What Are Statins?
“Statins” are a class of drugs that lowers the level of cholesterol in the blood by reducing the production of cholesterol by the liver. The other source of cholesterol in the blood is dietary cholesterol. Statins block the enzyme, hydroxy-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase (HMG-CoA reductase), in the liver that is responsible for producing cholesterol. Scientifically, statins are referred to as HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors.
Statins are used for preventing and treating atherosclerosis that causes chest pain, heart attacks, strokes, and intermittent claudication in individuals who have or are at risk for atherosclerosis.
Statins include well-known medications such as atorvastatin (Lipitor), simvastatin (Zocor), lovastatin (Mevacor), pravastatin (Pravachol), rosuvastatin (Crestor) and others. Lower cost generic versions of many statin medications are available.
Statin Drugs: The Money Minter
Statin, the cholesterol-lowering drugs are among the most widely prescribed drugs on the market, bringing in $20 billion a year. They are a top profit-maker for the pharmaceutical industry, in part due to relentless, misleading, fear-inducing, and highly successful direct-to-consumer advertising campaigns.
One in four Americans over the age of 45 now takes statins, typically for the primary prevention of heart attacks and strokes. Traditionally, primary prevention usually involves healthy lifestyle choices that support heart health, things like eating right and exercising, yet here we have millions of Americans popping these pills instead.
Time To Wake Up To The Truth About Statins And Cholesterol
Scientific research into the naive and indiscriminate acceptance of novel mainstream therapies has been challenged and prudence advised before taken this harmful route. It is slowly beginning to dawn on the medical fraternity that contemporary treatments are not only failing to impact on our most prevalent diseases, but they may be causing more damage than good, a perfect example being the Statin saga.
Seen in this video, the late Andreas Moritz, Renowned Author and Healer, talks about how we are falling prey to fear due to lack of knowledge about cholesterol:
