Statins

Category: Medicines

Type

Involuntary

Introduction and description

Statins are a class of drugs used to lower cholesterol levels by inhibiting the enzyme HMG-CoA reductase, which plays a central role in the production of cholesterol in the liver.

Cholesterol is an essential structural component of animal cell membranes.  It is required to establish proper membrane permeability and fluidity. In addition to its importance within cells, cholesterol also serves as a precursor for the biosynthesis of steroid hormones, bile acids, and vitamin D.  In effect, if we are in need of repair for any reason, then we should expect the cholesterol levels to be high.

To re-emphasise this point all our sex hormones - androgen, estrogen and testosterone are manufactured using cholesterol, so one of the side-effects of lowering cholesterol is infertility and impotence. 

High cholesterol is an indicator of other problems - a symptom and not a cause.

Increased cholesterol levels have been associated with cardiovascular diseases (CVD), and statins are therefore used for these diseases.  But this is of course hugely simplistic thinking - even naive.  The causes of heart disease and blood circulatory system disease are:

• Viruses - as large numbers of viruses are able to get into the blood stream and indeed get to their target organ of attack via the blood stream, they are a major irritant
• Toxins - a large numbers of toxins are capable of entering the blood stream via our lungs.  Nanoparticles have started to become a major problem in this area.   Heavy metal poisoning has also been linked with blood circulatory diseases.
• Fungal infection - see the section on blood circulatory diseases
• Parasites – from liver flukes to tapeworms, from toxoplasmia gondii to ascaris
• Bacteria - such as Legionella, Leptospira, Coxiella burnetii and Rickettsia rickettsii.
• Radiation
• Other pharmaceuticals

Cholesterol is often present in high amounts if the damage done by these is high.  If we remove the cholesterol, we remove an essential structural repair substance. 

The thinking behind giving statins as a mechanism of helping those with heart disease is thus flawed.  We should be treating the cause not the symptoms. [see Healing yourself]

Side effects

The side effects of statins are well documented on PubMed and well researched, but appear to be completely ignored by doctors.  There is also a body of evidence now on the eHealthme web site to which people can go to see the side effects.  Unfortunately, the side effects are not grouped per class of drug on this site, so that you have to take the side effects of each drug - see LINK. 

It may be of interest to know that as of 2014, the number of people in the USA reported to have had side effects through official channels [in effect excluding all those who were not recorded officially] was well over 250,000. 

Death

 One interesting side-effect that is not frequently mentionned is death.  When we first created this page, we provided a page in the science section so that you can see the figures - see Statin deaths: 

These figures come from eHealthme and were correct as at August 2015.  They only apply to the US where the figures were collected and not the rest of the world.  The figure then was  7,804.  

Given the difficulty of correlating deaths with cause, this figure is somewhat remarkable.  It means that doctors somewhere have made the connection.

In order to provide a different perspective on these figures we have also provided the deaths and adverse reports as at January 2016.

Using the Adverse Drug Reports submitted to the FDA and SEDA in the USA by doctors only [thus excluding all those people who have not reported effects to their doctor or died without being autopsied], and including only the USA - the figures thus exclude the rest of the world.

The number of people experiencing side effects from statins

522,024

The number of deaths from statins

9,200

May they rest in peace

Other side effects

Vitamin D deficiency

which has  a host of knock on effects.  Vitamin D deficiency causes Mineral deficiency of a major sort [see below].  Vitamin D deficiency results in:

• Nervous system damage - The knock on effect of Vitamin D deficiency is a host of nervous problems.

• Bone and teeth diseases - suppression of  bone formation and repair  leading to osteoporosis or rickets, osteomalacia and tooth decay.  

• Blood circulatory problems - Perhaps particularly ironic is that without the regulating aspects of calcitriol, calcium can become a noxious substance in the blood stream and start to harden the arteries, as such a lack of Vitamin D will cause atherosclerosis.

• Heart disease - Calcium imbalance as well as mineral imbalance can cause all forms of heart disease from arrhythmias to heart damage. 

 

 Muscle damage

with no cholesterol to effect any repairs, cells gradually start to die and not be replaced.  Statins can thus have severe adverse effects, particularly muscle damage.

