Do you know anyone popping a pill? In all likelihood you do. I’m not talking street drugs. According to the Department of Health and Human Services AT LEAST half of Americans are using prescription drugs.
Is it really necessary for us all to be walking around hooked on drugs? Some may believe medications are helpful to health. I am one of them but I also believe that too many people are popping too many pills and this is not good.
For example, According to Instructional Management Systems, 15 million Americans are taking statins (Lipitor, Lescol, Mevacor, Altocor, Livalo, Pravachol, Crestor, Zocor). If you are one of the millions who are taking a statin, you should know a statin drug refers to a class of different drugs that are used to help lower cholesterol by blocking the action of the enzyme HMG-CoA. The rationale: if your body makes too much cholesterol, pop a pill that will block what it is doing and the pill will lower cholesterol, you will have found the panacea to your ills. Yes this is what it does for some but not for everyone who takes it and it comes at a price.
When any health risk factor is not normal, the best way to approach the problem is to understand why. Abnormalities in blood work, low energy levels or any symptom is a communication from your body that something is wrong. Popping a pill is not the panacea you think. Blocking a natural function of the liver, only tells your liver to shut up stop misbehaving you are not listening. The real problem is not being corrected. If your cholesterol is high as a sign of insulin resistance, try correcting insulin resistance and cholesterol will return to normal instead of popping a pill.
Your body fights back with side effects. In the case of statins, this is the laundry list:
1. headaches
2.muscle pain, weakness and damage (rhabdomyolysis)
3. increased risk of insulin resistance and diabetes (diabetes is also related to liver function)
4. loss of memory (in animal experiments, Lipitor and Pravachol)
5. increased liver enzymes and liver failure
6. bloating
7. stomach pain
8. diarrhea
9. cataracts (10% increase as reported in the September 2013 issue of JAMA Opthalmology)
10. kidney failure (high doses can increase risk by 34%)
None of these are anything I’d like to induce on myself and despite recent cautions and an added warning label for statins by the US Food and Drug Administration that these drugs can lead to serious health problems, the flood of statin users are on the rise.
Why? oh why??
Obviously there is money to be made. Oh and of course, there is much more money to be had. Even though it is realized that statins may not be as effective at lowering cholesterol as once thought (see below, Can Statins Do The Job?). The American Heart Association (AHA) and The American College of Cardiology (ACC) got “smart”. They made recommendations for statins that would continue to grow the industry, http://www.thenewstribune.com/2014/01/31/3021500/integrative-medicine-new-guidelines.html. Did I say there was even MORE money to be had?
You the public, do not have a fighting chance. Recommendations to push statins when cholesterol is high now include a patient’s personal risk factors (smoking, age, gender, race). By default, it adds more pill popping victims to the pot.
Can Statins Do The Job?
Yes, if you already have heart disease and have had a heart attack or you are diagnosed with familial hypercholesterolemia.
For the rest of you, especially women, who are popping a statin, you may be surprised to know that it may not really be helping you. Read this, http://chriskresser.com/the-diet-heart-myth-statins-dont-save-lives-in-people-without-heart-disease, discuss with your doctor and then make a “smart” decision for yourself.
Statin users are not the only ones who may be unnecessarily popping pills. There are so many more “prescription users” that are popping pills for no good reason at all. Take the time to understand what is going on with your body and find a physician who will work with you to meet your personal health goals for any medical condition.
My advice, do not become a pill popper unless necessary. If you have high cholesterol and want better insight on how to understand the health risks of high cholesterol and how you can best manage it, check in next week. I’ll let you know
