Statin Insanity by Randall
Neustaedter OMD
Also more on my webpages
http://www.nccn.net/~wwithin/cholesterol.htm
******
Natural Health Newsletter
Lowering cholesterol is the new Holy Grail, and the statin religion is
sweeping the country. This hoax perpetrated on the peoples of the western
world by multi-national pharmaceutical giants now steps into a new phase of
missionary zeal. The National Cholesterol Education Program released its
ambitious recommendations in the journal Circulation of the American Heart
Association (2004;110:227-239), urging even more people to lower their LDL
levels even further.
Forget that this crusade flies in the face of science and perpetuates a
disproven hypothesis. Despite the fact that lowering cholesterol does not
reduce mortality, medical pundits have brainwashed consumers and convinced
them that lowering cholesterol is a good thing. In fact lowering
cholesterol creates imbalances because cholesterol is the building block of
hormones. Lowering cholesterol prevents proper cellular function and puts
individuals at risk of disease. Nonetheless, an estimated 11 million
Americans take statin drugs to lower cholesterol, and medical gurus now
advise that 50 million Americans should take statins (Lipitor, Pravachol,
Crestor, and more new models to come). The cost of the drugs for this
colossal treatment program? At least $40 Billion. As if the levels of
cholesterol were not low enough already, the new guidelines call for more
aggressive treatment of "people at high risk" (translate: more drugs), and
even "people at moderate risk" should lower their LDL level below 100. Do
not allow anyone you know to take these dangerous and wrong-headed drugs
that have the potential to undermine health and create a hornet's nest of
trouble. If you still struggle under the mistaken belief that cholesterol
levels are associated with heart disease, I recommend you to the following
articles.
Malcolm Kendrick, MD, Why the cholesterol-heart disease theory is wrong
http://www.becomehealthynow.com/ebookprint.php?id=1112
Sally Fallon and Mary Enig, The dangers of statin drugs
http://www.westonaprice.org/moderndiseases/statin.html
And the following book
Uffe Ravnskov, MD, PhD, The Cholesterol Myths: Exposing the Fallacy that
Cholesterol and Saturated Fat Cause Heart Disease, NewTrends Publishing,
Washington, DC, 2000.
Oops, we forgot to tell you
Six of the nine panelists on the government Cholesterol Education panel
have received grants or consulting or speakers' fees from companies that
produce statin drugs. These companies stand to profit considerably from the
panel's recommendations. When the consumer watchdog organization Public
Citizen's Health Research Group blew the whistle on this conflict of
interest, the coordinator of the panel called the omission of financial
disclosures an "oversight."
How about women?
The same week that the US Government decreed that 17 percent of its
population should take statin drugs, another study was released that showed
lowering cholesterol in women had no effect on mortality. Yet the
government would still like men, women, and children to line up for
prescriptions.
A study published by the American Medical Association in May examined the
results of 13 clinical trials looking at the effect of statin drugs on
women. They found that lowering cholesterol with drugs had no effect on
mortality regardless of whether they had heart disease or not.
Walsh JM, Pignone M. Drug treatment of hyperlipidemia in women. JAMA 2004
May 12;291(18):2243-52.
Don't forget the kids
Did someone mention children? A study published by the AMA in July
evaluated the safety of giving children aged 8 to 18 years a statin drug
for two years to lower cholesterol in addition to a low-fat diet. The study
found that the drug was successful and did not cause measurable damage to
hormones, growth, sexual maturation, or liver tissue. Watch for the next
phase of recommendations to include children, thereby continuing the
profitable expansion of this lucrative travesty masquerading as preventive
medicine.
Wiegman A, et al. Efficacy and safety of statin therapy in children with
familial hypercholesterolemia: A randomized controlled trial. JAMA 2004;
292:331-7.
Calcium a key to weight loss
The results of recent studies published in the past few months support the
contention that a calcium-rich diet accelerates fat loss in obese adults.
Michael Zemel is the researcher and author responsible for much of this
information. He writes that dairy sources of calcium contain bioactive
compounds (angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and the amino acids in
whey), which act together with calcium to decrease fat stores. The
mechanism occurs through a hormone called calcitriol. Low levels of dietary
calcium cause an increased production of calcitriol by the body. The
hormone causes the body to hoard its calcium stores by sending more calcium
into fat cells and storing more fat. When calcium is increased in the diet,
then calcitriol production decreases. Less calcium goes into fat cells.
Less fat is stored and more is burned.
A study published in April 2004 divided obese patients into three groups.
One group was put on a standard weight-loss diet, a second group on this
diet with supplemental calcium, and a third group with increased dairy in
the diet. The group with the high-dairy lost 70 percent more weight than
the group on the standard diet alone. The group with supplemental calcium
lost 26 percent more weight than the standard group.
Full disclosure: this research was funded by the dairy industry.
Nonetheless, eating dairy products throughout the day in the form of
organic whole milk yogurt, non-homogenized whole milk, and cheese has other
health benefits as well including the prevention of osteoporosis and
maintenance of a favorable balance of protein to carbohydrate in the diet.
Obviously, some people have difficulties eating dairy products because of
lactose intolerance, food allergies, or food sensitivities. Tailoring an
individual diet to your body's needs is essential.
Zemel MB, et al. Calcium and dairy acceleration of weight and fat loss
during energy restriction in obese adults. Obesity Research 2004 Apr;
12(4):582-90.
For more information see Zemel's book.
The Calcium Key, by Michael Zemel, John Wiley and Sons, 2003.
A New Era for Holistic Pediatrics
I am pleased and proud to be a founding member and co-president of the
newly formed Holistic Pediatric Association, which has the potential to
transform pediatric medicine. I urge everyone interested in child health to
participate. Please logon to the website, join as a health professional, or
subscribe to the free HPA newsletter for parents at
www.hpakids.org.
The expansive HPA website contains a professional referral directory, an
archive of pediatric articles, and access to the email newsletters and
registration. The HPA plans a wide range of activities and services for
practitioners and for parents, and we welcome your participation.
Randall Neustaedter OMD, LAc
Classical Medicine Center
1779 Woodside Rd., Suite 201C
Redwood City, CA 94061
650 299-9170
Author of The Vaccine Guide, North Atlantic Books, 2002
Subscribe to my free email newsletter.
Reply with "subscribe" in the subject box or
go to my website at www.cure-guide.com
to view previous newsletter articles.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]