Given that the heart is a muscle, this has led to considerable concern over their effects on people with heart problems. Statins may in the end cause heart problems in those who did not previously have anything wrong with their heart. 

The most common noticeable and immediate adverse side effects are raised liver enzymes and muscle problems, including muscle cramps, pain and in some cases  rhabdomyolysis (muscle breakdown).   They have been shown to cause arrhythmia.

the last sentence is a especially chilling.

Mineral deficiency 

Statins cause both zinc deficiency and vitamin deficiency which means they affect the immune system.  The immune sysytem is our only major system of protection from invaders, as such, we leave ourselves open to numerous diseases and illnesses, for example:

• Cancer - If you turn to the section on Cancer, you will see that there is a strong correlation between cancer and viruses, bacteria, fungi, toxins and parasites. With zinc deficiency,  you get a compromised immune function and a compromised immune function cannot fight all these unpleasant invaders

• Various Organ diseases - even if you don't get cancer, you may get numerous other diseases of the organs, because much disease is caused by the pathogens mentioned above.  Statins have been shown to cause neuropathy, pancreatic and hepatic dysfunction, and renal failure.

Sexual dysfunction

Statins cause impotence in men and sexual dysfunction in women.  The interference with vitamin levels, mineral levels as well as the direct effects on hormones all serve to cause this effect.

also note the risk of diabetes and stroke.

Cognitive dysfunction

ranging from memory loss to Dementia and Alzheimers.  The two papers below provide specific evidence  for this effect

 Blindness, macular degeneration and other sight impairment

 for all the reasons mentioned above connected with mineral and vitamin deficiency as well as the suppression of cell repair and immune system functions, statins are implicated in AMD and sight impairment

Depression and suicide

there appears to be a clear link between statins and both depression and suicide.  This may be connected with the brain damage they do as described above, depending on which part of the brain is damaged, for example the amygdala, then depression would be the outcome.

 

Hallucinations

And statins can also cause hallucinations both auditory and visual.

How it works

How do statins cause spiritual experiences?

Brain damage

The principle cause if we look at all the side effects shown above is probably Brain damage.

If you turn to the section on the drugs themselves atorvastatin and simvastatin appear to the the drugs with the highest incidence of hallucinations.  In the many study reports on PubMed, the same two drugs were associated with cognitive problems.

The disruption of the memory and reasoning function is a very effective way to induce all sorts of spiritual experience.  With memory and the reasoning function disrupted, the will is subdued and the composer is free to form visions and hallucinations from perceptions.

Toxicity/poisoning

Another cause, might be because at too high a dose they are toxic.  Toxicity in any chemical produces the effects of delirium and delirium can give you hallucinations.

If we take a drug like Simvastatin, for example,  patients are usually started at 20 mg, but the dispersion index can go from 5 mg to 80 mg a day. If adjustments are required, the adjustment must be performed at intervals no less than 4 weeks. If too high a dose is given early on, or the rate increased at too high a frequency [less than 4 weeks] or the dose is over the maximum recommended [The highest approved dose of simvastatin is 80 mg] then hallucinations might result from the toxic affects.

Interactions with foods and herbals

There are also some odd interactions with foods that people may not be aware of and may not have been warned against.  Consumption of grapefruit or grapefruit juice inhibits the metabolism of statins. Bitter oranges may have a similar effect. Furanocoumarins in grapefruit juice (i.e. bergamottin and dihydroxybergamottin) inhibit the cytochrome P450 enzyme CYP3A4, which is involved in the metabolism of most statins (however it is a major inhibitor of only lovastatin, simvastatin and to a lesser degree atorvastatin) and some other medications. This increases the levels of the statin, increasing the risk of dose-related adverse effects. In those countries where people have to pay for their medicines, some people even take grapefruit juice to enhance the effect of lower (hence cheaper) doses of statins; this too increases the risk and the potential for statin toxicity.  In effect  grapefruit increases the dose to one that is toxic and the hallucinations may result from the toxic  effects.

