> Health and Disease > Heart/Cardiovascular > high cholesterol

If you’ve been diagnosed with high cholesterol, you’re in good company. Nearly half of all Canadian adults have elevated cholesterol levels, and millions have been prescribed one of the popular lipid-lowering drugs called statins.

No doubt about it - statin drugs, such as atorvastatin (brand name Lipitor), lovastatin (Mevacor), and simvastatin (Zocor), to name three of the five statins available, do lower cholesterol. However, as with most drugs, they have a dark side. Adverse effects include liver toxicity, muscle inflammation and weakness, gastrointestinal symptoms, rash, and blurred vision. Their most sinister effect is that they also block the body’s production of coenzyme Q₁₀ (CoQ₁₀).

Statins work by inhibiting the enzyme HMG-CoA reductase, which is required for the production of cholesterol. This enzyme is also involved in the manufacture of CoQ₁₀, a compound that is essential for energy production and is especially abundant in the cells of the heart. Statins deplete the body of CoQ₁₀ by as much as 40 percent, slowly draining the batteries that fuel the heart and other muscles.

CoQ₁₀ deficiencies and heart failure go hand in hand, and patients with the lowest levels generally have the most severe disease. We are seeing heart failure like never before, and I believe that the CoQ₁₀ deficiencies caused by our increasing reliance on statin drugs are largely responsible for this epidemic.

The companies that manufacture statin drugs have long been aware of this problem. Merck & Co., which introduced the first statin drug in 1987, has patents on statin-CoQ₁₀ combinations "for the avoidance of myopathy," which are abnormalities of the muscle cells, the most serious of which is cardiomyopathy, a weakening of the heart. We don’t know why Merck has never made a combo product.

Tackle Cholesterol Without Drugs

Although statin drugs have potential benefits and are beneficial in some cases, to suggest that millions of us need to be taking a specific class of drugs is sheer folly, especially when we have at our disposal far safer, more effective means of lowering cholesterol and protecting ourselves against heart disease.

Cholesterol isn’t the only risk factor for heart disease. It’s not even the most significant of several factors, including inflammation, elevated homocysteine, and low antioxidant status. These can be modified through diet, exercise, and nutritional supplements. Monitoring our HDL, LDL, and total cholesterol ratio can also help. Working to keep HDL levels high may offset elevated total cholesterol.

Before reaching for a statin drug, try these natural cholesterol-reducing therapies:

• Follow a high-fibre, plant-rich, low-saturated fat diet, and get one-quarter cup (60 ml) freshly ground flax seed daily.
• Try phytosterols (a minimum of 1,200 mg per day), red yeast rice (600 to 1,200 mg twice a day, taken with 100 mg of CoQ10), or both. Look for them in your health food store.
• Niacin, policosanol (from sugar cane or beeswax), gugulipid (the Ayurvedic herb), and garlic have also proven effective in lowering cholesterol.
• Most importantly, use statin drugs only as a last resort when a genetically based, substantially elevated cholesterol level exists - or with those who are just too apathetic to implement lifestyle changes. If you do have to take a statin, take at least 200 mg of CoQ₁₀ every day along with the drug and have your CoQ₁₀ blood levels monitored regularly.

Statin Research Reveals Surprises

In 2002, Canadian physicians doled out 14 million prescriptions for statins to patients who don’t necessarily have clogged arteries but are considered to be at risk for heart or stroke attacks because of high cholesterol, obesity, or hypertension.

Several large research studies, involving nearly 40,000 people, have revealed that statins only slightly lower the risk of heart attacks and strokes and may increase the incidence of other serious health problems, including cancer, cognitive problems, muscle weakness, and muscle breakdown (rhabdomyolysis).

Researchers at Therapeutics Initiative, a UBC organization that provides up-to-date, evidence-based information on rational drug therapy, note the studies reported that groups ingesting statins had similar levels of serious adverse events as those people who were provided with placebos.

Until recently statins were thought to cause few side-effects. This was proven to be untrue in 2001 when Bayer voluntarily withdrew Baycol, a cholesterol-lowering statin, after the drug was linked to least 31 deaths in the US. Many of the patients who died developed muscle breakdown (rhabdomyolysis), a rare condition that can lead to kidney failure.

If you are currently taking cholesterol medication, consult your health-care practitioner for further information about your condition.

Julian Whitaker, MD, is founder of the Whitaker Wellness Institute Medical Clinic in Newport Beach, California. He has written eight books, including Reversing Hypertension, Reversing Diabetes, and Reversing Heart Disease (Warner Books). For more information, visit drwhitaker.com or call 1-800-539-8219.

Source: alive #256, February 2004