Why Don’t I Like Cholesterol Lowering Medications?

High cholesterol can be caused by a variety of factors. Your age, gender, and genetics play an important roll in your risk of high cholesterol. Your weight, diet, activity level, and stress levels also play a huge roll on your risks. Thankfully, these factors are controllable through lifestyle change. Not all cholesterol is created equal. HDL, or high-density lipoprotein, is known as good cholesterol. This is a very beneficial cholesterol to have in high levels, as it carries the fat through the blood and prevents it from depositing on your arteries. Bad cholesterol is known as LDL or low-density lipoprotein. LDL cholesterol is considered “bad” because it contributes to plaque, a thick, hard deposit that can clog arteries and make them less flexible. Experts believe HDL acts as a scavenger, carrying LDL cholesterol away from the arteries and back to the liver, where it is broken down and passed from the body. You should also consider your triglyceride levels. Generally speaking, for an adult, a healthy cholesterol level should ideally be between 100-200 mg/dL.

Statins—a class of drug that includes atorvastatin (Lipitor), simvastatin (Zocor), and others—are among the most effective drugs for lowering cholesterol. They are also among the most widely prescribed drugs of all time. Statins, also known as HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors block the action of an enzyme (HMG-CoA reductase) made in the liver that is required to produce cholesterol, hence their name, HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors.

Like other drugs, however, statins have potentially serious side effects, and there are instances in which they should not be taken.

• About 10-20% of statin users get aches and pains. The higher your dose, the more likely you are to experience aches and pains.
• There are reported rhabdomyolysis cases in which muscle cells break down and release proteins, such as myoglobin, that damage kidneys.
• Pain in the thighs, shoulders, upper arms, and lower back even when you are at rest.
• If you develop an infection and your doctor recommends treatment with an antibiotic or antifungal drug without knowing that you use statins, you are at greater risk of muscle damage.
• Increase in liver enzymes. Therefore, you should have a blood test within six weeks of starting a statin.
• If you have asthma, your lung function may worsen. Asthma medications may need to be readjusted
• If you are pregnant, thinking about having a baby, or breastfeeding, you should not take statins. Cholesterol is a building block for developing brains, hearts, and limbs.

The report, published March 30, 2015, in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, combines the experts’ collective clinical wisdom with previously published research on the benefits and potential downsides to long-term statin use.

“Given that heart disease tops mortality charts as the number one killer of Americans, ‘to statin or not to statin’ is one of the most important questions faced by patients and physicians alike,” says lead author Seth Martin, M.D., M.H.S., an assistant professor of cardiology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

The U.S. FDA is also advising consumers and health care professionals that:

• Cognitive (brain-related) impairment, such as memory loss, forgetfulness and confusion, has been reported by some statin users.
• People being treated with statins may have an increased risk of raised blood sugar levels and the development of Type 2 diabetes.
• Some medications interact with lovastatin (brand names include Mevacor) and can increase the risk of muscle damage.

Are statins good or bad

The answer to that question cannot be a simple one. If a person has a severe liver reaction when on statins, then they are obviously bad. However, a good doctor will find that out. Most studies agree that the benefits of statins, if prescribed properly and to suitable patients, far outweigh the risks.

What do I do for my own high LDL problem?

I personally have a high level of LDL and never agreed to use statins for treating this ‘problem.’ I simply added a couple of natural products to my diet and kept exercising. My blood results showed that the cholesterol level slowly went down. Here’s what I do:

• I soak raw almonds in alkaline water overnight (at refrigerator) and eat 7-10 of them and drink big glass of alkaline water before every meal.
• Between breakfast and lunch, I eat 1 cup of natural yogurt (preferably made at home) mixed with 1 teaspoon powder ginger + 1 teaspoon turmeric + 1 teaspoon cinnamon + 1 teaspoon raw honey.
• I use coconut oil and/or olive oil for cooking and use lots of garlic (when it is cooked, you do not smell like garlic…No worries!)
• Consume oatmeal for breakfast (cooked with 2 chopped walnuts, 1 tablespoon flaxseed and almond milk)
• 1000mg Omega 3/day
• After every meal, I eat a small piece of dark chocolate.