Cholesterol Pill Taken by Thousands Causes Cancer

A pill intended to lower cholesterol levels has been linked to
an increased risk of cancer.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is reviewing data from a
trial which found a "larger percentage" of patients treated with the drug
Inegy died of cancer. The FDA is expected to issue its conclusions within
six months.

Inegy combines the widely-used statin drug simvastatin with a
new medication called ezetimibe. Ezetimibe works in a different way from
statins. Statins block cholesterol made in the liver, while ezetimibe blocks
the absorption of cholesterol in the gut.

Sources:
a.. The Daily Mail August 22, 2008

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

Back in 2004, the U.S. government's National Cholesterol Education
Program panel advised those at risk for heart disease to attempt to reduce
their LDL (bad) cholesterol to very low levels. It's been a health disaster
ever since.

Before 2004, a 130-milligram LDL cholesterol level was considered
healthy. The updated guidelines, however, recommended levels of less than
100, or even less than 70 for patients at very high risk.

These updated guidelines instantly increased the market for
cholesterol-lowering drugs.

Not surprisingly, eight of the nine doctors who were on the approval
panel for these absurdly low guidelines had been making money from the
companies of the cholesterol-lowering drugs they were suddenly pushing onto
a much larger (oftentimes healthy) segment of the population.

Now, in order to get to these outrageous and dangerous low levels
usually requires multiple cholesterol-lowering drugs, such as Inegy, which
combines two cholesterol-lowering drugs into one.

Folks, it is VERY rare for anyone to need a cholesterol-lowering drug,
let alone multiples.

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. But 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
them, and they may even create more health challenges than what you started
out with.

Statins Actually INCREASE Your Risk of Heart Disease

Inegy combines two different medications -- simvastatin and
ezetimibe -- into one pill.

Although the Daily Mail article above claims statins "should lead to a
drop in heart attacks and other cardiovascular problems," that is not
necessarily the case.

Statin drugs can actually increase your risk of heart disease because
they deplete your body of Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), which can lead to heart
failure. They have also been linked to:

a.. Weakness
b.. Muscle aches
c.. An increase in cancer risk
d.. Immune system suppression
e.. Serious degenerative muscle tissue condition (rhabdomyolysis)
f.. Potential increase in liver enzymes so patients must be
monitored for normal liver function
Statins Have Been Linked to Increased Cancer Risk for More Than a
Decade

I reported that statins were linked to raised cancer risk as far back
as 2000, when research indicated that besides lowering levels of harmful
cholesterol, the drugs could also promote the growth of new blood vessels.
And, although this effect may help to prevent heart attacks and other forms
of heart disease, it may have the potential to promote cancer as well by
increasing the growth of blood vessels in cancerous tumors.

Additionally, back then, tests in human cell samples and in rabbits,
showed that simvastatin (Zocor) seemed to activate a pathway through which
cells communicate and act very similar to a naturally-occurring growth
factor.

But the statin-cancer connection had been discussed even prior to
that. A review published in the prestigious Journal of the American Medical
Association in 1996 stated:

All members of the two most popular classes of lipid-lowering drugs
(the fibrates and the statins) cause cancer in rodents, in some cases at
levels of animal exposure close to those prescribed to humans. ...
Longer-term clinical trials and careful postmarketing surveillance during
the next several decades are needed to determine whether
cholesterol-lowering drugs cause cancer in humans. In the meantime, the
results of experiments in animals and humans suggest that lipid-lowering
drug treatment, especially with the fibrates and statins, should be avoided
except in patients at high short-term risk of coronary heart disease.

Is "Bad" Cholesterol Really Bad?

It's important to remember that you actually NEED cholesterol in your
body - including LDL, or so-called "bad" cholesterol -- in order to maintain
your health. There is actually no such thing as "good" or "bad" cholesterol.
Both HDL and LDL cholesterol perform vital functions in your body, which is
why it's actually dangerous to bring your LDL levels down too low.

HDL (high density lipoprotein) and LDL (low density lipoprotein) are
actually proteins that transport the cholesterol to and from your tissues.
Cholesterol in turn is a precursor to steroid hormones. For example, you can't
make testosterone or estrogen, cortisol, DHEA or pregnenolone, or a
multitude of other steroid hormones that are necessary for health, without
cholesterol.

Even more importantly, you can't make new cell membranes without
cholesterol.

So, the major reasons your body makes cholesterol in the first place,
and why you have LDL, is to take the cholesterol to the tissue so you can
make new cells or repair old damaged ones.

Why is High Cholesterol Equated with High Heart Disease Risk?

If your arteries are being damaged on a chronic basis your cholesterol
levels will remain chronically elevated. This is NOT the problem in and of
itself. Rather, this is your body's natural and purposeful response to
healing.

The REAL problem is what's causing the damage in the first place, such
as having chronically elevated blood sugar. The sugar molecule, in fact,
causes far more damage than any other molecule.

If you decide to take cholesterol-lowering drugs instead of addressing
the underlying problem of excess sugar in your blood stream, you are not
only stopping your body's natural healing process, you are also exposing
yourself to drugs that are loaded with side effects, such as those mentioned
earlier.

The chronic damage being done to your arteries in turn leads to
inflammation. This is how your body responds to invaders. However, when
inflammation becomes chronic, your body is in a constantly irritated state,
and aside from likely having elevated cholesterol levels, you're also going
to have elevated levels of C-reactive protein (CRP).

CRP is a marker of inflammation in your body, and it's also a very
good indicator of your risk of heart disease.

What Drug Companies Don't Want You to Know About LDL

Now, it's important to realize that there are different sizes of LDL
cholesterol particles, and it's the LDL particle size that is relevant, as
small particles get stuck easily and causes more inflammation.

Unfortunately, most people don't hear about that part, and very
rarely, if ever, get it tested. Naturally, the drug companies really don't
want you to know that part of the science, because it would severely limit
the number of people going on cholesterol-lowering drugs, since statins do
not modulate the size of the particles.

The only way to make sure your LDL particles are large enough to not
get stuck and cause inflammation and damage is through your diet.

In fact, it's one of the major things that insulin does. If you eat
properly, which is really the only known good way to regulate LDL particle
size, then it does the right thing; it takes the cholesterol to your
tissues, the HDL takes it back to your liver, and nothing gets stuck causing
damage.

So rather than worry about your cholesterol levels, you really need to
work lowering inflammation, which can be caused by numerous things,
including:

a.. Oxidized cholesterol (cholesterol that has gone rancid, such as
that from overcooked, scrambled eggs)
b.. Eating lots of sugar and grains
c.. Eating foods cooked at high temperatures
d.. Eating trans fats
e.. A sedentary lifestyle
f.. Smoking
g.. Emotional stress
So, as you can see, when you get to the bottom of it, the real
"villain" is often an unhealthy lifestyle, characterized by a heavy reliance
on sugars, processed, highly cooked foods, and insufficient amounts of
exercise - not "high cholesterol."