The Dangers of Statin Drugs: What You Haven't Been Told About Cholesterol-Lowering Medication: PART 2
Dr. Joe Mercola (mercola.com)
How Statins Work
The process begins with acetyl-CoA, a two-carbon molecule sometimes referred to as the "building block of life."
Three acetyl-CoA molecules combine to form six-carbon hydroxymethyl glutaric acid (HMG).
The step from HMG to mevalonate requires an enzyme, HMG-CoA reductase.
Statin drugs work by inhibiting this enzyme--hence the formal name of HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors.
Herein lies the potential for numerous side effects, because
statin drugs inhibit not just the
production of cholesterol, but a whole family of intermediary substances, many
if not all of which have important biochemical functions in their own right.
Consider the findings of pediatricians at the University of California, San Diego who published a description of a child with a hereditary defect of mevalonic kinase, the enzyme that facilitates the next step beyond HMG-CoA reductase.
The child was mentally retarded, microcephalic (very small head), small for his age, profoundly anemic, acidotic and febrile.
He also had cataracts.
Predictably, his cholesterol was consistently low--70-79 mg/dl.
He died at the age of 24 months.
The child represents an extreme example of cholesterol inhibition, but his case illuminates the possible consequences of taking statins in strong doses or for a lengthy period of time:
Depression of mental acuity
Anemia
Acidosis
Frequent fevers
Cataracts
Cholesterol is one of three end products in the mevalonate chain.
The two others are ubiquinone and dilochol. Ubiquinone or Co-Enzyme Q10 is a critical cellular nutrient biosynthesized in the mitochondria.
It plays a role in ATP production in the cells and functions as an electron carrier to cytochrome oxidase, our main respiratory enzyme.
The heart requires high levels of Co-Q10.
A form of Co-Q10 called ubiquinone is found in all cell membranes where it plays a role in maintaining membrane integrity so critical to nerve conduction and muscle integrity.
Co-Q10 is also vital to the formation of elastin and collagen.
Side effects of Co-Q10 deficiency include muscle wasting leading to weakness and severe back pain, heart failure (the heart is a muscle!), neuropathy and inflammation of the tendons and ligaments, often leading to rupture.
Dolichols also play a role of immense importance.
In the cells they direct various proteins manufactured in response to DNA directives to their proper targets, ensuring that the cells respond correctly to genetically programmed instruction.
Thus statin drugs can lead to unpredictable chaos on the cellular level, much
like a computer virus that wipes out certain pathways or files.
Squalene, the immediate precursor to cholesterol, has anti-cancer effects, according to research.
The fact that some studies have shown that statins can prevent heart disease, at least in the short term, is most likely explained not by the inhibition of cholesterol production but because they block the creation of mevalonate.
Reduced amounts of mevalonate seem to make smooth muscle cells less active, and platelets less able to produce thromboxane.
Atherosclerosis begins with the growth of smooth muscle cells in side artery walls and thromboxane is necessary for blood clotting.
Do you see what this is setting you up for?
You're right!
Increased risk of strokes
Click to Read Part 3
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