Cholesterol, Statins, & How They Function in the Body

Side Effects 

“Muscle pain and muscle weakness are two of the main side effects of statin drugs. While muscle pain and muscle weakness sound ordinary enough, due to the manner in which statin side effects can act in the body they are potentially dangerous side effects of statin use. Another is memory loss. Anyone who is taking statin drugs for any reason should be aware of these side effects and their symptoms. The medical establishment recommends that anyone who suspects they are experiencing any of the possible statin side effects consult with their medical professional.” http://www.statinanswers.com/effects.htm

“Rhabdomyolysis (often called rhabdo for short) is the medical term for the breakdown of muscle fibers that results in the release of muscle fiber contents into the bloodstream..

Severe rhabdomyolysis can result in death from acute kidney failure due to overload of the kidneys with deteriorated muscle tissue.”

“For susceptible individuals, the use of a statin drug can interfere with proper functioning of the peripheral nerves.”

“Other symptoms of neuropathy include: numbness, tingling, and pricking sensations; burning pain (especially at night); and/or sensitivity to touch. If left undiagnosed, neuropathy can lead to deterioration of the muscles and paralysis. Remember that we all need throat muscles to swallow, chest muscles to breathe, and that the heart is a muscle. In the extreme, severe neuropathy as a side effect to statin use can lead to death.”

“A famous Danish study of neuropathy as a side effect to statin use concluded that an individual who is a long-term user of statin drugs has anywhere from 4 to 14 times greater risk of developing peripheral neuropathy than a person who does not take statin drugs.”

Think twice before agreeing to take a statin and I will give your more reasons to question your doctor coming up next. 

“Some people experience memory loss, report an inability to concentrate as well, and feel that they are developing Alzheimer’s disease when taking statin drugs.

(Coincidentally, a new study suggests that Simvastatin (Zocor) actually lowers the risk of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases.) This memory loss may be so extreme as to be amnesia that lasts for 6 to 12 hours.”
“A systematic review of the cases reported to the FDA determined that approximately half of the memory loss problems occurred within 60 days of starting on statin therapy, although memory problems were reported after taking a statin drug for just 5 days. Fortunately most people return to normal after discontinuing the statin drug. The time until recovery appears to be related to the amount of time before the cognitive symptoms appeared; that is, the longer it took for the symptoms to appear, the longer it took for the person to recover. However, a small group may continue to suffer with cognitive problems, perhaps indefinitely.”

“A recent study raises the possibility that statins increase the risk of delirium in patients after surgery. Researchers at the University of Toronto looked at data from 284,000 people after surgery. Delirium is known to be under diagnosed in these cases, but the researchers estimated that it occurs after 10% of all surgical procedures, and after 13% of procedures in people taking statins. Because delirium can increase recovery time, this is an area of concern. The hypothesis is that the statins cause blood flow to the brain to reduce in favor of flow to the heart, although there is no firm evidence that this is happening. “
http://www.statinanswers.com/effects.htm

Other potential statin side effects:

Although muscle weakness from statins and liver problems are of the most concern, much research has shown that they can also cause sexual dysfunction and performance problems, as well as memory loss, personality changes and irritability.

Other side effects from long term use of statin drugs:

1) While cholesterol lowering drugs do lower LDL (bad) cholesterol, they have limited effect on HDL (good) cholesterol, and no effect on triglycerides (fats), an equally important heart disease risk indicator.

 2) Statins decrease your body’s supply of CoEnzyme Q10 (CoQ10), an essential nutrient for cardiovascular strength and function.

3) Muscle weakness from using statins: http://www.healthy-heart-guide.com/muscle-weakness-from-statins.html

4) Low cholesterol levels into the danger zone range, more on the dangers of Low Cholesterol in part 4 of this series.

How Statins Work

Statin drugs work by blocking a key enzyme in the production of cholesterol. Cholesterol is a natural product of the liver and in the right amounts does not pose a problem to the body. The body, however, sometimes produces too much cholesterol.(as mentioned due to toxin overload in the body) Statin drugs block the enzyme linked to the liver’s cholesterol production, HMG-CoA (3-hydroxy-3-methyglutaryl COA) reductase, thus inhibiting the liver’s ability to produce LDL. This causes an increase in the number of the LDL receptors on the surface of liver cells, resulting in more cholesterol being removed from the bloodstream and a reduction in risk for high-cholesterol related diseases.” (Little known fact is that toxins can negatively affect and oxidize HDL, “good” cholesterol just as much as LDL “bad” cholesterol) So if you are not addressing the root cause these drugs are especially not beneficial.

“There are two types of statin: fermentation-based and synthetic statins. The fermentation-based statins are derived from molds such as Aspergillus terreus.

Effect in the Body

The liver is primarily responsible for the production of cholesterol in the body. There are two main types of cholesterol: low-density lipoproteins (LDL) and high-density lipoproteins (HDL). LDL is the cholesterol referred to as the bad cholesterol. Statin drugs help to reduce the amount of LDL in the body. They do this by inhibiting the production of an enzyme in the liver that produces LDL–HMG-CoA reductase. They achieve this effect because statins are structurally similar to HMG-CoA reductase and effectively trick the body into thinking they are HMG-CoA, but actually disrupt the process of cholesterol formation. The liver, instead of producing more LDL, then begins to pull LDLs out of the body. By reducing the production of the enzyme, the production of LDL is reduced and overall cholesterol levels are brought down.” http://www.ehow.com/how-does_5036044_statin-drugs-work.html