Cholesterol-lowering statin drugs could be doing more harm than good, and should be abandoned as the primary therapy for heart disease prevention, a major review by researchers at University College Hospital in Galway has concluded.
Instead, Coenzyme Q10, an antioxidant, was found to be more effective at controlling cholesterol and preventing heart disease, which has fewer, or no side effects and is available from most health food stores.
Statins dramatically increase the risk of diabetes and cataracts in younger patients, and cancer and neuro-degenerative diseases in the elderly. And the researchers say that the benefits don’t outweigh the risks. Even for patients with advanced heart disease, the drugs may extend life by just a further nine months at best if the drug is taken for 30 years.
Analysing previous studies on statins, the researchers discovered that some had never been published because the results were so alarming, while others had obscured the real risks. One study, the Illuminate trial, was shelved after researchers discovered the statin drug increased the risk of cancer and sudden death. Unfortunately, this latest research is unlikely to be heard in the mainstream media because the statin market is worth £20bn a year and rising.
Source: Source: Journal of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, 2013; 3: doi: 10.4236/ojemd.2013.33025
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