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Email a friendIt all seemed so simple. If you just lowered your cholesterol you could reduce your risk of a heart attack or stroke.
Drug companies have done their best to keep you focused on medications that bring cholesterol levels down. Turn on TV or open a magazine and you are likely to see an ad featuring Dr. Robert Jarvik, known as the inventor of the artificial heart. He promotes Lipitor to lower cholesterol and he has been wildly successful.
The company brags that its statin-type medication has been prescribed to more than 26 million Americans. Lipitor earned its manufacturer more than $13 billion in 2006.
Lipitor is not alone. Millions of Americans take cholesterol-lowering drugs like Crestor, Mevacor, Pravachol, Vytorin, Zocor and Zetia. But puzzling new data have many patients confused.
Headlines recently announced the results of a study comparing Vytorin, which contains both Zetia (ezetimibe) and Zocor (simvastatin), to Zocor alone. Although Vytorin lowered bad LDL cholesterol 17 percent more than Zocor, the combination pill did not reduce dangerous plaque buildup in neck arteries. The patients on Vytorin may even have had slightly more plaque buildup.
Cleveland Clinic cardiologist Steven Nissen was stunned by the results and called on his colleagues to reconsider routine use of Zetia or Vytorin as first-line treatments. In 2006 18 million prescriptions were written for Vytorin and 14 million for Zetia.
Lowering cholesterol, especially bad LDL cholesterol, is supposed to be the Holy Grail for preventing atherosclerosis and cardiovascular events. But an earlier study of a novel medication called torcetrapib that lowers LDL and raises good HDL cholesterol was abandoned when patients taking the medicine actually had more heart attacks and strokes. The new study of Vytorin suggests that reducing LDL numbers may not be enough.
Even for tried-and-true cholesterol-lowering drugs, the benefit for any given individual may be smaller than people imagine. Lipitor, for example, has been shown in studies to prevent heart attacks.
Newspaper ads capitalize on this, announcing that Lipitor reduces the risk of heart attack by 36 percent. There is an asterisk next to that number, however, and here is the fine print: “That means in a large clinical study, 3 percent of patients taking a sugar pill or placebo had a heart attack compared to 2 percent of patients taking Lipitor.” (See Business Week, Jan. 17, 2008.)
In other words, if you had 100 people taking Lipitor and another 100 people taking an inactive placebo, there would be one less heart attack after several years among the folks on Lipitor. That certainly matters a great deal if you are the one who was spared. But if you are one of the other 99, the cost and risk of side effects may seem high.
No one should stop taking cholesterol-lowering medicine without medical supervision, but cholesterol is not the only thing that matters. Physicians have known for decades that there are over 200 risk factors for heart disease (New England Journal of Medicine, Nov. 14, 2002). Inflammation, stress, hostility, depression and high triglycerides are just a few of the other contributors to heart disease. Focusing on cholesterol alone could be a big mistake.
I love this article. It states exactly what I have been trying to explain to my family. I have been diagnosed with high cholesterol, and without my family doctor's support (but with my cardiologist's support -- the doctors had VERY DIFFERENT opinions and treatment philosophies), I have decided to forgo medication and alter my diet, increase my exercise and consume 3000 mg of fish oil daily. I believe that this will work far better and far faster than the medication, without side effects.
Lipitor caused me to lose my short term memory shortly after starting it.
I took Lipitor, and I ended up having to use a cane to help me walk. I started having problems walking and would fall if I did not have help when legs gave away. Was then given Crestor and still had problems. Quit taking anything and I am doing fine.
Am controling with diet and other natural things.
I took Vytorin and developed a rare autoimmune disease called polymyositis. I couldn't walk, drive or lift. Now after treatment it is only under control and the treatment can be as bad as the disease. I will have weakness and fatigue for the rest of my life. Doctors say it was not "caused" by statins but evidence does not bear that out in the myositis community.
I was taking zetia. It gave joint and muscle pain. I stopped using it and replaced with Red Yeast Rice 600 mg with no discomfort. Before the zetia I was on Lipitor. It gave muscle pain after two years of use. I'm trying to find an equivalence of 10 mg lipitor to 600 mg red yeast rice. Can you direct me?
