Statin side-effects down to negative expectations, not the drugs, say study

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Researchers hope study will end debate around statins, which could benefit over six million UK patients who are not taking them, or take low dosages

Common side-effects of statins are not down to the drugs, but are instead a result of patients’ negative expectations, research suggests.

Statins are typically prescribed to help lower levels of “bad cholesterol” – or low-density lipoprotein – in order to reduce the risk of a heart attack or stroke. A recent report estimated that the drugs prevent around 80,000 such incidents a year in the UK.

Related: The drugs work: the truth about statins and SSRIs

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Statin side-effects down to negative expectations, not the drugs, say study

Could this be the reason you are depressed? Statin Drugs: what you need to know

Statins and the Depression Connection: Were you depressed before you went on a Statin Drug?

Statins appear to be correlated with the onset of depressive symptoms along with hostility, rage, suicidal ideation, suicide, and combativeness.

Dr. Graveline from www.spacedoc.com states that statins interfere with the biochemistry of the dolichols which are metabolic pathways that are necessary to form our neuropeptides.  Neuropeptides are considered messenger molecules that are the basis for our thoughts and emotions.  Since statins inhibit dolichols, cell communication is also inhibited as well as neuro-hormone production.

What you should know if you are on or going on a Statin medication

There are numerous individual reports of those who experienced depressive symptoms once starting on a statin.  For those wanting to report their symptoms a good place to do so is at www.statineffects.com in which all person reports are collected on not just depressive symptoms but any symptoms from statin usage.

If you are thinking of going on a statin (or any other medication for that matter) visit www.askapatient.com and here you will find people noting their symptoms from various drugs (you click on the drug you want to see symptoms for). On this site there are numerous negative reports of statin side effects.

Did you know that having low total cholesterol is not necessarily a good thing?

Upon research, it has been reported that total cholesterol (TC) levels are consistently lower in more severely depressed and aggressive people. (we need cholesterol!)  So is it the statin that is causing the depressive side effects or is it because the statin is bringing the TC levels too low? (Below 160 is when symptoms have been noted).

Other studies show that the type of statin you use may also impact what symptoms are expressed.

As a result, both may have an impact. There are numerous reports of those on statins and having cholesterol in the 200’s and reporting depressive symptoms while others have lower TC.  Could the nutrient deficiencies that statins cause also have an impact on depression symptoms?  Many factors related to the medication use may be creating the symptoms.

Low Cholesterol and brain function

Yeon-Kyun Shin, a professor of biophysics at Iowa State University and an expert in brain signaling has demonstrated that lowering cholesterol through the use of drugs interferes with brain function.  In one experiment, Shin showed that having cholesterol present increases the protein function involved in neurotransmitter release machinery from the brain cells by five times.  If you try to lower the cholesterol by taking medication that is attaching the machinery of cholesterol synthesis in the liver, that drug goes to the brain too.  And then it reduces the synthesis of cholesterol which is necessary in the brain.

The bottom line

Why are you on a statin medication and do you really need to be on this medication?

In the end, research does not support the advice that a low cholesterol level will prevent heart disease.  Heart disease is a disease of systemic inflammation. We need to realize that cholesterol is not the enemy-we need cholesterol! It is a very critical biochemical needed for proper brain function along with sex hormone and vitamin D production.

If you are on a statin also be aware of the nutrient deficiencies it may create.  Your omega 3 fatty acids, ubiquinol, vitamin D, vitamin E, and selenium levels may be impacted as well.

What to do instead of using a statin drug

 If you want to prevent heart disease you need to change your diet and lifestyle to reduce inflammation.  Avoid sugar, refined and processed foods and eat whole foods as much as possible.  Eat a rainbow of fruits and vegetables. Make vegetables and salads the biggest portion of your meals with moderate amounts of protein and only small amounts of starches.  Pass up the French fries and deep fried foods and opt for your starchy carbs in the form of beets, carrots, sweet potato , small amounts of beans and legumes or non- gluten whole grains.

Supplements and herbs can be supportive as well, however making diet and a lifestyle change for heart health needs to come first. As I often say to my clients, you can take all high quality, expensive supplements in the world, but if you still eat “like crap” you will still feel like crap.   .

