Cholesterol — How The Drugs Don’t Work

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The cholesterol debate is well and truly a sizzling topic at the moment, as many people start to realise that cholesterol is far from the villain mainstream medicine has made it out to be for the past 30 years.

If you consider that cholesterol is essential for cell membrane formation, the production of steroid hormones like oestrogen and testosterone, and that it is used to synthesise vitamin D, it makes perfect sense to doubt what the mainstream has been telling us for so long... Clearly, cholesterol helps your body to heal and repair itself!

Cholesterol drugs are hidden behind a smokescreen

Adding to this madness are side-effect ridden cholesterol- lowering drugs, like statins, that we are told to take as a ‘cure-all’ morning, noon and night.

Our regular readers will know that, here at the Daily Health, we’ve warned many times before that taking these drugs should be your absolute last resort, even if you are concerned about your cholesterol levels.

Statin drugs have been linked to an increased risk of poly- neuropathy (nerve damage that causes pain in the hands and feet and trouble walking), dizziness, memory loss, increased risk of cancer, depression and liver dysfunction... to mention only a few side effects.

Even though it is questionable at this point, whether it’s right to lower cholesterol at all, many still argue that it may be necessary in some cases and that taking these drugs (in spite of their health risks) is effective...

Whilst most cholesterol-lowering drugs will succeed in lowering your cholesterol, they’re not necessarily making you any healthier... or helping to prevent heart disease for that matter!

One way to prove this, is by looking at NNT, or number needed to treat statistics.

If you haven’t heard of NNT before, don’t feel bad because chances are your doctor hasn’t heard of it either... which shouldn’t come as a major surprise...

NNT answers the question: How many people have to take a particular drug to avoid one incidence of a medical issue (such as a heart attack)?

For example, if a drug had an NNT of 50 for heart attacks, then 50 people have to take the drug in order to prevent one heart attack.

Sounds simple, doesn’t it?

Well, not if you are a drug manufacturer. These guys would much rather that you didn’t focus on NNT... See, if you did, you’d have an entirely different view on their so-called ‘miracle drugs’.

Let’s take Pfizer’s statin, Lipitor, as an example. It is the most prescribed cholesterol drug in the world and on the Lipitor web site, Pfizer boasts that this drug is clinically proven to lower bad cholesterol 39-60 per cent (depending on the dosage). Now, for Joe Public that will sound pretty impressive, right?

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Always read the small print

However, a recent newspaper article exposed the real truth behind the so-called effectiveness of Lipitor... better still, the REAL numbers were found right on one of Pfizer’s own advertisements for the drug.

At first glance, the Lipitor ad boasts that it reduces heart attacks by 36 per cent. But when you take a closer look, you’ll see an asterisk... following the asterisk, you will find this small print:

"That means in a large clinical study, 3% of patients taking a sugar pill or placebo had a heart attack compared to 2% of patients taking Lipitor."

This means that for every 100 people who took the drug, three people on placebos, and two people on Lipitor, had heart attacks... So, ultimately, taking Lipitor resulted in just one fewer heart attack per 100 people... and the other 99 people, well, they’ve just increased their risk of a multitude of dangerous side effects for absolutely nothing!

Of course, this is just the tip of the iceberg and when it comes to exposing the myths surrounding lowering cholesterol... there is still a lot more to be uncovered. Dig a little bit deeper and you’ll find that we’ve all been led around by the nose for far too long.

Our dedicated blog, The Cholesterol Truth, it committed to exposing the truth about cholesterol and this week our contributing editor, Dr. John Briffa, shows that there is little evidence to support a link between saturated fat and heart disease... something you probably won’t hear your own doctor tell you when he discusses your heart health with you.

To read his latest post, click here:

The Cholesterol Truth Related Reading:

The Polypill is Still Being Pushed as The Next ‘Miracle Cure-All’

HDL Cholesterol Shows Therapeutic Potential In The Fight Against Heart Disease

High HDL Cholesterol Levels Lower Bowel Cancer Risk

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Sources:

IMS Heallth. IMS National Prescription Audit Plus July 2007.

"Do Cholesterol Drugs Do Any Good?" published online, January 17, 2008, BusinessWeek.com

‘The Cholesterol Myth that is Harming Your Health’ published online 10.08.2010, articles.mercola.com