Cholesterol Part 2 – Statins

In my previous post I went into detail on how cholesterol, both HDL (high-density lipoprotein) and LDL (low-density lipoprotein), is actually an essential part of healthy brain function, not to mention the rest of the body. David Perlmutter, M.D., in his book “Grain Brain,” stresses that people with low cholesterol are known to have much higher risk for cognitive impairment, such as Alzheimer’s. He cites studies that show people, both young and elderly, with high cholesterol not only have healthier brain function, but also are far less likely to die from cancer and infection. And heart disease? Many people with high cholesterol never have heart issues while others with “normal” cholesterol have heart attacks and stokes, he says. But for some reason, mainstream medicine continues to terrorize Americans with the idea of the cholesterol boogie man, prescribing statins left and right, making them some of the most commonly prescribed medications in the U.S. As far as I can tell, the real boogie man here is statins – and oxidative stress, but we’ll save that for next time.

Perlmutter says the side effects of statins far outweigh any benefits the drug may offer. Statins are very effective in lowering LDL. However, LDL isn’t a cholesterol. It’s a protein that carries cholesterol and other nutrients to the various cells in the body, including neurons in the brain, where they support healthy function.

“Besides statins’ direct impact on cholesterol, they have an indirect effect on the supply of fatty acids and antioxidants,” Perlmutter writes. “They not only reduce the amount of cholesterol contained in LDL particles, but also diminish the actual number of LDL particles. So in addition to depleting cholesterol, they limit the stash available to the brain of both fatty acids and antioxidants, which are also carried in LDL particles. Proper brain functioning depends on all three of these substances.”

Statins “paralyze” a cell’s ability to produce coenzyme Q10, an important antioxidant found throughout the body that boosts the immune system and helps maintain the healthy function of organ muscle, including the heart, Perlmutter says. It also indirectly effects vitamin D production.

“The body makes vitamin D from cholesterol in the skin upon exposure to UV rays from the sun,” he writes in “Grain Brain.” If you look at the chemical formula for vitamin D, you’d have a hard time distinguishing it from cholesterol’s formula. They look virtually identical.”

So if not enough cholesterol is in the skin to be converted to vitamin D, obviously a D deficiency results. Vitamin D deficiency goes well beyond soft bones. It’s one of Dr. Dale Bredesen’s 36 causes of Alzheimer’s disease, which he outlines in “The End of Alzheimer’s.”

“If the brain didn’t demand vitamin D for proper development and function, then it wouldn’t have widespread receptors for it,” Perlmutter writes.

To make matters that much worse for statins, Bredesen writes in “The End of Alzheimer’s” that he and his team of researchers screened every Food and Drug Administration-approved drug, along with chemicals that could be potential drugs, in a search for any that may promote neuron formation and maintenance and stop the neuron destruction found in Alzheimer’s.

“Surprisingly, several of the statins … seemed to tip the balance in the wrong direction,” Bredesen writes, adding the cholesterol-lowering drugs actually caused a sequence of events that induced cell death, promoting cognitive decline.

Gee, that sure sounds like a drug I want to take.

One benefit of statins, shown in a major 2009 study called JUPITER, is its ability to reduce inflammation. Christiane Northup, OB-GYN, writes extensively about statins and women’s health in her book, “The Wisdom of Menopause.” She says the cause of heart disease is not high cholesterol but inflammation, which oxidizes LDL, making it small and dense and causing it to stick to blood vessel walls and build up plaque, promoting more oxidation. (Again, more on oxidative stress next week.)

“This is what JUPITER showed us – when you reduce inflammation, heart disease risk drops,” she writes. “The researchers happened to be focusing on statins as the means of reducing LDL, but statins are not without serious side effects and risks. (For example, JUPITER also showed that more people taking Crestor [a brand of statin] developed diabetes than did those on placebo.)”

Northrup then goes on to list additional side effects listed with statins: muscle weakness and pain, brain and nerve damage, heart disease and failure (seriously!) due to its negative impact on CoQ10 production, liver damage, psychiatric issues including depression, and cancer.

Mark Sisson in his book “The New Primal Blueprint” also weighs in on statins, saying they do very little to protect people from heart disease and heart attack.

“Some researchers have suggested that statins’ depletion of CoQ10 may nullify any potential benefits of statin therapy,” he writes. “So why are millions being advised to take dangerous, powerful drugs when lifestyle intervention is more effective and less expensive and has no side effects? Perhaps we like to search for easy answers with quick results, and statins produce a graphic and quick decline in blood cholesterol levels. Like other elements of conventional wisdom, there are billions of dollars invested and powerful market forces pushing us in the direction of swallowing drugs and their side effects, while the full story is lost amidst the hype of ‘lower your numbers quickly!’”

So, mounting research shows that high cholesterol not only has no real correlation to heart disease, but also promotes longevity, decreases one’s chances for developing other diseases and helps keep the brain functioning at optimal, healthy levels. On the other hand, low cholesterol promotes cognitive decline and hinders vitamin D production. Add statins to the mix and you get a whole other slew of negative side-effects and issues. The decision for me isn’t a difficult one.

In all the reading I’ve done, I’ve never known anyone to sing the praises of statins. And frankly, just the information in these four books mentioned above alone are enough for me to swear I’ll never in my life take the drug. In just a year and a half, my cholesterol jumped from 136 to 153, while this is by no means considered high, what if this trend continues and my next test shows it in the 170 range? My doctor already makes regular comments about my family history of heart disease. I would be willing to bet she’ll be ready to whip out the prescription pad if my numbers keep increasing at this rate. If that day comes, I will tell her with all confidence that I will not take a statin under any circumstances ever. I personally hope my cholesterol keeps right on climbing. As long as I maintain a lifestyle that prevents inflammation and oxidative stress, high cholesterol will remain a very healthy part of my life as I age.

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