I encourage you to do your own research if you are on a statin medication and to take control of your own health instead of leaving it in the hands of others

Sources:

Bowden, J. & Sinatra, S.  (2012) The Great cholesterol Myth.  MA: Fair Wind Press.

Feingold, J. et. al. (3/18/14) What Proportion of Symptomatic side effects in patients taking statins are

genuinely caused by the drug? Systemic review of randomized, placebo controlled trials to aid individual patient

choice.  European Journal of Preventive Cardiology. www.cpr.sagepub.com

Graveline, D. (11/10) Depression and Statin Drug Use.   www.spacedoc.com

Kaplan, A. (11/30/10) Statins, cholesterol depletion-and mood disorders-what’s the missing link?

www.psychiatrictimes.com

McTaggart, L. (8/16)The damaged brain. What doctors don’t tell you.  www.wddty.com

Karen Brennan, MSW, CNC, Board Certified in Holistic Nutrition (candidate) and owner of Tru Foods Nutrition Services, LLC believes in addressing root causes of your health condition instead of symptom management. She is the author or the Tru Foods Depression Free Nutrition guide E book which you can find on kindle books at amazon.com or her website.  If you would like to learn more about her services visit www.trufoodsnutrition.com

As a nutrition professional, Karen does not treat, cure or diagnose.  This article is for educational purposes only

Could this be the reason you are depressed? Statin Drugs: what you need to know

No Retraction For You! Evaluation Panel Exonerates Medical Journal In Statin Kerfuffle

An independent assessment panel has rejected a demand by a prominent researcher that TheBMJ retract two controversial articles or blog posts. The report largely exonerates the journal’s editors from any wrongdoing.

As previously reported, Rory Collins, a prominent researcher and head of the Cholesterol Treatment Trialists’ (CTT) Collaboration, had demanded that TheBMJ retract two content articles that had been highly essential of statins. Although TheBMJ issued a correction for both papers for inaccurately citing an earlier publication and therefore overstating the incidence of adverse results of statins, this response did not satisfy Collins. He repeatedly demanded that the journal issue a complete retraction of the articles or blog posts, prompting TheBMJ’s editor-in-chief, Fiona Godlee, to convene an outdoors panel of experts to overview the issue.

The report of the independent statins evaluation panel exonerates TheBMJ from wrongdoing and explained the controversial articles ought to not be retracted:

The panel have been unanimous in their choice that the two papers do not meet any of the criteria for retraction. The error did not compromise the principal arguments being manufactured in both of the papers. These arguments involve interpretations of accessible proof and have been deemed to be inside of the variety of sensible opinion amid people who are debating the proper use of statins.

In fact, the panel was critical of Collins for refusing to submit a published response to the articles or blog posts:

The panel mentioned with concern that in spite of the Editor’s repeated requests that Rory Collins ought to place his criticisms in writing as a quick response, a letter to the editor or as a stand-alone write-up, all his submissions were obviously marked ‘Not for Publication’. The panel considered this unlikely to encourage open scientific dialogue in the tradition of the BMJ.

The report did uncover some minor deficiencies in the editorial procedure at TheBMJ and stated that the delay  from publication of the content articles in October 2013 to the correction in Might 2014 was as well long. The panel explained that the journal “should put into action a significant event audit… to try out and recognize what would want to have been in location to guarantee that the correction was produced in a much more timely vogue.”

They also stated that press releases should be used “cautiously” for viewpoint pieces about controversial subjects.

The panel did not express an view about the hazards and positive aspects of statins:

It is crucial to note that the panel has not been asked to pass judgment on the dangers and advantages of statins per se, nor on the suitable use of statin medicine in lower danger people. Instead the panel has been asked to decide no matter whether there are adequate grounds to need retraction of a single or each of the content articles from the scientific literature. The panel has been at pains not to take sides and not to assistance a single view at the expense of one more.

Panel member Harlan Krumholz offered the following comment:

I had the privilege of serving with a exceptional set of authorities who took the charge seriously and invested a great number of hours investigating the issue and deliberating above the recommendation. The panel did not weigh in on the concern of the chance of statins, but judged the merits of the get in touch with for retraction. In the finish there was minor doubt that the view pieces in the BMJ did not meet criteria for retraction and the correction that had been created was adequate.

