The ‘latest’ research (meta-analysis) say that statins cut heart attacks by 30 per cent, even in healthy people. It even went on to suggest that statins could also reduce death from ALL causes by 12 per cent...

Statins even cut heart risk in the healthy’ screamed the headlines this morning. Clearly, the truth is no substitute for a good headline... and clearly, the drug companies are beginning to up their stake in their attempt to squeeze more profit from our ailing health care system.

Recognising and preventing men's health problems is not just a man's issue. Its impact on wives, mothers, daughters, and sisters make men's health truly a family issue. National Men’s Health Week is a golden opportunity to focus on men’s health and to create awareness of men’s health issues as well as support men in making healthier choices. Forty per cent of men die before the age of 75 and in some parts of the country, average male life expectancy lingers in the mid 60s. Men develop heart disease on average 10-15 years before women and are twice as likely to develop and die from the 10 most common cancers affecting both sexes (excepting breast cancer, which is rare in men).

Another cause of muscular pain is vitamin D deficiency. A recent US study at the Cholesterol Centre, Jewish Hospital of Cincinnati looked at the relationship between vitamin D levels and myalgia in more than 600 individuals taking statins.

It’s a common fact that after a heart attack, depression may follow and that it can worsen the outcome of heart patients’ recovery. Now, US researchers from the University of Columbia reported new evidence that depression can lead to heart disease in the first place.

Diagnosis of heavy metal toxicity is serious and should be made by a reputable doctor or qualified natural health practitioner based on clinical symptoms and in conjunction with the necessary blood tests. Chelation agents have the potential to be toxic and should not be used without the supervision of a reputable doctor or qualified natural health practitioner. To put it plainly: Chelation is heavy-duty stuff. It should not be considered as a feel-good-therapy or as a just-in-case-treatment.

Chelation therapy is a treatment that is used to treat heavy metal poisoning. It most often involves the injection of ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) - also refered to as a 'synthetic amino acid' - that binds with (chelates) heavy metals, which include iron, lead, mercury, cadmium, and zinc. The term ‘chelation’ comes from the Greek word ‘chele’ which means claw, referring to the way the chemical grabs onto these metals. EDTA is a man-made amino acid, which has a particular affinity for toxic metals such as mercury, cadmium, aluminium and lead. If EDTA meets with these substances through an intravenous infusion or oral application, they bind and then are secreted through bodily waste.

A paper co-authored by Dr. Beatrice Golomb, associate professor of medicine at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and director of UC San Diego's Statin Study group cites nearly 900 studies on the adverse effects of statins. The result is a review paper, published in the American Journal of Cardiovascular Drugs, that provides the most complete picture to date of reported side effects of statins, showing the state of evidence for each. The paper also helps explain why certain individuals have an increased risk for such adverse effects above others.

Regular readers of our e-alerts will know that we’ve reported numerous times on the dangers of statin drugs and their side-effects. It seems like a never-ending tug of war between using prescription medication that possibly may lower cholesterol and other risk factors of heart disease but in turn puts the rest of your health in a dangerous predicament.

Statins are in the news again. This time it’s Crestor, the super-strong statin which is making headlines and by the looks of it is heading for world domination.

A recent study alerted me to the fact that inhalers prescribed for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) have been shown to increase the risk of heart failure by 67 per cent.