When the statins first came out, I worked with a 39-year-old woman who was head of the food department at the nursing home. She was put on one of the new statin drugs for high cholesterol. Two months later she was feeling ill daily. After extensive testing she was told her liver enzymes were elevated. They couldn't figure why. No connection was made to the statin she was still taking. Six months later this nice lady with 2 teenagers and a husband was dying from liver cancer. I visited her the week before she died at Burlington memorial. She said, "I was never sick until I started on that cholesterol medication."
Five years later while working at High Point hosp., I got to know an older nurse who was one of the IV team. I later transferred to Psychiatry and rarely saw her. Sadly, mututal friends told me our older nurse friend had cancer. Later she was in our hospital not expected to live. I went to see her one evening on break. She said, "I know what gave me liver cancer. It was that statin drug I've been on for 3 years."
I can't help but wonder if 2 very lovely people that I knew and worked with died from their medication. Neither one of these deaths was ever attributed to the drugs. I've often wondered how many people die of liver cancer who had been on a statin drug and it's not reported to anyone, no connection made. Was it coincidence?
When It was suggested to me that I needed this med for a cholesterol of 250, I changed my diet. I began eating nothing but olive oil for cooking and salads and gave up processed food. Within 3 months I had lost weight and the cholesterol was no longer elevated. I'm afraid of the statin drugs.
I'm not sure, but to the poster who's taking red yeast rice, you may want to do some research. Just because something is "natural" doesn't mean it doesn't have potential side effects (in fact if it has any effect at all, it must have potential side effects).
Sometimes with "natural" products you also have the potential for getting more or less than you think you're getting, as they aren't as standardized dose-wise.
That said, I myself quit a statin when it caused muscle weakness (so can red yeast rice!). Be careful you don't jump out of the fryin' pan into the fire.
I was put on Zocor for high cholesterol. I was on it for approximately 6 years ago. It damaged my liver, so
I was put on Zetia, which really raised havoc on my system. I quit that and was put on Welchol. After 3 months my cholesterol has jumped to 325. Am now looking for natural alternatives. My liver has not started to repair itself and has gotten worse.
I have a lot of problems with my neck, so when I was having numbness in my leg and the bottoms of my heels, along with a lot of joint and muscle pain, I thought it was due to my neck. Since I have been off Zocor for 6 months now, I have noticed a significant improvement in the joint and muscle pain and the numbness is gone in one of my heels.
My mother has been taking the generic of Zocor for several years. They started her out on 40 mg and then raised it to 80 mg 30 days ago after blood tests showed her cholesterol was elevated. She is now in the hospital with kidney failure which the dr. is saying is from the Zocor. What I want to know is if there was ongoing damage, why did it not show up in the blood test which she had done on a regular basis? Should they have been doing a urine test as well? Everyone keeps telling me that she was on very high doses--true?
Just a note to say that I lowered my total cholesterol from 295 to 223 in two weeks by taking the Promise Activ Supershots. Don't know if it works for everybody but it did for me.
I would like to reduce my
cholesteral level which is presently 230. I understand that it should be below 200. Would it be safe to take Flax seeds with my meal on a daily basis? I have been told that it really helps but I am conserned if that would cause other problems
Hi, I have been on Lipitor for the last almost five years. I have noticed some memory loss and more falls and unsteadiness on my feet, and muscle aches. I moved to SLC Ut two years ago from AZ, and my cardiologist up here doubled the amount of the Lipitor than I was on--my cholesterol dropped below one hundred. When I was 45 my cholesterol was two hunderd and thirty nine. I kept at two hundred and ten with diet and fish oil and niacin. Last night after reading your article I stopped taking Lipitor. I used to work as a medical tech, and only saw one case of ALS. I read the obit. every day and have seen so many deaths of ALS and wondered why! Now I think I know. Just hope it isn't too late for me.
Was prescribed Lipitor for 234 Cholesterol. Developed flu-like symptoms for about 6 weeks. Stopped taking Lipitor and started feeling better within one day. Started daily intake of raw garlic (one clove) within 6 months cholesterol level at 180 has remained so ever since, about 3-4 years.