Statins For Children?

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                  Tuesday, December 02, 2008 

                        The Insanity Continues—Statins for Children

                        Written by Rodger Murphree, D.C.
                        TAC, Integrative Healthcare , Volume 30, Issue 11
                        Published:
                              

 

                        The over-hyped, pharmaceutical fueled, disease known as
                        hypercholesterolemia has now reached an all time level
                        of insanity.
                        Insanity. In-san-i-ty. Function: noun. a: extreme folly
                        or unreasonableness b: something utterly foolish or
                        unreasonable.
                        Ex: "The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends
                        cholesterol screenings for children who are two years or
                        older, greater use of cholesterol-lowering drugs, such
                        as statins, for a select group of kids who are eight or
                        older at risk, and low fat diets."
                        There is no better example of pure insanity than the
                        recent announcement by the AAP to begin screening
                        two-year-olds for high cholesterol and placing
                        eight-year-olds on statin drugs! One statin, Pravachol,
                        has already been approved by the FDA for use in children
                        as young as eight.
                        This absurd advice is being offered even though statin
                        drugs have never been tested on young children, have not
                        been proven to increase longevity or reduce the number
                        of cardiovascular deaths (compared to control groups),
                        have actually been shown to have a one percent greater
                        risk of death over ten years compared to those not
                        taking statin drugs, and are associated with numerous
                        life robbing side effects!
                        The medical profession and its societies, including the
                        AAP, have been hoodwinked by pharmaceutical propaganda
                        and obviously haven’t read my book, Heart Disease What
                        Your Doctor Won’t Tell You, or the dozens of other books
                        which report the dangers of statins, which list numerous
                        studies showing that statin drugs don’t lower the death
                        rate for those with cardiovascular risk.
                        In just one meta-analysis, analyzing forty-four trials
                        involving almost 10,000 patients, the death rate was
                        identical, at one percent of patients in each of the
                        three groups—those taking atorvastatin (Lipitor), those
                        taking other statins and those taking nothing.
                        Taking statins for one year raised the risk of
                        polyneuropathy and nerve damage by about 15
                        percent—about one case for every 2,200 patients. For
                        those who took statins for two or more years, the
                        additional risk rose to 26 percent. The damage is often
                        irreversible.
                        Numerous studies find that low cholesterol is just as,
                        if not more, dangerous than elevated cholesterol. In
                        nineteen large studies of more than 68,000 deaths,
                        reviewed by Professor David Jacobs from the Division of
                        Epidemiology at the University of Minnesota, low
                        cholesterol predicted an increased risk of dying from
                        gastrointestinal and respiratory diseases.
                        An article published in the Journal of the American
                        Medical Association reveals that, in every study with
                        rodents to date, statins have caused cancer. In the CARE
                        Trial, breast cancer rates of those taking a statin went
                        up 1500 percent.
                        Cholesterol is one of the most potent antioxidants,
                        protecting us from cancer and toxic free radicals.
                        It is the precursor to adrenal cortex hormones
                        (cortisol, DHEA, testosterone, estradiol, progesterone,
                        etc.), which are crucial for regulating moods, the
                        immune system, and stress coping abilities. Cholesterol
                        facilitates the production of vitamin D, produces bile
                        salts required for the digestion of fat, and is vital to
                        proper neurological function. It plays a key role in the
                        formation of neurotransmitters in the brain, including
                        serotonin, the body’s feel-good chemical. When
                        cholesterol levels drop too low, the serotonin receptors
                        become dysfunctional. Poor memory, anxiety, and
                        depression are byproducts of low cholesterol levels. I
                        can’t think of a more dangerous scenario than having
                        children take statin drugs for the rest of their lives.
                        Surely this has the pharmaceutical industry foaming at
                        the mouth as they contemplate all the additional drugs
                        needed to counter the side effects of these statin
                        drugs—antidepressants for low moods, Ritalin for poor
                        mental clarity, and maybe some Lyrica for the statin
                        induced polyneuropathy.
                        And what about the APA recommendation for low fat milk?
