The Truth About Statins: Risks and Alternatives to Cholesterol-Lowering Drugs

Like any such book, you need to read more than just this, but the author presents interesting information that can otherwise be hard to find on the internet where the dominate search engines bring back only the bestest of news about joining Statin-Nation, 40 million strong and growing--that's what the internet is selling. Don't try to find any negative views on Statins on the internet, it's like it's been scraped. But there are concerning views on the use of Statins, this book is worth reading in an overall attempt to better understand the effects and side effects of these drugs.

I must admit to being a bit of a crank when it comes to statin drugs. Whenever I was on them, I would experience muscle aches, but they weren't severe and I put that down to minor hypochondria on my part. But I became suspicious when I went off them at one point and experienced a small but significant weight loss. And then, when I went back on them, the weight came right back. Research into the subject of statins included this book, which is a real eye-opener. Dr. Roberts is not some New Age internet guru. She is a respected physician and teacher, the head of a Women's Cardiovascular Institute in Providence, RI. She is affiliated with Brown University. Her book is a clear-eyed look at the history and science of statins. What we learn from her book is that the glossy image of statin drugs is the result of voodoo mathematics and heavy-duty marketing. Voodoo mathematics? Well, to oversimplify, statistics can be manipulated to create the impression you want to create. For instance, if I were to say to you that Drug A will decrease your chance of dying of a heart attack by 30%, you'd say "Wow! A wonder drug! My chances of dying are decreased by 30%!" Who wouldn't want to take that drug, right? But if your chances of dying from a heart attack were only 1% to begin with, then your survival rate improvement is not 30% actually, it's more like one third of one percent. So how important is that one third of one percent when measured against the cost and potential health issues of taking a drug for the rest of your life? And the material gets really interesting when discussing women's health. Dr. Roberts provides evidence that not only do statins provide no protection to otherwise healthy women (with no comorbities to elevated cholesterol), but can actually be dangerous. Marketing: that's where things get really evil. I remember reading a statement by a pharmaceutical marketing executive. He noted that they didn't have a problem getting sick people to take their drugs and that success would be achieved when healthy people relied on their drugs. According to Dr. Roberts' analysis, statins are a perfect example of how pharmaceutical marketing creates just that situation where we now have doctors suggesting that, for instance, we should put statins in the water supply. She tells a compelling story of how doctors--some of them well-intentioned and others, not so much--have been co-opted by pharmaceutical companies into pushing drugs of dubious value and some real danger. If you are at all interested in the subject of statins, then this book is a must read and a great starting point for further research.

Dr. Barbara Robert’s book on statins is very informative and worth reading, but I sure wish she would either put out a revised edition (this version is from 2012!) or at least put some notes on her website indicating any possible revisions to her 2012 conclusions after another 13 years of research and clinical experience.

I just wrote a review on another book which helped me convince my doctor that I did not need statin drugs to lower my cholesterol level. That book was "Fat and Cholesterol Don't Cause Heart Attacks," and is a great source of information regarding the number of ongoing medical studies regarding cholesterol, disproving that fat and cholesterol don't cause heart attacks; sugar and processed foods do! Also look up books by Dr. Robert Lustig for more on that topic. As I mentioned in my other book review, my blood pressure was high and for a number of years has been increasing to the point where my readings were 180-110, so you can see why doctors wanted to prescribe statin drugs to artificially lower my blood pressure. I did a change in lifestyle [diet and exercise] and within a few months, my med test results all came back normal or below the midpoint on each, except for cholesterol. [Read the book I reference above]. Researching my problem with high blood pressure, I came across a number of studies, several books, and this particular book as this particular doctor was involved in several of the studies that in effect debunked cholesterol as a danger to you as well as what statin drugs do and don't do for you. Yes, statin drugs will lower your cholesterol, taking 24 biological stopping processes to get to that point, but along the way, will create a host of other medical problems for you! The book describes in detail what these illness are that can be caused by taking statin drugs. The reduction in my blood pressure did not result from a change in my diet; it was the fact that I was now exercising regularly and not lightly, mind you. Twice a week I did and still do high intensity interval training, which only took 16 minutes per session, and this is what caused my blood pressure to decline dramatically. High intensity interval training [HIIT] allows the body to produce nitric oxide, which the body manufactures but only at extreme levels of physical intensity. The purpose of nitric oxide is to relax the arteries in order for the blood to flow easier as your physical exercise demands high levels of oxygen before going anaerobic, that is, without oxygen. Your body normally produces nitric oxide, however as we age, our physical activity declines or stops, and all of a sudden, we start aging. HIIT assists in the body producing nitric oxide, and thus, reduce high blood pressure! You can also look up books on HIIT to help you, and no, you are never too old to start, as I am evidence of that. My conclusion is that the medical profession is enslaved to the pharmaceutical industry, aided by the FDA which do nothing to help the people, except to enrich the food, drug, and medical industries. We need to do our own research to protect ourselves against selfish industries who look at us a cash cows.

