Yet another reason to avoid statins!

As we get deeper into cold and flu season…it’s a good time to share one more risk factor you may want to address. If you or someone you love is taking a statin drug for cholesterol, research shows you have a higher risk of developing pneumonia. And depending on your age and overall health status, pneumonia could be worse for you than the cholesterol you’re taking the statins for!

Now, if you’re a long-time reader, you know my stance on cholesterol. And the fact that I hate statin drugs. And to be honest, it amazes me they’re still on the market.

So-called “high cholesterol” just isn’t the heart risk mainstream medicine and Big Pharma have brainwashed everyone to think. In fact, there are much more important risk factors for heart disease you should be addressing (see my July 2012 issue of Logical Health Alternatives for more).

What’s more, you may have noticed recent headlines that are claiming the opposite of what I stated above. Some are touting the benefits of statin drugs for protecting against pneumonia. But the truth is, a critical look at the science just doesn’t hold up. Which means it’s likely just a push by the drug companies to protect their sales this winter.

The research all stems from the fact that statin drugs reduce inflammation. So researchers started to look at whether or not they would work in killing microbes…and to protect against pneumonia and bacteremia. As a preventative measure. Gee, wouldn’t that be convenient for the drug companies?

Here’s the problem…

The headlines that report the “benefits” of statins in fighting pneumonia are referring to data from a meta-analysis and other studies that even researchers admit at the end aren’t really conclusive. And conclusions from meta-analyses are notoriously unreliable.

Of course, what you won’t see in the headlines are results from the research that presents the opposite conclusions. Such as results from a recent, trustworthy trial that showed statin users did NOT have better outcomes.

In this study, they looked at statin users and non-users. Pneumonia was more common during the follow-up period in the statin users than in the nonusers (12.4% vs. 5.0%).

So, don’t believe the hype. These drugs have been linked to one illness after another–including diabetes. Statins, in my opinion, are one big, fat lie and should be avoided at all costs.

High cholesterol is simply a marker for oxidative stress. And you can reduce oxidative stress without statins. Simply follow my New Hamptons Health Miracle.

Source:
52nd Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC): Abstract L1-297. Presented September 9, 2012.