Interactions with other drugs 

Finally there are a number of interactions with other drugs that result in toxic levels of the drug.  Again, if we take Simvastatin as an example, the following drugs should not be used with Simvastatin as they can result in toxic reactions [which are dose dependent]: 

• Amiodarone - when simvastatin is used with amiodarone it can lead to kidney failure or death according to the FDA
• Itraconazole, Ketoconazole, Erythromycin, Clarithromycin, Telithromycin, HIV protease inhibitors, or Nefazodone, Gemfibrozil, Cyclosporine, or Danazol, Verapamil and Diltiazem these drugs are CYP3A4 inhibitors which decrease the metabolism of simvastatin, therefore increasing the plasma activity of simvastatin

 So there is a lot to go wrong and I suspect that where hallucinations have been experienced it is the toxic effects of interactions and dose problems that is the cause.

 

Disadvantages

All the rest of the description has been balanced reporting of my findings by using research papers and recognised medical sites, but here I will put in a little emotional input, just to make you sit up and take notice!  This isn't my picture, but the website I found this on was a great deal more frightening than I have been.

 

Observations

The number of hallucinations  - involuntary spiritual experiences – caused by these drugs is shown in brackets following the name, the figures were derived from SEDA figures on the eHealthme web site.  I have provided a link through to the ehealthme site for the drugs shown so that you can see all the side effects they ahve had reported via official doctor reports

There are over1,000 hallucinations in the USA alone 

Observation identifiers	Observation name	No of hallucinations
001150	Lipitor	212
	Fluvastatin  - Lescol	19
001151	Lovostatin	29
	Mevacor	12
001152	Pravastatin	21
	Pravachol	43
	Rosuvastatin/Crestor	9
001153	Simvastatin	280
	Zocor	274
	Vytorin	32
	Simcor	1
	Atorvastatin	122
	TOTAL	1,054

 The following have no figures 

• Mevastatin – Compactin - Naturally-occurring compound. Found in red yeast rice.  Works via CYP3A4 
• Pitavastatin  - Livalo, Pitava – a synthetic compound

 Several combination preparations of a statin and another agent are also available 

• Ezetimibe/simvastatin, sold as Vytorin [32]. 
• Advicor which is Lovastatin+Niacin extended-release. 
• Caduet which is a  Cholesterol+Blood Pressure drug consists of Atorvastatin+Amlodipine Besylate.
• Simcor [1] is Simvastatin+Niacin extended-release

Related observations

Healing observations

• Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride - Heart attack through 'evil fats'? 027893
• Lipids, low cholesterol, depression and suicide 011997
• Therapeutics Education Collaboration - Bohemian Polypharmacy 012489
• Therapeutics Education Collaboration - Doctor (123456789) 012492

Hallucination

• A case of anaphylaxis to peppermint, statins, aspirin and gastroesophageal reflux drugs 012294
• Acute delirium from a cocktail of prescribed pharmaceuticals 012266
• Advicor 017949
• Auditory hallucinations and acute stroke 012627
• Australian survey of psychoses 006145
• Baycol 018030
• Caduet 018136
• Coenzyme Q10 018217
• Coq10 018221
• Crestor and Rosuvastatin 023975
• Hallucinations from a cocktail of pharmaceuticals and Cod Liver oil 012180
• Lipitor and Atorvastatin 001150
• Lovastatin and Mevacor 001151
• Pravacol and Pravastatin 015664
• Simvastatin and Zocor 001153
• Statin induced psychosis and insomnia 006394
• Vytorin 024181
• Zetia hallucinations 005425

Enlightenment

Kundalini, Ecstasy, Moksha, Nirvana and Annihilation

• Auditory hallucinations and acute stroke 012627

In time

Synaesthesia, Pure or enhanced perception, Inter composer communication, Vision, Dream, Perception recall, Exploring group perception

• Auditory hallucinations and acute stroke 012627
• Danielou, Alain – On drugs you are possessed by the spirit being of the drug 022582

Dying

• A case of anaphylaxis to peppermint, statins, aspirin and gastroesophageal reflux drugs 012294

Other observations

• Amiodarone monitoring program 005080
• Statins and zinc and iron imbalance 006872