There Must Be Big Money in Drug Promotion

Endocrinologists and cardiologists must make big money for pushing statins and blood pressure drugs. They have been doing this with enthusiasm in which they prescribe these drugs like a religion. In the last month, this religion has taken on a new urgency and they are now promoting statins for increasingly more people that have not been promoted to before. In addition, the children are now being screened for statins and heavily prescribed to children over 5 years of age. The cardiologists are also promoting the blood pressure lowering drugs to people with normal blood pressure.

What seems to be more harm to patients is that fact that most doctors do not test for CoQ10, which the statins deplete from the body. According to the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC), statins lower your body’s levels of coenzyme Q10. As your levels go down, the side effects of statins increase. Taking CoQ10 supplements might help increase the levels in the body and reduce problems. There are few doctors that warn about the side effects and most never even consider that most statins deplete the levels of CoQ10 or Coenzyme Q10 made by our bodies.

Statins are known for causing:

• Liver Injury Called Rare
• Reports of Memory Loss
• The Risk of Diabetes
• The Potential for Muscle Damage

The above is in a FDA Notice - FDAExpands Advice on Statin Risks

FDA has found that liver injury associated with statin use is rare but can occur. Patients are advised to consult their health care professional if they have symptoms that include unusual fatigue, loss of appetite, right upper abdominal discomfort, dark urine or yellowing of the skin or whites of the eyes.

FDA has been investigating reports of cognitive impairment from statin use for several years. The agency has reviewed databases that record reports of bad reactions to drugs and statin clinical trials that included assessments of cognitive function. The reports about memory loss, forgetfulness and confusion span all statin products and all age groups.

Diabetes occurs because of defects in the body’s ability to produce or use insulin—a hormone needed to convert food into energy. If the pancreas doesn't make enough insulin or if cells do not respond appropriately to insulin, blood sugar levels in the blood get too high, which can lead to serious health problems. A small increased risk of raised blood sugar levels and the development of Type 2 diabetes have been reported with the use of statins.

Some drugs interact with statins in a way that increases the risk of muscle injury called myopathy, characterized by unexplained muscle weakness or pain. Egan explains that some new drugs are broken down (metabolized) through the same pathways in the body that statins follow. This increases both the amount of statin in the blood and the risk of muscle injury.