No Retraction For You! Evaluation Panel Exonerates Medical Journal In Statin Kerfuffle

BMJ Names Panel Members To Assessment Disputed Statin Posts

The BMJ has launched the names of an outdoors professional panel who will decide the fate of two posts that are the subject of a heated dispute.

As previously reported, final week the BMJ published a correction to two papers published last year, explaining that the two papers had  inaccurately overstated the incidence of the adverse results of statins. However, a fierce critic of the papers, the head of the Cholesterol Treatment Trialists’ (CTT) Collaboration, Rory Collins, still insisted upon a full retraction. In an editorial published in BMJ, the journal’s editor-in-chief, Fiona Godlee, wrote that she was  uncertain “whether the error is sufficient for retraction, offered that the incorrect statements had been in every case secondary to the article’s major focus.” As a end result the BMJ has convened an outdoors panel of authorities “with no canine in this battle.”

Iona Heath, former chair of the Royal School of General Practitioners and of The BMJ’s ethics committee, will be the chair of the panel. There are 6 further members:

• Stephen Evans, professor of pharamcoepidemiology at the London College of Hygeine and Tropical Medication


• Curt Furberg, professor emeritus of public wellness sciences at Wake Forest University College of Medication, North Carolina


• Julia Hippisley-Cox, professor of epidemiology and common practice at the University of Nottingham


• Harlan Krumholz, Harold H. Hines Jr. professor of medication (cardiology) and professor of investigative medication and of public well being (health policy) at Yale School of Medication


• Cynthia Mulrow, senior deputy editor at Annals of Internal Medication and adjunct professor of medicine at Texas University of Health Science Center


•  Paul Wilks, vice president of innovation, Patients Like Me

In addition to determining whether or not the report must be retracted, the panel will also “review and comment on the process by which the articles or blog posts were published” and “on how criticisms and complaints against the articles or blog posts had been raised, and how the journal responded.” The report will be delivered to the BMJ by July 31, 2014 and will be published on the journal’s site.

BMJ Names Panel Members To Assessment Disputed Statin Posts

12.8 Million Much more Grownups Now Eligible For Statin Treatment

Millions more folks are now eligible for statin treatment under the new cholesterol guideline, in accordance to a new estimate published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Under the earlier guideline statins have been indicated for main and secondary prevention based largely on LDL cholesterol amounts. The new guideline, announced final year, spots significantly significantly less emphasis on LDL and instead spots a significantly greater emphasis on the future chance of people for heart disease and stroke. The most critical modify is in major prevention. Even if they have LDL cholesterol ranges as lower as 70 mg dl, men and women with out established cardiovascular ailment are now eligible for statin therapy if they have either diabetes or a 10-12 months estimated chance of CV disease of 7.5%.

There have been several attempts to quantify just how numerous more individuals are now eligible for statin treatment under the new guideline. Now in the new paper in NEJM, Michael Pencina and colleagues estimate that the new guideline outcomes in a net enhance of twelve.8 million folks who are now eligible for statins. Most of the newly eligible folks are older grownups with no cardiovascular ailment.

The researchers extrapolated from information from a representative sample of the US population (the Nationwide Well being and Nutrition Examination Surveys, or NHANES) and calculated the variety of grownups forty-75 years of age who would be eligible for statin treatment below the outdated guideline and the new guideline:

• Beneath the old guideline 43.two million adults, or 37.five% of the population, had been eligible for statins.


• Beneath the new guideline this increases to 56 million (48.6%). Three out of 5 of the newly eligible patients would be males and their median age would be 63.four years.


• The net improve in 12.eight million comes mainly from primary prevention–  10.four million.


• Most of the boost happens in older grownups, among 60 and 75 years. Just below half (47.eight%) of this population was eligible for statins in the earlier guideline. Now far more than three-quarters (77.three%) of this age group are eligible.


• Decreasing the treatment threshold to a 10-12 months danger commencing at five%, which the guidelines deem “reasonable,” would increase eligibility to 38.4% of grownups among forty and 60 and 87.four% of grownups 60-75.


