Take statin drugs. Their success is nothing less than revelatory. In the final decades of the 20th century, the public had been well primed by the notion (largely implanted in its collective mind by the drug companies) that high blood cholesterol levels were the cause of heart disease, an association that has never been proven.

After the market for cholesterol-lowering was ‘created’, patients were then experimented on, using a range of mostly useless drugs. Then, in 1987, the drug companies alighted upon a wonder drug. Statin drugs did indeed seem to lower cholesterol.

First, invent the problem, then produce the magic bullet.

A scant 15 years later, statins have become one of the biggest moneyspinning drugs of all time.

Although they’ve made a goodly number of people rich, what statins have singularly failed to do is solve the problem of heart disease. Although they seem to have some beneficial properties, these effects are modest. Far more worrying is the growing evidence indicating their role in causing heart failure.

One of the few doctors brave enough to point the finger at statins is Dr Peter Lansjoen, a cardiologist from Tyler, Texas. Lansjoen has put together astonishing evidence that statins block coenzyme Q10, which is essential for the smooth running of the muscles of the heart (see p 9). When this enzyme is deficient over the long-term, it can cause serious problems with heart rhythm and, eventually, heart failure.

According to Lansjoen, during his 17 years of practice as a cardiologist, he has seen a ‘frightening increase’ in heart failure after statin usage. Currently, he sees two or three new cases of what he calls ‘statin cardiomyopathy’ every week.

Heart failure has surged to epidemic proportions in Western countries during the 15 years of statin use. In the US alone, 4.8 million Americans are diagnosed with the condition, and half of them will die within five years. This represents a doubling of cases and a fourfold increase in heart-disease-related deaths in the US.

‘Are we causing this epidemic through our zealous use of statins?’ Lansjoen writes. ‘In large part, I think the answer is yes.’

Lansjoen claims that the medical establishment, well aware of the association, knowingly allowed this epidemic to grow. Indeed, there are already several patents combining CoQ10 with statins.

Another problem with blocking CoQ10 is that it interferes with the brain’s performance, causing memory loss and muddled thinking in general. In an elderly person, this kind of side-effect is almost invariably passed off as age-related dementia, requiring yet another coterie of new wonder drugs.

You have to hand it to this business. I can think of no other that can continually create its own markets by setting off new health epidemics, which pave the way for yet more new bestselling miracle drugs. It’s like continually eating your own hand – a sort of self-sufficiency only achieved by certain lower lifeforms. Unscrupulous investors take note.
Lynne McTaggart

In August 2001, the statin Baycol was withdrawn by its German manufacturer Bayer after 31 people died due to drug-induced rhabdomyolysis. From November 1997 to March 2000, 601 cases of statin-induced rhabdomyolysis – and 38 deaths – were voluntarily reported to the US Food and Drug Administration (Lancet, 2004; 363: 892-4).

Minor adverse effects include skin rash, constipation and headache.

Unofficial side-effects include cancer, nerve damage (peripheral neuropathy), memory loss and other cognitive problems. There’s also the strong possibility that statins may cause diabetes, as insulin sensitivity is significantly reduced by these drugs (JAMA, 2002; 287: 598-605). Statins also deplete antioxidants by 25 per cent, which may explain the possible cancer connection.

Despite claims that side-effects affect only a tiny percentage of patients, the evidence indicates that as much as 65 per cent of those taking statins experience adverse side-effects (Am J Cardiol, 2003; 92: 670-6).

A new finding is that statin side-effects resemble symptoms of a deficiency in the antioxidant selenium (Lancet, 2004; 363: 892-4). It’s believed that statins may somehow block selenoprotein synthesis. Selenoproteins are involved in the formation of the hormones thyroxine and glutathione peroxidase, and in muscle-cell regeneration. Interestingly, selenoprotein dysfunction is seen in diseases with symptoms similar to statin side-effects – namely, juvenile myopathy and muscular dystrophy.

