By now you know I am not the biggest fan of statin drugs. It may surprise you to know that I still do use them and still do feel that they have a place in the practice of medicine.
It should not surprise you to find out that I do not always immediately say to my patients with high cholesterol, ' You need a Statin!' the way millions of doctors say to their patients every year.
I always jokingly tell them that 'Statin minus T sounds like Satan!' That reflects more my attitude towards Big Pharmacy in this country!
The point is I have some natural compounds that work just fine to raise the good Cholesterol (Super Omega 3) and lower the bad Cholesterol, Dr Dave's Best Cholesterol Bomb. Both of which will be available on the site soon.
As of this writing, Big Pharmacy scrambles to find a drug that raises good cholesterol (Pfizer is testing one right now). I can say that my super Omega 3 has raised one of my patients good cholesterol form 41 to 71 which is around 45%. No drug on the market can even come close including the one Pfizer is working on. I know because I've seen the data. But beware, the FDA has not and never will have evaluated these statements, though it is possible that the NIH might some day.
As far as Cholesterol Bomb tm goes, just today I had a patient come in on one dose a day which is HALF of what I recommend. Her bad cholesterol dropped 30 points, her good went up 6 points and her triglycerides dropped in half. Again you'd need 2 or 3 prescription drugs to achieve that.
Even though I have been collecting data it is possible that this patient stood on her head, wiggled her toes and clicked her heels 3 times and said, ' There 's no place like home!' which might have been the reason her cholesterol went down. Couldn't have been the vitamins!
So what about my most popular supplement, Dr Dave's Best Pharmaceutical Grade Fish Oil, can you use it if you are on a statin.
Absolutely though I remind you may be more of a slave to numbers than actual outcomes if you rely on statins to save your bacon. Once again The GISSI study showed far more benefits from Omega 3 fatty acids than satans opps er uh statins. But the FDA will remind you that is not a randomized double blinded placebo controlled study. Which means it is possible that 11,000 Italians with heart disease stood on their heads, wiggled their toes, and well you get the picture!
I will remind you that no drug company in their right mind would fund a study like that because it would show that Mother Nature is smarter than the drug company scientists.
I will also remind you that if it were not for a Chinese plant there would not be any statins at all, and that all of them owe their lineage to this plant which by the way is just one of the ingredients in Cholesterol Bomb tm.
Here are some similarities between Fish Oil and Statins:
1) Both enhance endothelial Nitric Oxide. In English that means they both help produce a chemical that opens up blood vessels. Those of you who read the 'Little Blue Pill' issues of last week will remember the effects of Nitric oxide on erectile dysfunction. I hope that last sentence didn't tweak your spam filters!
2) Both reduce inflammatory cytokines. In English that means both reduce inflammation in the body, which in my opinion is the major reason that Fish Oil is so helpful, and that statins have any health benefits at all.
3) Both lower cholesterol levels and risk ratios. IN contrast to what I said yesterday if you average out the actual cholesterol levels of all the people taking fish oil they would be lower than before. Its just that some people's do go up a bit, at least for a little while.
4) Both inhibit the activity of a critical enzyme that makes cholesterol in the body called HMG-CoA reductase. This inhibition is why the rise in bad cholesterol sometimes seen with fish oil is not dangerous. More bad cholesterol is not being made, the bad cholesterol receptor numbers are reduced lowering the uptake of bad cholesterol into the cells and preventing the chain of inflammation from starting in the first place.
5) It appears from several studies that the actions of statins are actually improved by Fish oil because fish oil may be enhancing the 'Post receptor' action of statins. In English that means that statins have to bind to cells to work. Fish Oil may be part of the cell membrane, the receptor for the statin itself and part of what happens inside the cell when the statin binds. A simple analogy to this is that the statin may be the central air conditioning unit that sits outside your house, but fish oil is the duct work, the electrical wiring and the thermostat that actually runs the show!
Here are some differences between Fish Oil and Statins:
1) Fish Oil does not destroy your liver.
2) Fish Oil does not dissolve your muscles.
3) Fish Oil does not contribute to memory loss.
4) Fish Oil helps fatigue unlike the statins which can cause it!
5) Fish Oil does not contribute to erectile dysfunction. Ever here of Limpitor!?
6) Fish Oil has been shown to be helpful in preventing and or treating Alzheimers, Cancer, osteoporosis, asthma allergies ADD, schizophrenia, cystic fibrosis, Multiple Sclerosis, hormone deficiencies and many many other things. STATINS HAVE NOT!!!! Although they have tried desperately.
So if you are taking a statin and you want to see your good cholesterol go up instead of down as often happens in spite of what Big Pharmacy says TAKE YOUR FISH OIL!!!
Oh by the way the mention of big Pharmacy reminds me they haven't had a very good time of it lately. Here are some examples:
A study released in Florida last summer showed that HDL cholesterol here to for ignored by Big Pharmacy had 10X the effect at reducing the amount of plaque in arteries as the 'Best' statin drug in 1/50th the time.
Another study showed that Pravachol did absolutely nothing to reduce the amount of plaque in an artery while Lipitor reduced it a whopping (and I jest) 0.4% causing Pfizer to admit that this was basically the same as doing nothing. Oh yeah, I forgot they actually said it prevented progression...talk about making lemons out of lemonade.
Meanwhile one Dr N. was found to say that we need more statins to lower LDL even more and then HDL won't matter. Yet Pfizer who I think must be footing the bill for all this continues to scramble to get their HDL raising drug into production. I hope Dr N. has other talents he can use to make a living when this drug comes out because I think the 'SUPER STATIN' theory (super SATAN sorry couldn't 't resist!) is going to be 'Under the Rug Swept' very fast!
Speaking of Pfizer they had to come out with a combination drug Caduet which is the clever name they chose for the combination of amlodipine and lipitor. In told the name means 'calcium channel duet'.
In English that means a way of keeping the patent on Lipitor around until the HDL raising drug is released!
Poor Pfizer they had to finally give up on trying to prove that Viagra tm might be helpful to women with or gas mic difficulty (once again don't want to tickle those spam filters!) in addition to having to compete with new contenders (new in the US anyway) Cialis and Levitra (both registered tms).
How about Shyailis for social anxiety disorder? Could it be better than Prozac or Paxil tm's? Do you ever get the feeling that this whole drug company thing is ridiculous?
I sure do!
And then there was previously mentioned Pravachol tm. Which in 2 separate studies and in spite of its FDA approval was shown to be no better than any other non statin therapy (including diet and exercise), and got a zero change in artery clogging score where lipitor tm at least showed a tiny benefit. The coolest part of this was that the Pravachol people actually funded the study!
I actually have to commend them. At least they were willing to look at the truth and spend their own money to prove that their drug didn't work to reduce plaque in heart disease!
If you've ever wondered why there are not more 'head to head ' drug studies where one drug competes against the other this is the BIG reason.
I would love to have been at that board meeting..' Uh sir, we did the study, spent about 20 million and we found that our drug did nothing, and uh well the competitor's drug did better.
I wonder if Pfizer showed some mercy and hired the poor sucker who came up with that idea after the Pravachol people fired him! I can tell you this, the Pfizer reps are having a field day with this study.
OK , so the bottom line is, if you must take statins help those poor drugs do their job even better and supplement with Fish Oil!
Sincerely,
Dave Woynarowski, M.D., CPT
The Nation's #1 Anti-Aging Physician
P.S. For the worlds best anti-aging supplements including Dr Dave's Best
Pharmaceutical Grade Fish Oil go here and order now.
Don't delay; you are not getting any younger, YET!