"The Truth About Statins" is a valuable book and I applaud Dr. Roberts for writing it. There are 2 important issues that support her cautionary view of statins: The first is that, here in the US, we are over-prescribing these drugs. The use of drugs for major conditions like heart disease is guided by treatment recommendations that get published periodically. But the USA is not the only country that publishes national guidelines like this. So, this raises the perplexing, but very important question: so, which set of guidelines are best? There have been 3 published studies that have compared cholesterol-treatment guidelines from various countries. It turns out that following US treatment guidelines would subject a much higher percentage of the population to statins....yet not achieve better clinical results! (see Manuel DG, et al. British Medical Journal, June 17, 2006). The 2nd important concept is that research is starting to show that your LDL-cholesterol doesn't mean much if you maintain a moderate or high degree of aerobic fitness. Over 40,000 men evaluated at the Cooper Clinic in Dallas were followed for 16 years. It was determined that aerobic fitness level could offset a high LDL-cholesterol level (see: Farrell SW, et al. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, Nov. 2012). Conversely, there is additional research showing that even if your LDL-cholesterol is in the so-called "desirable" level, a substantial percentage of the population continues to be at risk for heart attacks. In one report, 41% of subjects who had their first heart attack had an LDL-cholesterol of 100 mg/dL or less (see: Sachdeva A, et al. American Heart Journal, Jan. 2009). Thus, this is why we need to take a very critical reappraisal of our widespread use of statins, and that's why I believe this book is so relevant. (To read a more detailed review of this book, see: http://www.athleteinme.com/Review_Details.aspx?id=1684)

Haven’t finish the book. Seems rather informative so far. Enough read to stay clear of statins.

Very helpful in understanding how statins work.

Big Pharma, the FDA and the various medical associations have questionable motives and more questionable integrity and Dr. Roberts did a good job exposing that. But for someone who wrote a book about the lack of transparency and honesty of Big Pharma, the FDA and various medical associations, she should practice more of what she preaches. Two wrongs don't make a right. Dr. Robert's biases are apparent when she writes about the Mediterranean Diet. First, Dr. Roberts fails to mention that Ancel Keys had data from twenty two countries, but he only picked the magical seven countries that clearly strengthened his hypothesis. Why she excluded this information from her readers is as `mysterious' as why Ancel Keys only focused on seven countries. A bit of a mixed message here: scrutinize the methodology of statin studies but don't scrutinize the methodology of the Seven Countries study? If she expects others to be transparent, then so should she. Second, Dr. Roberts continues to perpetuate the myth that Dr. Robert Atkins died from "a massive heart attack". Dr. Atkins died from the complications of head trauma/brain hemorrhage. According to Grant's Atlas of Anatomy, the head and heart are different organs of the human body and located in areas of the human body. Furthermore, according to Guyton and Hall's Textbook of Medical Physiology, the brain and the heart have different functions in the body. To mistake death due to a "massive heart attack" with death due to traumatic brain injury/brain hemmorhage is like mistaking Lovastatin and Penicillin. If she expects others to be truthful, then so should she. Third, Dr. Roberts emphasizes that the Cretan post WWII Diet is the cholesterol lowering Mediterranean Diet. After looking at the recipes and suggested menu she provides, I am puzzled by her anachronistic choice of ingredients and foods. 1% fat yogurt and tofu burgers aren't something Cretans in post-war Greece would have eaten. Neither they would have used the "no-trans fat margarine" listed as an ingredient for the Porcini Mushroom Sauce, Sole Piccata, Lemon Pineapple Muffins and the Macadamia nut cookies. This is especially laughable because FDA allows a product to be labeled "no trans fat" if it contains less that 0.5 grams trans fat per serving size. Perhaps Dr. Roberts is unaware of this labeling regulation or she is hesitant to mention that the solid fats used in traditional cooking are animal fats like lard, butter, beef or lamb tallow, or chicken fat. It's more likely a post-war Cretan would have saved and used the small amounts of animal fats from those infrequent meat meals, than use margarine and vegetable shortening. But then animal fats are not exactly the popular image of "heart healthy". If she expects full disclosure from others, then so should she. So either Dr. Roberts is a victim of bad editing in possession of a degree of ignorance or Dr. Roberts is a practitioner of misinformation herself. While I would like to think she's a victim of bad editing, I can't overlook her own glaring blunders in an otherwise good book.

This book was a fantastic eye opener. If you are feeling uncomfortable being on Statins for high cholesterol, I recommend this book.

As a Statin taker since 2006 after a stent in my heart, I started to get odd distractions, say I noticed I lost short-term memory whilst giving my training courses, then over the years, muscle discomfort or fatigue, tendinitis, gout, extreme pains in my shoulder blade, tingling in my left hand, etc, etc. Each time I went to my doctor I was treated for the symptoms I was presenting and not the cause. In January 2018 I was sent for another angioplasty and my Simvastatin was increased to 80mg per day. I began to slow down, walking like an old man, my ability to process information to follow ideas declined. I kept going back to my doctors who told me, what do I expect at 70 years old, I should retire from travelling the world giving talks and training sessions, and I was given more physical exercises to ease the pains. I started on occasions nearly passing out, going gray, ending-up in hospital twice. I decided to research statins, I had already had my doubts about them. I searched for literature on-line and books which gave facts that me as a non medical person would understand and was as much as possible unbiased. This book, one of many I am researching is well written by a real expert, yes I have researched the authors credentials, and analyses the trials and research undertaken with regards to statins. She shows how some of the results have been manipulated and misrepresented, how the pharmaceutical drug companies are in the business to make money, how the side effects are not being reported, and how our doctors are not looking at all the facts about statins before prescribing them to the general public. This is a book that is adding to my knowledge to make an informed decision on as to if I should continue taking statins drugs or find alternative solutions. A very good read and reference document.

Eye-opening. Clears up a lot of misinformation which the medical industry perpetuates. Do your research. See that the harms from statin drugs far outweigh any supposed benefits. I'd also suggest joining a Facebook group or two, to "Just say no to statins." A lot of helpful people and good information there, as well.

Statins caused havoc in my life. They are a problem drug and this book exposes why.

Great information about statin drugs.