• By growing the amount of people eligible for treatment method,  the new guideline has increased sensitivity– that is, it will consequence in far more individuals being taken care of who would otherwise have gone on to have a cardiovascular event– but also decreased specificity– much more folks will acquire treatment who would not have had an occasion.


• The authors estimated that the improved number of individuals taking statins would result in 475,000 fewer  events– almost all (90%) coming from the group of older adults.

In an email interview, Allan Sniderman, 1 of the senior authors of the paper, explained that the increase in the population eligible for therapy “has main consequences for cost and medicalization.” He agreed with other observers that the seven.5% threshold cutoff “is arbitrary.” “The way out is to much better define danger. That is in which we want to move forward,” he said.

An option to the “risk-based mostly approach” of the new guideline, Sniderman stated, is “a cause-based technique in which we recognize and treat the causes in order to avert the intramural atherosclerotic ailment that will make the clinical occasions.” But this approach, he acknowledged, will demand  more investigation just before  being adopted by long term suggestions.

The NEJM paper fails to get into account the more subjective side of the new guideline, said Harlan Krumholz in an e-mail. “The guideline recommendation is meant to be just that – a recommendation about a threshold that might make sense to use in a treatment method determination. The suggestions are clear that the patient’s preference is what issues most. So it is really impossible to know if far more individuals will be taking statins.”

12.8 Million Much more Grownups Now Eligible For Statin Treatment

Statin side-results minimal, study finds

Cholesterol-reducing statins have nearly no side effects, with individuals encountering fewer adverse symptoms than when taking a placebo, researchers have identified.

Scientists examining the final results of 29 trials involving more than 80,000 people found that only a modest minority of side results had been attributable to statins. Patients were found to have a better quantity of serious adverse effects from inactive pills taken as element of a handle group.

As numerous as seven million folks in the Uk consider statins to help decrease cholesterol and combat heart illness. According to the Nationwide Health Service small side effects of taking the medicines incorporate an upset abdomen, headache or insomnia. More critical side effects are rare but include kidney failure.

Researchers from Imperial College London’s National Heart and Lung Institute say in their examine that out of the side results assessed – which included nausea, kidney disorder, muscular condition and breakdown, insomnia, fatigue and gastrointestinal disturbance – only the threat of diabetes was found to be slightly raised by the medication.

The authors of the report, published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, are calling on drug regulators to supply clear evidence to sufferers about claims over side effects. They said: “Patients and doctors require clear, reputable details about positive aspects and risks to make informed decisions.” The scientists acknowledged that several patients taking statins reported side results, in contrast to the study’s final results.

Dr Judith Finegold, element of the group carrying out the investigation, explained: “We clearly discovered that many individuals in these trials – whose individuals are generally nicely-motivated volunteers who didn’t know if they have been obtaining a true or placebo tablet – that many did report side effects while taking placebo.

“In the basic population, in which sufferers are being prescribed a statin for an asymptomatic problem, why would it be surprising that even increased costs of side effects are reported?

“Most men and women in the general population, if you repeatedly request them a in depth questionnaire, will not truly feel flawlessly effectively in each and every way on every single day. Why must they all of a sudden truly feel well when taking a tablet right after being warned of feasible adverse results?”

Dr Finegold mentioned the final results would not always add weight to the argument for the wider prescription of statins. “We think that sufferers need to be empowered to make their personal choices, but we need to 1st make confident they have prime high quality, unbiased data.

“This is why we call on drug regulators to highlight in the long lists of side results people couple of whose fee is incrementally greater than that seasoned with a dummy tablet.”

Last month it emerged that hundreds of thousands a lot more patients in the Uk could be prescribed statins to assist prevent cardiovascular condition. In draft guidance to the NHS for England and Wales, which is subject to consultation, the National Institute for Wellness and Care Excellence (Wonderful) lower by half the threshold for when physicians ought to consider prescribing the medication.

At present men and women with a 20% danger of creating cardiovascular illness inside of 10 many years are presented statins but this is getting altered to incorporate all men and women with a 10% risk of establishing cardiovascular illness within 10 years.

The NHS estimates that statins save 7,000 lives a 12 months in the Uk.

Statin side-results minimal, study finds