Wow, please stop the presses. When I heard this same physician-based advice from not 1, but 4 of my clients in a single month, I said to myself, it's time to address this issue. OK, first of all, Statin drugs, as many of you know, are drugs used to lower cholesterol, thereby intended as a preventative for heart attacks. So far so good. But here’s the strange part, each of my four clients (who had received this advice from their doctors) had cholesterol levels that were, in my opinion, far too low. These physicians, it seems, did not want to discontinue the drugs because of their belief that everyone can benefit from them. And as a practical matter it seems that once they are prescribed, they are rarely discontinued. Let me be crystal clear about this: I have been a pharmacist for almost 30 years and there has never been a drug recommended for disease prevention in everyone! This, in my opinion, is a tactic used by the pharmaceutical industry to make even more profits from what is already the most popular drug class in the world. And unfortunately, many physicians receive their drug information directly from the pharmaceutical industry. Although statin drugs do lower cholesterol, there is in fact, controversy as to how effective they are in actually extending life span. To date, there is no study to show a statistical decrease in mortality in women treated with statins.

Please let’s set the record straight, cholesterol is vital to health. It’s necessary for proper neurological functioning, hormone production and effectiveness, producing bile salts for fat digestion, maintaining integrity of cell membranes, to name just a few critical functions. Cholesterol is not “the bad guy” here. In fact, cholesterol can become too low, a condition that may be associated with depression, hormonal issues, decreased libido, blood sugar issues, fatigue, decreased healing time, and weakened immunity. Cholesterol is a problem only when levels become excessive, and is only one of many factors that can increase the risk of heart attack. So treating high cholesterol without considering all the other factors involved is simply not good medicine. Some of my clients, for example, have been prescribed statin drugs without ever having other inflammatory markers and other risk factors assessed.

So what are the “statin” drugs? The most commonly prescribed are Lipitor, Zocor, Lescol and Pravachol. These drugs are linked to many serious side effects, making it irresponsible, in my opinion, to recommend them except when absolutely necessary. And necessity is not a black or white situation. It depends on a person’s willingness and ability to reduce cholesterol using safer means such as diet, lifestyle changes and supplement approaches. Other inflammatory and risk markers should also be assessed first. And, the dose should be altered or discontinued when healthy cholesterol levels are achieved, if possible. There is some very limited preliminary study results that indicate statins may even reduce risk of future heart incidents in men with previous heart attack or heart disease history, even with healthy cholesterol levels. But this is still controversial, and the early evidence is only in men not women. As with all pharmaceuticals, the risks of side effects should always be weighed against the benefits. Now, don’t get me wrong, there is a place for statin drugs in medical treatment. I’m concerned, however, at their overuse, and often-minimal consideration of the serious side effects of these drugs. These side effects range from dizziness, digestive disturbances, headache and fatigue to much more serious side effects like profound fatigue, changes in eyesight, joint pain, liver toxicity (alcohol use should be limited) and muscle degeneration associated with muscle weakness and pain. This muscle weakness and pain may be debilitating, and may be associated with fever and flu-like symptoms. This particular side effect does not necessarily go away when the drug is stopped.

Alternatively, there are diet and lifestyle changes, as well as myriad supplements that can beneficially affect cholesterol. Of course in some cases where alternative approaches aren’t effective, cholesterol-lowering pharmaceuticals may, in fact, be appropriate. Again, there are many factors that increase risk of heart disease and a heart incident. All of these factors should be considered in a treatment plan, not just cholesterol levels. I can help guide you in making sure you are getting all of the factors tested and monitored.

Contact me to help you customize a plan that is right for you.

Lastly, as many of you know and as part of my practice, I frequently speak to groups about health and wellness . I’ve recently updated my speech about this topic to include the latest thinking and research. It’s an engaging and dynamic speech for a 60 or 90-minute presentation! Contact me if you’d like to provide this for your business or community group or even a group of friends.

You may also want to review the Other Topics we have Presented and Groups we’ve Worked with.

Many of you may remember about a year ago when a study from researchers at the John Hopkins University School of Medicine hit the front pages sending shock waves though the community that are still felt today. According to that report, Vitamin E supplementation is not only ineffective, but also shortens the lives of those who use it! They said supplementing with 400 iu or more of Vitamin E created a statistically significant increased chance of death by all causes. That increase in death rate was 0.4% (39 out of 10,000), and it included study subjects who died of accidents, suicides, homicides and natural disasters.

Less than a month after release of this study some of the world’s best scientists unleashed a firestorm of criticism and rebuttals of this study, stating the claims were unfounded and the study was severely flawed. So what happened to these rebuttals? The media ignored them! And yes, while they were published on the website of The Annals of Internal Medicine where the study was first published, this is a site that unfortunately the general public rarely sees.

What were these flaws? This was not a study but a “meta-analysis”, which means that the researchers hand- selected 19 studies out of thousands of studies looking at Vitamin E over a 12-year period. Why those 19? Because they supported their hypothesis that it can actually shorten life. Although none of the studies alone showed any harm, by combining all of them together they thought they could get a statistically significant increase in death rates from all causes. In addition, most of the study subjects already had serious diseases and some were even residents in nursing homes. The validity of studying supplementation in subjects with serious disease is questionable, since once serious disease has occurred the value of supplements is more limited. Hundreds of studies over that same 12-year period demonstrated that Vitamin E supplementation used for prevention in generally healthy people reduced heart and blood vessel disease, Alzheimer's disease, some types of cancer and macular degeneration.

I regularly have clients in my office who have stopped taking Vitamin E based on this irresponsible reporting. And worse yet, many report that their physicians tell them to stop or decrease it to a very low dose. Again, I have to repeat, look at the actual study before making any changes based on media coverage. And, although many physicians keep themselves educated about supplements, most do not. If you are taking advice from your physician about use of supplements, be sure he/she looks deeper than what’s reported in the newspapers for the accurate information and analysis of recommendations .

And keep taking those Vitamin E supplements. It is best to supplement with mixed tocopherols rather than just alpha tocopherol.

Supplements generally work synergistically so it’s best not to rely on the benefits of one supplement, but to follow a balanced program combining vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants that best suit your goals.