Rare conditions such as myocarditis and cardiomyopathy were more common in users of antipsychotics than non users. The heart toxicity of the drug clozapine is not new, and this analysis found it to be among the most often reported in relation to heart muscle toxicity. By using a database of almost 2.5 million reports of adverse effects, the researchers were able to identify an even wider range of antipsychotics with similar heart toxicity, including chlorpromazine, lithium, fluphenazine, risperidone and haloperidol (BMJ, 2001; 322: 1207-9).

WDDTY replies: We don’t blame you for wanting to avoid warfarin. If the wrong dosage is given, it can cause a haemorrhage somewhere in the body in one out of every 1000 patients – sometimes fatally. In addition, the symptoms you may have with your condition – dizziness and shortness of breath, difficulty breathing and low blood pressure – are also side-effects of the drug. Another worry is gangrene, or skin or tissue death.

As you mention, aspirin is as effective as warfarin, but other possible alternatives are a low-carbohydrate diet, shown to help with many heart conditions, including atherosclerosis (but follow the Montignac, not the Atkins, approach, as detailed in our new Longevity Report (call our offices to order a copy). Include lots of fruit and vegetables, wholegrains, nuts, seeds and fatty fish in your diet, all of which reduce stroke risk, and make sure to take regular exercise. Also, limit your salt intake. Experiment with various dosages of vitamin C, B vitamins, magnesium and coenzyme Q10, which can help regulate your heart.

In WDDTY vol 14 no 9, Harald Gaier wrote that statins should not be taken with a B-complex supplement. For the many readers on statin drugs, this has serious implications. Further elucidation, please! – D.H.F., Henley-on-Thames, Oxon

WDDTY replies: Basically, it’s a case of overkill. Niacin, or B3, can raise levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL, the ‘good’ cholesterol) and, to a lesser degree, lower LDL or ‘bad’ cholesterol. The risk is that, in taking B vitamins with a drug which does the same thing, you will lower your cholesterol levels too much. This increases your risk of the most common side-effect of cholesterol-lowering drugs – myopathy, or muscle weakness.

But if B vitamins can lower cholesterol effectively, it rather begs the question: why not take the vitamins instead of the drug?

They have deliberately induced heart attacks in patients with blockages around their heart with some success. Of the 18 patients they have tried the technique on, 16 have shown big improvements in their symptoms afterwards.

The heart blockage, hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy, has been cleared by the attack, leading to better flow from the left ventricular (Circulation, 1997; 2075-81).

It is well known that patients taking statins lose coenzyme Q10 according to the dosage. The drugs block production of both cholesterol and CoQ10 by inhibiting the enzyme precursor of not only cholesterol, but also of CoQ10.

CoQ10 helps in chemical reactions, particularly those involving cellular energy production, and helps make cell membranes stronger against oxygen damage. It is abundant in the heart largely because of the huge energy requirements of those cells.

Studies have shown that a deficiency of CoQ10 is linked with heart failure (Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 1985; 82: 901-4) and an impaired heart function (Biofactors, 1999; 9: 291-9).

Out of 15 published studies, nine have confirmed that statins can significantly lower CoQ10 levels (Arzneim Forsch, 1999; 49: 324-9).

Critics of statins believe that widespread statin use has caused an increase in ‘statin cardiomyopathy’, where the heart loses its ability to pump blood or heart rhythm is disturbed, leading to irregular heartbeats.

Collectively, these muscle symptoms are known as myopathy, and one statin (cerivastatin) has already been taken off the market because patients frequently developed myopathy while taking it.

While doing a larger study of muscle symptoms in patients taking statins, the researchers found four patients with muscle pain and weakness during statin therapy that went away when the patients stopped taking the drugs. All four patients had normal creatine kinase levels.

The researchers then gave these patients a statin or placebo and asked the patients to guess which they were taking. All the patients knew they were taking a drug because of the debilitating side-effects. Objective testing showed that, while on statins, the patients had reduced muscle strength. In addition, in three of the four patients, the doctors took samples of muscle to examine under a microscope (muscle biopsy) both during and after statin therapy. These biopsies showed changes consistent with myopathy (Ann Intern Med, 2002; 137: 581-5).