Home | About Natural News | Contact Us | Write for Natural News | Media Information | Advertise with Natural News
NaturalNews.com
drugs

Treating high cholesterol? Statin drugs can cause devastating side effects

Monday, July 10, 2006 by: Alexis Black, citizen journalist
Share/Save/Bookmark   Email this article to a friend Printable Version  FREE Email Newsletter

Articles Related to This Article:

Psychiatric Drugs: Chemical Warfare on Humans - interview with Robert Whitaker

The great direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertising con: how patients and doctors alike are easily influenced to demand dangerous drugs

The raw (and ugly) truth about the war on drugs



NaturalNews Store Specials:

Raw organic Vanilla powder at 40% off

SunWarrior Ormus Greens at 20% off (3-pack)

Revolutionary new Hurom Slow Juicer at the lowest price on the 'net + FREE shipping!

Certified Organic Nutiva Hemp Seeds at a huge discount (+ FREE bottle of hemp oil)

See more at the NN store...

Statin drugs, which promise to reduce the levels of bad (LDL) cholesterol in the body while improving the levels of good (HDL) cholesterol, are the fastest-growing class of prescription drugs in the world, but increasing evidence shows they may not be safe, and Canadian health officials are warning that statins can cause serious muscle damage.

Health Canada is now requiring manufacturers of statin drugs such as Lipitor, Zocor, Pravachol, Mevacor and Crestor to include warnings and information about the potential for muscle damage on patient safety information sheets, according to the Toronto Star.

General muscle pain is a side effect frequently experienced by patients on statin drugs. The drugs may also lead to a potentially fatal muscle-wasting disease called rhabdomyolysis in patients with certain pre-existing medical conditions. In this potentially deadly disease, muscle cells are destroyed and released into the bloodstream and can cause patients to suffer kidney failure.

Health Canada spokesperson Jirina Vlk told the Toronto Star the new warnings are a "precautionary measure" because so many Canadians are prescribed statin drugs to treat high cholesterol. "There's a high number of Canadians prescribed statins, so we want them to be aware of the risks associated with that," Vlk said.

Likewise, in the United States, millions of people are prescribed statin drugs. In 2001, Americans filled more than 57 million prescriptions for Lipitor, the most popular of the five available statin drugs.

Other possible side effects of statin drugs include nausea, diarrhea and constipation, and they have even caused severe memory and mental awareness problems in some patients. Most people concerned about their blood cholesterol levels can improve cholesterol naturally by making changes to their diet and exercise regime. In fact, a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed adding foods like tofu, almonds, cereal fibers, plant sterols and soy products can lower total cholesterol more effectively than statin drugs. See Mike Adams' NaturalNews article "Healing foods beat statin drugs for lowering high cholesterol" for more information on that study.

Of course, doctors continue to prescribe moneymaking statin drugs to millions of people around the world, posing a great risk to human health. Health Canada is taking a step in the right direction by stiffening the health warnings on prescription statin drugs. As more information surfaces about the risks of statin drugs, hopefully more people will begin to say no to drugs like Lipitor and Crestor and take responsibility for their health in a safer, more natural way.
Share


Get articles like this delivered to you FREE in our popular email newsletter



Related CounterThink Cartoons:


Related Articles:

Psychiatric Drugs: Chemical Warfare on Humans - interview with Robert Whitaker

The great direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertising con: how patients and doctors alike are easily influenced to demand dangerous drugs

The raw (and ugly) truth about the war on drugs

Take Action: Support NaturalNews.com

Email this article to a friend

Share this article on: NewsVine | digg | del.icio.us

Permalink to this article:

Reprinting this article: Non-commercial use OK, cite NaturalNews.com with clickable link.

Embed article link: (copy HTML code below):



(FREE) Thursday evening, Mar. 18 at 6pm Pacific (9pm Eastern), call in to hear the NaturalNews Talk Hour with our special guest Dr. Nicholas DiMartino talking about how to "Eliminate Fatigue - New Ways to Energize YOUR Health". Register via email to receive call-in details:
Enter Your Email::
Support NaturalNews sponsors:
Advertise with NaturalNews...

Explore NaturalPedia.com, the internet's largest natural health encyclopedia of knowledge, covering over 50,000 topics. It's free!
Visit NaturalPedia.com.


NEW Product: Valley of Longevity Shampoo from the Health Ranger

• 98% Organic
• 100% Natural
• 100% Fragrance Free!
• No SLS
• No Parabens
• No synthetic chemicals
• FREE shipping in U.S. on orders over $75

Click here to read more...


FREE Report: The Five Best Anti-Viral Products to Beat Influenza, Swine Flu, Bird Flu and SARS

• Top anti-viral remedies
• Where to get them now
• Four things to avoid
• Become self-reliant
• Boost your family safety

Click here to read the FREE report now.


What is this?


Enter your details to learn more:
First Name:
Last Name:
Email:



Enter the letters you see in the image above:

(Email privacy guaranteed.)

Breaking News Stories:

     See more breaking news...

Free Special Reports

How to Build Your Financial Safety Net
The 7 Principles of Mindful Wealth
The Healing Power of Sunlight and Vitamin D
The pH Nutrition Guide to Acid / Alkaline Balance
Pet Food Ingredients Revealed! (shocking)
Medicine From Fish
The Water Cure

Recommended Products Related to This Article*:

Free download: Selling Sickness (summary)
Read the best book on disease mongering
for learning the truth about Big Pharma

How to Halt Diabetes in 25 Days
Health Ranger guide to reversing diabetes
for reversing type-2 diabetes

Revealed: Natural Health Solutions (free)
Free summary of book by Mike Adams
for learning censored natural health remedies

The Weiss Method for Heart Disease
How to reverse heart disease naturally
for heart disease, high cholesterol

Exposed! The Toxic Chemistry of Products
Free summary of this shocking book
for learning the truth about toxic products

Appetite for Profit (free download)
Free download summary of this top book
for discovering the truth about food companies

Additional Products of Interest to All

Chia seeds at a huge discount
Chemical-free Chia seeds at a great price
for boosting your intake of omega-3s

Katadyn Exstream XR Water Purifier
#1 personal water purifier
for clean, pristine water in seconds

Preparedness Tools Natural News Bundle
For preparedness and safety: 60% off
for preparing for natural disasters

The Biology of Belief by Bruce Lipton
A free download of Biology of Belief
for learning about the mind-biology connection

The Genie In Your Genes by Dawson Church
A free, downloadable summary of this book
for learning about the biology of intention

Katadyn MicroPur Water Purifier Tablets
The best water purification tablets
for purifying almost any water source

* Products do NOT pay to be listed here. These are genuine, independent recommendations by the Health Ranger

☯ Products with this symbol are sold by NaturalNews or its affiliates and earn revenues for NaturalNews

Also on NaturalNews:

Streaming Health Ranger Videos
CounterThink Cartoons
FREE Special Reports
Podcasts


Home | About Natural News | Contact Us | Write for Natural News | Media Information | Advertise with Natural News

This site is part of the Natural News Network © 2009 All Rights Reserved. Privacy | Terms All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech. Truth Publishing International, LTD. is not responsible for content written by contributing authors. The information on this site is provided for educational and entertainment purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for professional advice of any kind. Truth Publishing assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. Your use of this website indicates your agreement to these terms and those published here. All trademarks, registered trademarks and servicemarks mentioned on this site are the property of their respective owners.