The bad news about cholesterol-lowering statin drugs just keeps piling up.
It’s not surprising when you understand the basic biology. Statin drugs are metabolic poisons. They interfere with normal cholesterol metabolism by design. But cholesterol is a key constituent of all your cells, brain tissue, nerve tissue, and hormones.
And in any case, the metabolic disruption appears to go far beyond cholesterol.
In a recent interview, one general practitioner said statins “just make many patients feel years older. Side effects mimic the aging process.” (Many GPs now question statin use, especially among the elderly, as I recently reported.)
Now–I don’t like to use the term “anti-aging.” I prefer the term healthy aging. It seems to me if you’re “anti-aging” it must mean you favor of the alternative–which is to not get older. But in the case of these drugs, it seems big pharma invented an “ANTI-anti-aging” pill. In fact, new research by scientists at Tulane University shows statins speed up the aging process by interfering with stem cell metabolism.
Stem cells help repair tissue damage, and replace brain and muscle cells. Plus, many experts now believe stem cells are the key to understanding cancer and other diseases. (Note: this important research comes from the use of adult stem cells, not fetal stem cells.)
For this study, scientists treated stem cells with statins under lab conditions. And they observed dramatic effects after just a few weeks.
Statins prevented stem cells from performing their main functions to reproduce and replicate other tissue cells to carry out repairs in the body. They also prevented stem cells from generating new bone and cartilage. These effects all add up to faster aging (not to mention a general disaster for your health).
Other known side effects of statins include cataracts, dementia, diabetes, fatigue, joint problems, and liver, muscle, and nerve dysfunctions.
In observing patients, researchers say statin drugs don’t seem to outwardly affect a fortunate few. But for others, statins slow them down in more subtle ways. And for still many others, they experience serious side effects that help clinically confirm these disturbing toxicities from the drugs.
Dr. Malcolm Kendrick, a GP in the U.K., said, “This research reinforces what has long been suspected. The side effects of statins mimic the aging process.”
As in the U.S., millions of men and women in the U.K. currently take statins to supposedly lower their heart attack risk. And a 10-year UK National Health Service Plan has already been introduced to prescribe these drugs to patients with only a 10 percent risk of heart attack over the following decade. They claim this step could save thousands of lives. But critics contend much of the data has never been made public and the work needed to ensure that routine use is not harmful has not been done.
My suggestion?
Read my special report, The Insider’s Guide to a Heart-Healthy and Statin-Free Life and get off statins as soon as possible.
You should also follow these six steps to keep your heart healthy:
1. Maintain a healthy diet filled with fruits, vegetables, fish and lean meat to get enough protein.
- Cut sugars, carbs and “soft drinks.”
- Get some moderate exercise regularly.
- Take a daily B vitamin complex to reduce homocysteine, which damages the heart and blood vessels far more than cholesterol. (You can get more details about the dangers of homocysteine in the current issue of my Insiders’ Cures newsletter. If you’re not yet a subscriber, now is the perfect time to get started.)
- Take 10,000 IU of vitamin D per day.
- For healthy aging, the dynamic duo of aspal (South African red bush) and dandelion extract provide vitality to older men and women. Look for 400 mg of one or both ingredients in dietary supplements and water-soluble powder mixtures.
Source:
- “Impact of Statins on Biological Characteristics of Stem Cells Provides a Novel Explanation for Their Pleotropic Beneficial and Adverse Clinical Effects,” American Journal of Physiology – Cell Physiology; 7/29/2015