: Low cholesterol levels can impair normal brain functions mean total reaction time of men in the lowest category of blood cholesterol (avg 152mg/dl) was 12.7 milliseconds slower than that of the highest category (avg 242mg/dl). 43. Japanese experience a low rate of heart disease and the longest average life expectancy in the world. By 2000 total fat and animal fat intake in Japan had risen over 250% from 1961 levels. 44. In 1960 the leading cause of death in Japan was stroke. Since both stroke mortality and incidence decreased dramatically, animal fat and protein intake markedly increased, blood cholesterol levels increased, while dietary salt intake and blood pressure levels decreased. 45. Japan studies: , men and women with the highest intake of animal fat had a 62% lower risk of ischemic stroke deaths. The highest quartile of saturated fat intake had a 70% lower risk of hemorrhagic stroke than those in the lowest quartile. 46. Framingham Study: in Framingham, MA, the more saturated fat one ate, the more

5 cholesterol one ate, the more calories one ate, the lower the person s serum cholesterol we found that the people who ate the most cholesterol, ate the most saturated fat, ate the most calories, weighed the least, and were the most physically active. 47. NCEP experts (funded by drug companies) cite compelling evidence and recommend LDL levels less than 70 mg/dl. Researchers however looking for the compelling evidence stated: no clinical trial subgroup analyses or valid cohort or case-control analyses suggesting that the degree to which LDL cholesterol responds to a statin independently predicts the degree of cardiovascular risk reduction. 48. Statin trials are controlled by drug companies who exclude patients e.g. women of childbearing age, history of drug or alcohol abuse, poor mental function, heart failure, arrhythmia and other cardiac conditions. Would you be allowed into a trial? This is hardly a sampling of the general population, the people that these drugs will affect the most % of prescription drugs are found to have serious side effects not detected prior to regulatory approval. 50. I am finished, if this isn t enough to convince you, 50 facts more won t make any difference. Originally published on the spacedoc forum, updated September 2016.

Fats, Oils, Triglycerides. About which Americans seem confused

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