http://www.redflagsweekly.com/features/2002_july08.html
July 8, 2002
STATIN-INDUCED CARDIOMYOPATHY
INTRODUCTION TO THE CITIZEN’S PETITION ON STATINS
By Peter H. Langsjoen, MD
The medical profession has, after more than 30 years of excellent propaganda,
successfully created the wholly iatrogenic - "pseudo-disease" dubbed
"hypercholesterolemia" and the associated malady "cholesterol neurosis". After
decades of dismal failure to cure this "disease" of numbers with low fat diets
and a host of cholesterol lowering drugs, the medical profession stumbled upon
the magic bullet, the cure for this dreaded artificial disease - statins
(HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors). First released on the US market in 1987,
statins have rapidly grown into one of the most widely prescribed class of
drugs in history. Statins do three things:
1. They block the body's ability to make cholesterol, thus lowering the blood
level of cholesterol, thereby curing cholesterol neurosis. Doctors and patients
equally neurotic have immediate gratification. The "evil" high cholesterol has
been dramatically lowered and the future is bright and promising. So far...so
good.
2. Unrelated to their cholesterol lowering, statins have been found to have
anti-inflammatory, plaque-stabilizing properties which have a slight benefit in
coronary heart disease.
3. Statins kill people - lots of people - and they wound many, many more. All
patients taking statins become depleted in Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), eventually -
those patients who start with a relatively low CoQ10 levels (the elderly and
patients with heart failure) begin to manifest signs/symptoms of CoQ10
deficiency relatively rapidly - in 6 to 12 months. Younger, healthier people
who's only "illness" is the non-illness "hypercholesterolemia" can tolerate
statins for several years before getting into trouble with fatigue, muscle
weakness and soreness (usually with normal muscle enzyme CPK tests) and most
ominously - heart failure.
In my practice of 17 years in Tyler, Texas, I have seen a frightening increase
in heart failure secondary to statin usage, "statin cardiomyopathy". Over the
past five years, statins have become more potent, are being prescribed in
higher doses, and are being used with reckless abandon in the elderly and in
patients with "normal" cholesterol levels. We are in the midst of a CHF
epidemic in the US with a dramatic increase over the past decade. Are we
causing this epidemic through our zealous use of statins? In large part I think
the answer is yes. We are now in a position to witness the unfolding of the
greatest medical tragedy of all time - never before in history has the medical
establishment knowingly (Merck & Co., Inc. has two 1990 patents combining CoQ10
with statins to prevent CoQ10 depletion and attendant side effects) created a
life threatening nutrient deficiency in millions of otherwise healthy people,
only to then sit back with arrogance and horrific irresponsibility and watch to
see what happens - as I see two to three new statin cardiomyopathies per week
in my practice, I cannot help but view my once great profession with a mixture
of sorrow and contempt.
Statin-induced CoQ10 depletion is the topic of a recent petition to the FDA
requesting that this drug/nutrient interaction be identified in a black box
warning as part of statin package insert information. A comprehensive review of
animal and human trials addressing this issue has been submitted to the FDA as
a supporting document. We, of course, do not expect any response from the FDA,
but 10 years from now when the full extent of statin toxicity becomes painfully
evident, at least we can, in good conscience, know that we tried and who knows,
sometimes small sparks may spread in dry grass.
See Also:
Cholesterol Drugs And The Depletion Of Coenzyme Q10: A Review Of Human And
Animal Data.
By Peter H. Langsjoen, MD
Citizen Petition: Needed - A Change In The Labeling Of All Statin Drugs