Statins

[Justit]

There is a lot of controversy around statins. Some cardiologists seem to recommend them to nearly everyone, while others warn that these drugs have many side effects and harm your muscles, bones, hormones, cognitive functions and just about everything else. Statins definitely lower cholesterol levels on paper, but they do not seem to have a meaningful impact on the body’s actual cholesterol balance and cholesterol-related processes. What are your thoughts or experiences with statins?

 

[JohnnyDoe]

We could call statins a billion dollar scam.

Statins are drugs that block your liver from making cholesterol. Doctors hand them out like candies to anyone whose lab results show a number slightly outside a reference range invented by pharmaceutical committees. The sales pitch is “they prevent heart attacks”. The reality is they boost profits.

Cholesterol isn’t your enemy: it’s an essential molecule for hormones, cell membranes, and brain function. Statins inhibit the enzyme HMG-CoA reductase, reducing your body’s natural production line, and also a bunch of other molecules, like CoQ10, dolichols, Ras, Rho. Result: your testosterone drops, your brain fogs, your muscles ache, your risk of diabetes rises, but your doctor will tell you that’s “just normal aging”.

Statins reduce a number (LDL) but don’t meaningfully reduce all-cause mortality for most people. The benefit is statistically very tiny and clinically irrelevant unless you already have a serious heart disease. In contrast, the side effects are serious and life threatening: persistent fatigue, memory problems, liver damage, mitochondrial dysfunction, and destruction of CoQ10, what your cells need for energy.
The tragedy is that millions of people swallow this poison daily because they trust white coats more than biochemistry. It reminds me of the cure-it-all mercury treatment, so much in vogue in the past: totally useless for curing anything, highly toxic. Amongst many, Paganini died from it in 1840.

Cholesterol is never the problem; inflammation, insulin resistance, and processed food are.

 

[Justit]

Great example of mercury treatment, modern statin therapy seems strikingly similar.

Interestingly, the largest studies reporting benefits of statins have been sponsored by pharmaceutical companies rather than conducted independently.

From what I observe in real life, some people taking statins experience significant side effects, including but not limited to severe brain fog, strong muscle pain, and long-lasting painful cramps at night, while others feel nothing. However, all statin users show noticeable liver damage in blood tests. These liver parameters improve, and the side effects disappear once statins are discontinued (at any age!) demonstrating that the muscle pain and brain fog were not due to aging.

Statins became widely prescribed starting from the late 1980s.
Alzheimer’s disease increased significantly starting from the late 1980s.

But current researches seem not to support statins causing Alzheimer’s disease. Just wondering if it really is a coincidence…