Re: Look at this Doctor's Pro statin comments.

June 12, 2012

How statins 'leave 40% of women patients exhausted': Those at low risk better off NOT taking them, scientists say

The energy-sapping effect of taking statins is greater than previously thought, scientists said last night.

Women taking the anti-cholesterol drugs are particularly at risk of fatigue, they warned.

Two in five women patients had less energy than before, with one in ten saying they felt â€˜much worseâ€™.

Overall, around a fifth of those taking the drug reported they had less energy, fatigue upon exertion or both compared with non-users.

Researchers say the side-effects are greater than expected, and some people at low risk of heart disease may be better off not taking them.

More than eight million adults at risk of heart attacks and strokes are already taking statins and some experts believe the benefits mean all healthy adults over 50 should be taking them.

At present statins are restricted to people with a 20 per cent risk or more of having a heart attack or stroke during the next ten years.

Although some patients had already reported fatigue or exercise intolerance when placed on statins, previous trials had not looked at exertion fatigue or impaired

In a study of more than 1,000 adults, a third of whom were women, researchers at the University of California, San Diego, looked at the side-effects of the drugs on energy levels and exercise capacity.

In the trial headed by Beatrice Golomb, associate professor of medicine at UC San Diego School of Medicine, participants, were randomly given identical capsules containing either a placebo or one of two statins at relatively low potencies: Pravastatin at 40mg or simvastatin at 20mg. People with heart disease and diabetes were excluded.

Those taking part rated their energy and fatigue with exertion relative to a resting base line, on a five-point scale, from â€˜much worseâ€™ to â€˜much better.â€™

The ones taking statins were significantly more likely than those on the placebo to report worsening energy levels, fatigue after exertion, or both, says a report in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine.

Both statins contributed to the finding, though the effect appeared to be stronger among those on simvastatin.

Professor Golomb said: â€˜Side-effects of statins generally rise with increasing dose, and these doses were modest by current standards. Yet occurrence of this problem was not rare, even at these doses, and particularly in women.â€™

Although the study found overall a worsening of fatigue for one in five people, four in ten women on simvastatin cited worsened energy or exertional fatigue, two in ten cited worsening in both, or rated either one as â€˜much worseâ€™.

But one in ten women rated both energy and exertional fatigue as â€˜much worseâ€™.

Professor Golomb said: â€˜Energy is central to quality of life. It also predicts interest in activity.

â€˜Exertional fatigue not only predicts actual participation in exercise, but both lower energy and greater exertional fatigue may signal triggering of mechanisms by which statins may adversely affect cell health.â€™

She said doctors should take account of these side-effects before prescribing statins for groups where there is little evidence they save life.

Professor Golomb said this included most patients without heart disease, women and those over 70, even if heart disease was present.

To: TakingLipitorAndHateIt Sent: Monday, June 11, 2012 4:02 PMSubject: Look at this Doctor's Pro statin comments.

Yes, he has a healthy financial relationship with the drug companies. And his comments display this relationship brighter than the sun on a clear day.Look at his blog page responding to the recent FDA warnings on statins and memory loss..."Memory Loss- This is the one that makes me the most annoyed. First, because it really isn't true and second because the way the FDA communicated the data is useless at best and harmful at worst,.."Here is the link to his blog: DO NOT STOP YOUR STATINShttp://drmintz.blogspot.com/2012/02/do-not-stop-your-statins.html

June 12, 2012

I love it when he says if he were one of the patients taking a statin he would

be worried about the warnings that he hears from the media. I think he should

start taking a moderately high dose of Crestor or another statin for a while and

see how he feels.

Later, he states that statins " may " have some connection with memory loss and

it's extremely rare, but it goes away if you stop taking the statin. My

question, who would want to tolerate memory loss if they know it is from their

medication? If it goes away after stopping the statin, it IS the statin causing

the memory loss. I, myself, went through this and questioned whether I should

get behind the wheel of my car. I was slightly past age 50. How many others

probably shouldn't be driving if this is the case?

Memory problems plus intolerable pain in my arms and my legs. I am a diabetic

and am supposed to exercise regularly to help keep my sugar levels down and

protect my heart. How am I supposed to do that when climbing the stairs and

just keeping my house was becoming difficult?

And the comments about diabetes, he wrote a previous post about how " Statins

don't cause diabetes. " His Bottom Line after the discussion of statins and

diabetes, he says statins may raise your sugar a bit. So do they or don't they,

make up your mind Dr. Mintz.

Later, in the comments section, someone questions the mathematics of statins

preventing heart attack or stroke. Dr. Mintz goes into detail, but eventually

says if the difference is 1/1000 heart attacks vs. 2/1000 heart attacks over 3

years, it might well be worth the risk. I would be thoroughly pissed off to be

one of the 999 who gain no benefit and risk lowering the quality of my life.

What about the ENHANCE study where the group taking the Vytorin developed larger

plaques in their arteries? That was such great news for Merck or whoever made

Vytorin, that the news of the study was kept hidden for 2 years. I believe we,

the patients have the right to know all the results, positive or negative.

And there is the rising number of cancers related to statins. Dr Mintz didn't

even address this concern.

Connie

>

> Yes, he has a healthy financial relationship with the drug companies. And his

comments display this relationship brighter than the sun on a clear day.

>

> Look at his blog page responding to the recent FDA warnings on statins and

memory loss...

>

> " Memory Loss- This is the one that makes me the most annoyed. First, because

it really isn't true and second because the way the FDA communicated the data is

useless at best and harmful at worst,.. "

>

> Here is the link to his blog: DO NOT STOP YOUR STATINS

> http://drmintz.blogspot.com/2012/02/do-not-stop-your-statins.html

>

June 12, 2012

Here's the message I received when I attempted to post a reply on Dr. Mintz' blog:"Comment moderation has been enabled. All comments must be approved by the blog author."It appears the good doctor doesn't want his followers to hear the truth about statin poisoning from real victims.

June 12, 2012