Thursday 28 July 2011

STATINS AND THEIR NASTY LITTLE SECRET

I was particularly irked the other day to discover that my mother was taking statin drugs to reduce her cholesterol.

It wasn't so much that she was taking them, that annoyed me, but the fact that her doctor had not told her that taking statins could reduce her Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) uptake by as much as 40%

In 1994 drug companies introduced a new class of cholesterol lowering drugs known as statins.  To date statins are the most profitable drugs in history! and studies have found that these drugs not only lowered blood cholesterol levels but also produced a slightly lowered risk of heart attack.

So why all the fuss about CoQ10 - well it is an essential co factor your body uses to derive energy, without it you simply could not exist and it is a powerful anti-oxidant present in every cell of your body.  Because of its ubiquitous presence (it's everywhere) you may see it referred to as ubiquinone.

CoQ10 is especially important to your energy hungry organs such as your heart, liver, brain and kidneys.

Consider this:
  • CoQ10 deficiencies are more common in people in their forties and beyond
  • Long duration endurance exercisers tend to have lower levels of CoQ10
  • Deficiencies in CoQ10 are very common in patients with heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and low HDL levels of cholesterol
  • CoQ10 levels are often low in those people who avoid eating meat and extremely low in vegans
If you fit into any of the above categories then you may want to consider supplementing your diet with CoQ10 as it may have a dramatic effect on your energy levels and cardiovascular health.

If you exercise moderately and eat a well balanced diet yet feel you need some additional help in maintaining healthy blood pressure then you'll be interested to know that supplementing with CoQ10 has been demonstrated to lower blood pressure in several human clinical trials. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, was conducted in 2001 by researchers at the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Boise, Idaho, who succinctly concluded that ". . . CoQ10 may be safely offered to hypertensive patients as an alternative treatment option."

CoQ10 can either be made in the body or obtained from food.  The best sources of CoQ10 are animal foods which contain fat! and as heart patients are often advised to reduce their fat intake in an effort to reduce cholesterol levels; no CoQ10 being made in the body and a reduced CoQ10 intake from food equals a recipe for disaster!

As studies have found (of which there are many) CoQ10 actually protects and strengthens the heart, I therefore find it ironic that the world's most profitable drug should actively suppress it.

It's a mad world!

To your health

Margaret x

P.S. if you suffer with joint problems and arthritic complaints read this article:  The Hidden (and painful) Cost of Statins

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