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Statin Drugs May Lead to Muscle Damage and Diabetes
Dr. Joseph Mercola is highly alarmed by the fact that tens of millions of Americans, including young children, are taking statin drugs or cholesterol-lowering drugs. Statins work by inhibiting HMG-CoA reductase production, an enzyme in your liver that makes cholesterol and CoQ10. At present, there are 900 studies that prove how statins can adversely affect your health. Among the recent findings is that statins can lead to muscle damage and may increase your risk of diabetes.
If You Take Statins, Exercising Can Be Dangerous!
A recent study published in the American Journal of Cardiology revealed that statins may contribute to exercise-related injury. Researchers measured the creatine kinase and myoglobin levels of subjects who were running in the Boston marathon. They found out that the exercise-related increase in creatine kinase were greater in subjects who were treated with statins, along with a similar number of non-statin-treated controls, 24 hours after the exercise. Elevated creatine kinase is a sign of muscle damage. (link)
Dr. Mercola says this is tragic especially because exercise is crucial for optimal health, especially as you age. Statins can even lead to rhabdomyolysis, a life-threatening type of muscle degeneration. Statins also increase your risk of stroke and decrease heart muscle function. Dr. Mercola says that if you run marathons, decreased muscle function and risk of muscle injury is a dangerous combination.
The Link Between Diabetes and Statin Drugs
A recent meta-analysis confirmed that statin drugs are linked to an increased risk of developing diabetes. After evaluating over 32,000 people from five different clinical trials, researchers discovered that the higher the statin drug dosage, the higher the risk for diabetes. (link)
Statins provoke diabetes by increasing your insulin levels, which can be very dangerous to your health. Chronically elevated insulin levels produce inflammation in your body, which causes many chronic diseases like heart disease. Ironically, this is the primary reason why people are persuaded to take a statin drug. Chronically elevated insulin levels also promote belly fat, heart attacks, high blood pressure, thyroid disruption, chronic fatigue, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and cancer.
These cholesterol-lowering drugs also raise your blood sugar, which is another risk factor of diabetes. The excess sugar from starchy and sugary foods goes to your liver and is stored away as cholesterol and triglycerides. But since statins prevent your liver from making cholesterol, the sugar is returned to your bloodstream, which elevates your blood sugar levels.
Statins also remove valuable nutrients, such as CoQ10 and vitamin D, which help maintain ideal blood glucose levels.
Other Health Dangers of Statin Drugs
GreenMedInfo.com has listed at least 71 diseases that are associated with statin drugs, including:
- Cognitive loss
- Neuropathy
- Anemia
- Sexual dysfunction
- Increased cancer risk
- Cataracts
- Pancreatic dysfunction
- Hepatic dysfunction
- Acidosis
- Frequent fevers
Dr. Mercola says that a vast majority of people actually do not need cholesterol-lowering drugs because cholesterol is not the actual cause of heart disease. In fact, cholesterol is vital to your body because it produces hormones, cell membranes, vitamin D and bile acids that help with fat digestion. Cholesterol is also vital to your neurological function and helps your brain form memories.
Optimize Your Cholesterol Levels Naturally
Dr. Joseph Mercola says that you can optimize your cholesterol levels with some diet and lifestyle changes:
- Reduce and eventually eliminate grains and sugars in your diet. Replace them with carbs from whole, fresh vegetables. Try consuming a good portion of your food raw.
- Consume heart-healthy foods like coconut oil and coconut, organic raw dairy products and eggs, avocados, raw nuts and seeds, and organic grass-fed meat.
- Get high-quality, animal-based omega-3 fats like krill oil.
- Exercise regularly.
- Avoid unhealthy habits like drinking alcohol and smoking.
- Get sufficient sleep.
If you really insist on taking statins, Dr. Mercola advises you take a CoQ10 supplement. Statins deplete your body of CoQ10, which may have devastating results. CoQ10 is essential for the creation of ATP molecules needed for cellular energy production. With insufficient CoQ10, you will experience fatigue, muscle weakness and soreness, and heart failure. If you are over 40 years old, Dr. Mercola recommends its reduced version, ubiquinol.
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Tags: cholesterol lowering drugs, dangers of statins, Dr. Joseph Mercola, Dr. Mercola, Joseph Mercola, mercola, muscle damage, statin drugs, statins, statins diabetes
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