                        The low fat diet myth is just as dangerous as the
                        medical myths associated with cholesterol. Various
                        nutritional experts, including Sally Fallon, Mary G.
                        Enig, and Marion Dearth, authors of Nourishing
                        Traditions: The Cookbook That Challenges Politically
                        Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats, have voiced
                        their opinions on the fact that saturated fats aren’t
                        harmful to our health. Saturated fats are needed for
                        proper absorption of calcium. These valuable fats also
                        help protect the liver from alcohol and other toxins.
                        Saturated fats enhance the immune system. And, they help
                        with the retention and utilization of essential fatty
                        acids. Our bodies, especially young maturing bodies and
                        minds (70 percent of brain matter is fat), need both
                        polyunsaturated as well as saturated fats.
                        Research shows that there is no evidence that saturated
                        fats are bad for health, and plenty of evidence that
                        saturated fats actually prevent both cardiovascular
                        disease and stroke.
                        In fact, the fatty acids found in clogged arteries are
                        mostly unsaturated (74 percent), of which 41 percent are
                        polyunsaturated. Avoid trans-fats, yes; but advocating
                        low fat diets to reduce the incidence of cardiovascular
                        disease is just another sign of just how crazy the APA
                        and other medical groups who suggest this have become.
                        Low-fat diets don’t alter mortality rates associated
                        with cardiovascular disease. In fact, it’s been shown
                        that low fat, low cholesterol diets cause a whole host
                        of health problems, including increased death,
                        depression, suicide, and hormonal imbalances. The
                        American Heart Association and others have advocated a
                        low saturated fat diet as a way to lower the risk for
                        heart disease for two-plus decades. But the research
                        doesn’t show this approach to be valid. In fact,
                        Americans have steadily reduced their consumption of
                        animal-based saturated fats over the last sixty years.
                        While consumption of cholesterol actually rose one
                        percent, saturated fat was reduced from 83 percent to 62
                        percent over this sixty-year period. While saturated
                        fats were being decreased, polyunsaturated fats
                        increased. This was especially true for man-made trans
                        fatty acid laden polyunsaturated fats, which increased
                        during this period by over 400 percent. Our sugar
                        consumption increased by 60 percent. Trans fats, sugar
                        and inflammation are the enemies of cardiovascular
                        disease, not saturated fat and certainly not
                        cholesterol. For more information about the true cause
                        of cardiovascular disease, see my past article, "It’s
                        the Inflammation, Stupid."
                        If the insanity continues, and I’m sure it will, it
                        won’t be long before the pharmaceutical industry
                        brainwashes the APA into believing that children need to
                        be vaccinated for cholesterol.
                        Dr. Murphree is a board certified nutritional specialist
                        and chiropractic physician who has been in private
                        practice since 1990. He is the author of five books for
                        patients and doctors, Treating and Beating Fibromyalgia
                        and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Heart Disease What Your
                        Doctor Won’t Tell You, and Treating and Beating Anxiety
                        and Depression with Orthomolecular Medicine. To contact
                        Dr. Murphree or for more information about his Doctors
                        VIP One-on-One Nutritional Coaching Program, visit
                        www.Essentialthera.com or call 1-888-884-9577.
                        References
                        1.  Hecht HS, Harmon SM. Am J Cardiol 2003; 92:670-676
                        2.  Gaist D and others. Neurology 2002 May
                        14;58(9):1321-2.
                        3.  Jacobs D and others. Report of the conference on low
                        blood cholesterol: Mortality associations. Circulation
                        86, 1046–1060, 1992.
                        4.  Ravnskov U. BMJ. 1992;305:15-19.
                        5.  Jackson PR. Br J Clin Pharmacol 2001;52:439-46.
                        6.  Sacks FM and others. N Eng J Med 1996;385;1001–1009.

                        7.  Bruno Bertozzi, et al. Correspondance , British
                        Medical Journal, 1996:312:1289-99.
                        8.  Ottoboni A and F, The Modern Nutritional Diseases,
                        2002, pp36–7). Lancet 1994 344:1195.
                        9.  Watkins, B A, and M F Seifert, "Food Lipids and Bone
                        Health," Food Lipids and Health, R E McDonald and D B
                        Min, eds, p 101, Marcel Dekker, Inc, New York, NY, 1996.

                        10.  Murphree, Rodger D.C. Heart Disease What Your
                        Doctor Won’t Tell You.  Harrison and Hampton Publishing
                        Inc. Birmingham, AL 2005


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