A blockbuster drug linked to cancer
You've heard me talk about this before—the extreme overuse of statins to lower cholesterol.
My first bone to pick is with mainstream medicine's so-called guidelines. It seems as if every year (probably in conjunction with Big Pharma's profit statements), they drop the cholesterol threshold. Thus, patients who were considered fine just a few months before become officially "at risk" and eligible for a lifetime of statins.
And if you think for one second that there's anyone they don't consider at-risk, consider one researcher's comment suggesting that we should put these "wonder drugs" into the drinking water.
That leads me to wonder whether someone put something in his drinking water!
And now new research is proving that your cholesterol level can actually be taken too low. And, such excessively lowered cholesterol levels are being linked to a higher risk of cancer.
One research group recently looked at the results of 23 different statin-drug trials, which included over 41,170 patients.
While the researchers were quick to point out that this particular analysis didn't finger statin drugs as the direct cause of the cancer, there was a higher associated risk. There was one additional case of cancer per 1,000 patients with the lowest levels of LDL "bad" cholesterol when compared with those with higher LDL levels.
There has also been an association between very low cholesterol and a higher risk of Parkinson's disease.
Scientists are requesting additional research on the long-term effects of lowering bad cholesterol—and how low is too low.
Add that to the other side effects of statins, such as liver and muscle damage. Furthermore, cholesterol is an important building block, such as for necessary hormone and cell membranes. It's becoming clear that in some people, lowering cholesterol to a too-low level has adverse effects on their health and overall functioning. We can't expect to severely restrict an important process—in this case the production of cholesterol—with a foreign-to-the-human-body drug molecule without expecting significant, even dangerous, side effects.
You have to wonder how many of these links and associations are buried in the drug companies' own files. After all, remember that they get to conduct their own research but, conveniently, are not required to provide all of it to the FDA.
So these companies rake in the profits for years until the long-term effects begin to rear their ugly heads (remember Vioxx?). Then, they pay off some lawsuits from that vat of money they've made and are no worse for the wear.
On to the next blockbuster drug, right?
And the cycle continues…
