Cholesterol & The French Paradox

By Frank Cooper

Summarized with permission of Monahan Publishing.
All rights reserved.

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Statin Users: Case Examples

Following are some true stories of people who followed their doctor's advice and took statin drugs.

• A successful CEO took Lipitor for several years, then began to suffer from severe muscle pain and profound short-term memory loss. He was no longer able to function in his job and had to quit -- in his mid-50s. Even after stopping the drug, his memory has not improved.
• A 38-year old senior manager with an international company was told by his doctor that his cholesterol was too high. He immediately started a low-fat diet which did not lower his cholesterol. At his next physical exam, a statin was prescribed. Shortly after that, he experienced severe muscle pain and wasting. After visits to several specialists and surgery to extract a muscle sample, the third specialist finally told him to stop taking Lipitor but the muscle deterioration has continued.
• The very successful owner of an organic produce company was given Pravachol and then Lipitor. Over a two-year period, these drugs caused his cognitive abilities to decline to the point that he could no longer function. His business collapsed and his life savings was depleted while he was only in his mid-50s. His wife wanted to sue the pharmaceutical companies but no law firm would take the case.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is supposed to be monitoring these problems with drugs but they can only report what they receive. If the patient doesn't tell the doctor or the doctor doesn't take the time to fill out the FDA form, then the FDA doesn't have the information to report. According to Dr. Jay Cohen, who researched this issue, only one in 20 adverse side effects are actually reported. This does not include the many people who just stop taking the drug and don't tell their doctors.

Who Determines Cholesterol Guidelines?

In the United States, the Department of Health & Human Services is responsible for setting cholesterol levels. Within this department is the Expert Panel for High Blood Cholesterol consisting of medical advisors. This panel reviews the related research every few years and then updates their 300-page report. But they only review research that supports the cholesterol/heart disease connection, which recommends statins as a solution. They don't include anything about side effects, about other countries or on natural options to the statin drugs. This leads one to question the background of the panel: It turns out that most have connections to the pharmaceutical industry. Unfortunately, the global health care system looks to this report for guidance.

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