Cholesterol conspiracy: Why statins aren’t the answer

Cholesterol has become a buzz word in the health care arena. Turn on the TV and you’ll see commercials for cholesterol lowering medications. Talk to your friends and they’ll probably tell you that they have high cholesterol and their doctor is treating it with a statin drug (go ahead, think about it. You probably have some friends or relatives diagnosed with high cholesterol).

We’re being duped! A lie is a lie, even if the truth is being stretched. The word cholesterol has somehow, with the help of media, become a bad chemical. Now Cheerios© claim to help “lower cholesterol.” Let’s look at the whole picture here.

What is cholesterol?

Cholesterol is a lipid that is essential to life, especially our cells since the cell membranes are composed of it.

Some of the functions of cholesterol:

• It is a precursor to the steroid hormones made in your body (estrogen, testosterone, DHEA, progesterone, cortisol, aldosterone)
• Precursor for vitamin D synthesis
• Important in the manufacturing of bile, which aids in fat digestion
• Important for the metabolism of the fat soluble vitamins (A D E K)
• Maintains the fluidity of cellular membranes

The Lipid Hypothesis:

In efforts to find the culprit for cardiovascular diseases, researchers began to point the finger at cholesterol being the prime suspect. Finding cholesterol plaques lining the artery walls led researchers to deduce that the narrowing of the space with the vessel was the prime cause for cardiovascular disease. The solution to the problem was to lower the amount of circulating cholesterol. Hooray (right?)!!!  Read on…

Enter the Statins:

In 1971, Japanese researcher Akira Endo discovered that a toxin produced by Penicillium citrinum actually inhibited the enzyme HMG-CoA reductase (the enzyme that makes Cholesterol). Its a natural defense mechanism that these bacteria evolved which would eventually kill the “predator.” This toxin was called Mevastatin. Then in 1976 Merck isolated another toxin from the fungus Aspergillus terreus, which inhibited HMG-CoA reductase, and called it Lovastatin.

Pharmaceutical companies began to isolate HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors from various microbes and then eventually began to synthesize it in the test tube.

Fast forward 25 years and statins become the #1 selling drug in the US, bringing in BILLIONS of dollars for the pharmaceutical industry.

Take home point: statins are toxic compounds meant to kill.

Have we solved the problem?

The logical conclusion you can draw from this is that since cholesterol build up cause cardiovascular disease and statins inhibit cholesterol production, there should be less cardiovascular disease in the US since it’s the #1 selling drug.

Yet according to the CDC, in 2005, heart disease was the leading cause of death, and stroke was the #3 leading cause of death.

Hmm…doesn’t seem like we solved the problem here.

Follow the white rabbit down the money trail…

Show me the MONEY!!!  Lipitor continues to top the list of the best selling drugs worldwide.  In 2006, sales topped $12.9 billion dollars.  Think about that.  The company who manufactures Lipitor is Pfizer.  In 2007 Pfizer listed revenues of $48.8 billion dollars.

In 2005, they maxed their contribution to the re-election of president George W. Bush ($250,000).

A 30 count 20mg bottle of Lipitor costs roughly $114.  Doctors tell you that you’ll need it for the rest of your life…adds up to thousands per person.

So how did lipitor rise to the top of the list?  Well, with MDs buying into the lipid hypothesis and then transmitting false information to their patients and organizations such as the American Heart Association lowering the “acceptable” levels of circulating cholesterol…you can see where this is going.  Tell every patient that they need to get their cholesterol levels checked, have the media express concern over the link between high cholesterol and death, and now you have a recipe for increased sales.

Another point to add in here is that “high cholesterol” has no signs or symptoms.  If it shows up on blood tests, your doc will probably instill some fear in you that you’re “at risk” and then quickly pull out the prescription pad.

Stay tuned for the next installment of the Cholesterol conspiracy…