Popular Cholesterol Drug Found to Have No Medical Benefits
January 29, 2008
Zetia, a cholesterol-lowering drug prescribed to about 1 million people each week, has no medical benefits, according to a trial by Merck and Schering-Plough.
While the pill does lower cholesterol by 15 percent to 20 percent, trials have not shown that Zetia reduces heart attacks or strokes, or that it reduces plaques in arteries that can lead to heart problems.
The current trial, which studied whether Zetia could reduce the growth of plaques, found that plaques grew nearly twice as fast in patients taking Zetia along with Zocor than in those taking Zocor alone.
Patients who took both Zetia and Zocor received it in the form of Vytorin, a pill that combines the medications.
Experts have called the results “shocking,” saying that Zetia should not be prescribed unless all other cholesterol drugs have failed.
The results also add to the controversy over Merck and Schering-Plough’s delays in releasing them. The trial was completed in April 2006, with results scheduled to be released in March 2007. However, the companies missed several deadlines, and only agreed to release the results after media outlets focused on their continued delays.
Zetia and Vytorin account for about 20 percent of the cholesterol drugs on the U.S. market.
Sources:
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Dr. Mercola’s Comments:
If you read my article from December, Cholesterol-Lowering Drugs: What Are Drugmakers Hiding?, we now have the answer.
They were hiding the fact that their treasured cholesterol pills Zetia and Vytorin, which work differently than standard statin drugs and were being prescribed freely before anyone knew whether or not they worked, nearly double the rate at which dangerous plaque forms in your arteries. And you get to pay about $3 a day, the cost of the drugs, for the privilege.
Of course, the answer is not to turn back to typical statin drugs to lower your cholesterol, as many of the so-called experts would have you believe.
In fact, it is VERY rare for anyone to need cholesterol-lowering drugs.
Among the more than 20,000 patients who have come to my clinic, only four or five of them truly needed these drugs, as they had genetic challenges that required it. If you or someone you know is taking them, odds are very high, greater than 100 to 1, that you or they don’t need it.
Statin drugs can actually increase your risk of heart disease because they deplete your body of Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) (which ironically can lead to heart failure). They have also been linked to:
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Weakness
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Muscle aches
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An increase in cancer risk
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Immune system suppression
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Serious degenerative muscle tissue condition (rhabdomyolysis)
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Potential increase in liver enzymes so patients must be monitored for normal liver function
What Should You do if You Have High Cholesterol?
First, realize that cholesterol is not the major culprit in heart disease, or any disease for that matter. Cholesterol is a necessary part of every cell in your body, and it is an essential ingredient for healthy hormones.
Next, avoid getting caught up with the numbers. Did you know that the guidelines that dictate what your cholesterol level “should” be are extremely biased, and have not been proven to be healthy?
Finally, help direct your cholesterol levels to where they should be, naturally, by making these three lifestyle changes:
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Reduce, with the plan of eliminating, grains and sugars in your daily diet.
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Eat the right foods for your nutritional type.
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Get the right amount of exercise.
Related Articles:
Now They Want to Treat Kids With Statins The Deadly Reasons Not to Take a ”Good” Cholesterol Drug The Cure for High Cholesterol — Hint It is NOT a Drug
*This article taken from the Free Mercola.com e-Healthy News You Can Use Newsletter.
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January 29th, 2008 at 8:05 am
What? They were prescribing a drug that actually doesn’t work? Wow, that’s so shocking. ;) My husband has done audio visual for medical conferences the past several years and what we have found is that each year the opinions of what works and what doesn’t are completely different. In one year or less! The body is complex, even our wonderful doctors cannot understand what God has already put there for our body to heal itself. I really think that taking too many medications actually creates more and worse problems for your body. The correct nutrition and exercise go such a long way.
January 29th, 2008 at 8:37 am
Ah Debbie, you bring up a common misconception: that doctors are taught how the body works. The medical model is all about symptom management, not healing. You don’t need to know how the body works to know how to control a symptom.
Back when I was working, I saw tons of elderly patients - all who were on gobs of meds. They only really needed one. But that one med caused leg cramps, so they needed a med for leg cramps. And the leg cramp med caused hallucinations, so they needed a med for hallucinations. And on and on and on it went.
If only people knew more about the simplicity and effectiveness of herbs. They really do work!
January 29th, 2008 at 9:22 am
I agree that we need the sun; however, I think it’s very important to wear a 50 block. I’m turning 39, and my sun enjoyment is really starting to show up!
