By Karen Sherwood for Nutritious America
The scenario is all too familiar.
1. Walk into the doctor’s office with an ailment.
2. Medication is prescribed within 10 minutes.
3. Six months later return to the doctor to receive yet another medication to help relieve the symptoms/side effects of the first medication.
The sequence repeats itself until the medicine cabinet is filled with a confusing myriad of prescription cocktails that oftentimes only provide short-term relief, yet somehow manages to deplete the body of vital nutrition.
Yep, it’s “business as usual” in the world of Western medicine because the truth is, poly-pharmacy makes money. Unfortunately, the dangerous effects of these aggressively-prescribed drugs are creeping up on us.
Let’s take a peek at this “industry” known as heart disease and the ever-popular cholesterol-lowering class of drugs known as statins. Oh, what would the drug industry do without cholesterol? The very common and “urgent” diagnoses of high cholesterol leave me asking, “Who ISN’T on a statin?” Big money-makers for the industry, statins are prescribed on a daily basis, despite the research which has shown that high cholesterol has very little to do with heart attacks. But don’t fret folks, time is a ticking! The patents on these drugs are running out, and coincidentally, the looming research on the insignificance of statins is suddenly revealing itself.
But hold the line! What’s on the horizon here in the heart department? Well, since we’ve unveiled some potential ineffectiveness of statins, we must replace it with something so we can keep that money wagon rolling. Why not a few seductive spin-offs that contain triglyceride-lowering molecules, and perhaps some synthetic niacin? This is surely the way to prevent heart attacks and strokes, being that statins alone do relatively NOTHING. The clever marketing has already begun to create the demand for these new medications (along with another patent of course), even though a recent trial suggested that these combinations did not help. Nevertheless, stay tuned for more of the same useless capsules all dressed up in a different suit. Heck, they may even be a different color!
Meanwhile, more than 30 million Americans are currently taking these drugs and are paying a huge price for it.
The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has recently recognized that statins are linked to memory loss (though cognitive problems have been reported for years).
They also inhibit the production of vital enzyme Co-Q10, which is responsible for producing ATP (energy) for the cells of the muscles, (last I checked, the heart was a muscle) therefore this enzyme MUST be taken along with any statin drug, yet most patients don’t even know what Co-Q10 is.
Statins are also linked to elevated blood sugar levels, which is a major warning sign for diabetes.
The solution: A new FARM-acy!
The greatest contributors to heart disease remain to be lifestyle and the nutritional deficiencies associated with it, but until you can put a patent on broccoli, the medical money machine will not let you know that.
Never go off of any medication without talking to your doctor first. If you are currently on a statin, there are some important health measures you can take to help strengthen the cardiovascular system:
- Ditch the processed foods, sugary snacks, sodas, and energy drinks.
- Eat healthy fats to help to raise HDL (good cholesterol) i.e. olive oil, walnuts, avocado, wild salmon, and flaxseed.
- Dark berries are fantastic for the cardiovascular system as well as citrus, cruciferous veggies, and others high in vitamin C.
- Add garlic, onions, and spices liberally to your meals.
- Eat small meals through the day to control weight and blood sugar.
- Other additions: Co_Q10, B-complex, omega 3 fish oils
Sources for this article include
http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm293330.htm
http://www.naturalnews.com/035112_statin_drugs_diabetes_memory_loss.html
healthalert news journal march 2024, volume 29, issue 3