“Statins – Know Your Risks”
With the Pharmaceutical industry and the American Medical Association attempting to “statinize” the world, it becomes increasingly important for patients to be aware of potential side effects of these powerful drugs. Statins, like all medicines, have potential side effects. The new guidelines for statin cholesterol-lowering drugs has opened up the possibility of eventually having 1 billion people taking these drugs on a daily basis. In March of 2012, an important paper was presented at the American College of Cardiology (ACC) 61st Annual Scientific Session, which found evidence that lower “bad LDL-cholesterol” predated the development of cancer by about 2 years. The “forward-causality” hypothesis states that depressed “bad LDL cholesterol” is a precursor to cancer. There is long standing evidence that some patients with too low levels of total cholesterol (below 160) are at risk for altered mental function, emotional problems (depression and suicidal tendencies), anxiety, violent behavior and risk of hemorrhagic stroke.
