As an ex-drug chemist, I witnessed how drug side-effects are hidden from patients and doctors by �big Pharma.� Cholesterol-lowering drugs such as Lipitor, Crestor, Pravachol, Zocor and Mevacor serve as poignant examples.

Cholesterol-lowering drugs decrease CoQ10 levels within the heart. This essential nutrient serves as an energy producing molecule and is crucial to proper cardiovascular function. Without it, the heart fails. Congestive heart failure is the outcome. This was highlighted when Merck, makers of the first cholesterol-lowering drug, filed for a patent for its profit-pulling �Mevacor.�

Cholesterol-lowering drugs can also destroy memory. Cholesterol works to ensure the integrity of the �myelin sheath.� This coating within the brain is responsible for encouraging the passage of electrical messages. It is needed for memory and focus. As the cholesterol-lowering drugs deplete cholesterol the myelin sheath breaks down. Memory deteriorates.

Cholesterol-lowering drugs can increase the risk of cancer. Studies show they mimic a growth factor responsible for its proliferation. The growth factor is known as VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor). VEGF is �cancer fertilizer.� Thus, Cholesterol-lowering drug users are creating an environment within their body conducive to cancer growth.

The fact that cholesterol-lowering drugs can potentially cause cancer will never be mainstream. Drug company-funded studies are conveniently short in nature, typically 5 years or less. It takes decades for cancer to develop. Heavy smoking will not cause lung cancer within 5 years.[1] Yet it is a well-known fact that smoking leads to lung cancer. As long as the cholesterol-lowering drug trials last only 5 years, this side-effect will continue to fly below the radar. A coincidence?

Side-effects of cholesterol-lowering drugs are disounted by medical doctors because they are usually hidden by drug companies who pay for the study. Consider: The British Medical Journal (BMJ) has reported that only 30% of statin drug trials have reported the number of participants with one or more negative side-effects caused by the drug![2]

According to USA Today, the U.S. Government is not sending out warnings either. They reported, �Statins have killed and injured more people than the government has acknowledged.�[3]

Fortunately, we don�t need to rely on cholesterol-lowering drugs to prevent heart disease. Studies show that cholesterol does not play a role in the pandemic killer. In fact, cholesterol appears to increase life-span. You will have to wrestle with this; it is the antithesis of what drug companies and medical doctors promote. But true nonetheless. In 2003, the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society showed that elderly with low total cholesterol levels (<189 mg/dL) were at higher risk of dying relative to those with cholesterol levels from 276 to 417 mg/dL!

In closing, heart disease is not a disease of high cholesterol. If cholesterol were the culprit this ubiquitous substances would clog up the entire 100,000 miles of adult veins, arteries and capillaries. Instead, 90% of the time, heart disease is caused by the narrowing of the spaghetti-sized coronary arteries. The rest of the arteries, veins and capillaries that nourish the body remain perfectly healthy despite being rich in cholesterol and fat. This observation alone renders the cholesterol theory of heart disease obsolete.

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Science has made great strides in identifying the true cause of heart disease �inflammation. Inflammation leading to heart disease is typically the result of nutritional deficiencies and poor lifestyle habits. Working to prevent inflammation is working to prevent heart disease. And this means you have more time to spend with family, watch the sunset, ride your bike, kayak or simply gaze at drug advertisements on television � they are as real and sometimes as entertaining as CSI.

Footnotes:

1, Ravnskov, Uffe. Statins as the new aspirin. Letters. British Medical Journal. 2002; 324:789 (30 March).
2, Law, M.R. et al. Quantifying effect of statins on low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, ischaemic heart disease, and stroke: systematic review and meta-analysis. British Medical Journal. 2003 June 28; 326 (7404): 1423
3, Sternberg, Steve. USA Today. 08/20/2001.