The Overuse of Statins?

It’s been so disturbing to us the vast amount of Americans that are taking statins, such as Lipitor and Zocor. Seems like every other new patient is taking on them. Somehow I just know in my heart (no pun intended), that this should not be. The imminent question is, "Are we healthier?" Let’s read what some experts in the field have to say:

"The current campaign to convince every American to change his or her diet and, in many cases, to initiate drug therapy for life is based on fabrication, erroneous interpretations and gross exaggerations of findings, and very importantly, the ignoring of massive amounts of unsupportive data… it does not seem possible that objective scientists without vested interests could ever interpret the literature as supportive… It is depressing to know that billions of dollars and a highly sophisticated medical research system are being wasted chasing windmills." the late Dr. Russell Smith, an American experimental psychologist, that had participated in publishing two thorough reviews of the scientific data on the diet-heart hypothesis with more than 3000 references.

"The idea that saturated fats cause heart disease is completely wrong, but the statement has been "published" so many times over the last three decades that it is very difficult to convince people otherwise unless they are willing to take the time to read and learn what all the economic and political facts were that produced the anti-saturated-fat agenda." Dr. Mary Enig, international expert in lipid biochemistry and editor to the Journal of American College of Nutrition.

"From the very beginnings of the diet-heart hypothesis, study after study has demonstrated that high cholesterol is not a risk factor for women. It has been speculated that the female hormones have a heart protective quality. In fact it has been shown that low cholesterol is DANGEROUS for women. Researchers in France found that old women with high levels of cholesterol live the longest and healthiest lives while women with low cholesterol are 5 times more likely to die early." Dr. Natash Campbell-McBride, MD (is it a coincidence that our grandmother has cholesterol over 300, is 80 and going strong).

"A surge in Parkinson’s disease could be imminent because of the widespread use of statins." Dr. Xuemei Huang of North Carolina University (cholesterol is a necessary molecule in the body and accounts for over ½ the weight of the brain’s cortex.)

So of course it comes down to your own decision on whether to go on statins or not. I would like to say the billions of dollars being spent on statin therapy is well spent. But I’ve just not seen the evidence yet. I’m sticking with my ‘ole faithful – plenty of exercise, excellent diet, lots of water, chiropractic care and meditation. Maybe, just maybe, the innate healing capacity of my body will know what to do from there.