January 29th, 2008 at 10:12 am
I’m of the mindset that sunblock has more chance of causing cancer than our sun does. We’ll use it if we are going to be out ALL DAY, since that would result in a painful burn, but never any other time. Our doctor encourages parents to slather their children every day a half hour before setting foot outside, even just to run errands.
Ginger-you are so right. I saw the same thing in the nursing homes I worked at. There’s one particular lady at church…Yeesh! I mentioned that she might be able to avoid having her thyroid out if she ate correctly and she said she couldn’t imagine having to eat “health food” and would rather take a pill every day for the rest of her life. She’s under thirty and has arthritis, fibromyalgia, a bad back, no thyroid, and uses a walker. She has four children that Dad takes care of because she can’t get up most of the day. She always has candy and cookies and a diet soda in her hand.
You’ve got to admire the pharmacuticals, though…their job security is assured if we all lemming after their recommendations!
January 29th, 2008 at 10:20 am
CLO orally(cod liver oil) and VCO topically(virgin coconut oil) prevent sunburn.
January 29th, 2008 at 11:11 am
And vit c, Katie. vit c taken orally or applied topically (powdered, mixed with lotion/oil) can help prevent sunburn.
Momma, under age 30 and all those issues - wow!
I have not used sunblock in years (since 2003). Not while living in Florida, New Mexico or Colorado - big sun states. We enjoy outside time every day, so avoidance hasn’t been my approach neither. Good nutrition is key.
January 29th, 2008 at 11:25 am
Ok, cod live oil and virgin coconut oil? Hmm. I’ve never heard that before. Now, when do I give it. Every day or, when they are going to be outside in the sun all day? In Ohio, it has to be quite a hot day to get sunburn and you have to be exposed to the direct sun also.
Mind educating me? I’m just starting to learn and us this stuff. In fact, I think I read on Gingers blog about what to give for Strep throat. My ds has the scarlet fever kind and was put on antibiotics. He and I get it every year 2-4x. I would love to find alternative herbs to used instead. I hate using antibiotics. I don’t like sunlotion either. It makes me nauseous.
Shell
http://www.shellsgang.blogspot.com
January 29th, 2008 at 11:31 am
Shell, I do talk about herbs a lot on my blog. Search: herb - you’ll find plenty. You can also email me if you want. You can get to my email from my profile page.
I have had success treating strep w/o antibiotics, so I’m more than willing to share the good news! :)
January 29th, 2008 at 11:35 am
I agree that sun is good. The only prob. is that I burn with or without any block. I’m too fair. I’ll stick to my Vit. D in my Carlson’s CLO for now. I love Dr. Mercola…. he’s awesome. I might try the VCO in the spring and summer months. Katie do you worry about vitamin D toxicity between the sun and the CLO? Asking because I just started taking CLO for my PCOS and have been worried about over doing it when winter leaves us. There seems to be a big buzz about changing over to fish oil in the sunnier months because of too much D.
January 29th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
You are right Christa to change over to fish oil in the summer IF you do not get your vitamin D levels checked. Otherwise you could overdose in which even Dr. Mercola says is a bad thing. Our family switches over because we spend two months of the summer camping while traveling for the ministry. One of those months we wilderness camp and do not get out of the sun unless we are grocery shopping. We bathe and everything right in a lake! However, we have sunburn issues with a bunch of faired skinned people even with the fish oil or CLO and the vit. C. However, we have never tried the VCO topically. Gotta research that one!
We do use the spf swimsuits that Katie and Jeff’s kids have as well. I don’t know how healthy they are to wear though as mommyofmany stated a concern of sunblock not being good. Of course, we always use natural and organic kind if need be.
Jeff, it’s encouraging to see a Father getting so interested in the healthier living! I’m going to get your blog into my husband’s bookmarks ;-) I don’t mean to say he’s not because he is very good at trying the herbs and good cooking (when I do it). I just think it would be great for him to have another male to relate too as all the other hotdog binging, foot ball watching guys out there seem to be over populated right now. :-P
January 29th, 2008 at 6:44 pm
Hmmm I’ve not heard about the VCO being a natural sunblock. I have found a local place to get CLO (my co-op kept zeroing me), so we are back on it. I only use lotion if we are out at the beach all day. If we are planning to play a while, then eat, then play, then shop, we skip it. My kids have Daddy’s Cherokee skin, and tan nicely. I’m the only on who really burns.
Jeff, what about beach volleyball…is it a sport? Would you play? ;)
January 29th, 2008 at 7:03 pm
Christa, The plan is to switch to fish oil in summer. We never have because last summer our fish oil consumption was sporadic at best. Better safe than sorry though.