A Bright Side to Statins

In my earlier post, The Dark Side of Statins, I mentioned research indicating that statins may impede muscle repair. This latest finding claims that statins promote DNA repair enzymes and in so doing help protect the endothelium(inner lining of the blood vessels). The enzyme here is one involved in repairing what are referred to as "double strand breaks". These types of breaks are very damaging to the chromosomes because with the breaks bases fall away from the ends of the chromosome, so the more quickly this and other enzymes are brought into play the better the outcome. The news release can be read here.

It is important to remember that this study addressed the health and aging rate of cells in unhealthy arteries, which tend to age much faster than healthy arteries. Whether or not this statin will confer any substantial benefit to those with healthy arteries is a different question. Given the evidence that statins can induce side effects such as impaired muscle repair and there is also some evidence of cognitive issues arising with their use, there is little sense in advocating wide scale statin use for the general public. Remember the wonderful aspirin? Or how about the wonderful NSAID drugs, which turned out to be killing people and causing all manner of problems? These are great drugs but these are drugs to address specific pathologies and even then the long term use of the same may create more problems than those apparently solved.

We need to exercise some caution here. There is an emerging view that vast numbers of the public should be placed on statin drugs yet the real reason for this is because vast numbers of the public are leading lives destined to induce atherosclerosis and a host of other ailments. Claims that simply popping a statin will stave off the consequences of a poor lifestyle, even if these do have some validity, must be set against the enormous costs of drugs, the known side effects of drugs, and the unknown long term consequences of drugs.

All developed countries are faced with a number of huge health related issues. Health costs are out of control, hospitals are over crowded, and with an aging population the health burden is going to increase. We would all like to have our cake and eat it too. Eventually we will be forced to eat an apple, go for a run, and hopefully the medicine cabinet will remain empty for a very long time.

If you wish to maintain a healthy heart and cardiovascular system there is no great secret. It is as simple as regular light exercise, even just brisk walking, avoiding all drugs, legal or otherwise(excepting a couple of glasses of red wine with the evening meal), good stress management skills, and a healthy diet. Yeah, that's simple, but why can't I do it?

The Dark Side of Statins(cholesterol lowering drugs)

Cholesterol-lowering drugs and the effect on muscle repair and regeneration

Statin drugs are life savers and a principal component in allowing many people with high cholesterol to avoid heart attacks and strokes. Many statins exhibit anti-inflammatory properties and there have been trials for statins in dementia treatment. The results have not been that promising.

Many patients have reported problems with statin drugs and the research is now starting to bear this out. While statin drugs are life savers as with nearly all drugs there can be untoward effects. If you are taking statins and experience any of the symptoms mentioned in this article speak to your doctor. Take the article with you so they know you are not just dreaming up the symptoms.

If you are taking a statin drug it is strongly advisable to also take a co-q10 supplement with the statins because statin drugs typically inhibit HMG-CoA, a rate limiting enzyme for co-q10 production in the body. It is very important to maintain co-q10 levels because it is a strong antioxidant that plays a pivotal role in the electron transport chain, the "powerhouse" in our cells.