Statins are drugs commonly prescribed to lower cholesterol ( too commonly prescribed, unfortunately!).

The theory that fat and cholesterol cause heart disease became widely accepted despite much evidence to the contrary. This theory is not supported by clinical trials.

We need to maintain our cholesterol level at not less than160 mg/dL . Lower levels have been linked to depression, aggression, cerebral hemorrhages and loss of sex drive!

Yet another fact is that only a tiny minority of patients live longer by taking such medications. We quote one of the world’s top cholesterol myths debunkers, Uffe Ravnskov, M.D., Ph.D.: “People with high cholesterol live the longest”. This statement seems so incredible that it takes a long time to clear one’s brainwashed mind to fully understand its importance.

The concept of “good” and “bad” cholesterol is outdated. It is far more important to know whether you have a dominating pattern of small, dense, inflammatory cholesterol particles than to know your total amount of LDLs. Your total cholesterol and LDL levels simply don’t predict heart disease very well.

Fat does raise LDL cholesterol, but it increases the big, fluffy, harmless particles and reduces the small, dense inflammatory LDLs that actually contribute to heart disease.

The number one dietary contributor to heart disease is sugar, a far greater danger to the heart than fat. Reduce or eliminate sugar and processed carbs in your diet and you knock down triglycerides.High triglycerides are far more of a danger for heart disease than high cholesterol.

The benefits of statin drugs have been widely exaggerated, and any positive effect of these drugs has to do with their anti-inflammatory powers and absolutely nothing to do with their ability to lower cholesterol. Moreover, their side effects are grossly underreported. They should not be prescribed to the elderly, the vast majority of women and never to children. The only people who may benefit from statins are middle-aged men with coronary artery disease.

I recently had to intervene with my mother’s medication – prescribed by a cardiologist – she was taking statins with a cholesterol level of 124mg/dl! And it was quite an effort to get her to stop it. Another of my cardiologist (!) colleagues was prescribed statins after bypass surgery, despite ‘normal’ cholesterol level, because ‘that’s the protocol’. He had severe muscle pain but was not allowed to stop the medication!

Sometimes we just don’t stop to think. Hippocrates it was who said, ‘First, do no harm’. We need to ask ourselves, are we really doing that?