With at least 12 million Americans taking cholesterol-lowering drugs, mostly statins, and experts’ recommendations that another 23 million should be taking them, it’s no wonder that the drug companies are scrambling to get their piece of the pie by releasing new and "improved" statin drugs.

AstraZeneca just released their new statin called Crestor (generic name rosuvastatin). According to the company, Crestor is less expensive and more effective than similar drugs like Pfizer’s Lipitor, which is currently the statin market leader, taking in about $8 billion of the $13 billion total statin sales in 2002.

And while it appears that the drug may be slightly better than other statins at raising good (HDL) cholesterol levels, there are loads of safety concerns surrounding the drug. For instance, the highest, 80-milligram dose of Crestor could not be approved because of serious side effects including muscle and kidney damage. Some say the drug may produce side effects even at lower doses, and caution that patients should be closely monitored when on the drug.

Of course, all statins pose risks, so the question of which statin is most dangerous is somewhat tongue-in-cheek. Dangers of statin drugs include, but are not limited to, a potential increase in liver enzymes so patients must be monitored for normal liver function, muscle aches, weakness, immune system suppression, an increase in cancer risk, and a serious degenerative muscle tissue condition called rhabdomyolysis.

Naturally, one would assume that with the extensive list of side effects associated with statins, they must be doing some pretty good things. Well, what statins do do is lower cholesterol levels, that is true. But if lowering your cholesterol is your goal, why not try a healthy diet with little to no grains and sugars? This will work in the majority of cases. On a side note, eliminating sugar and grains will inevitably cause beneficial side effects, such as normalizing your weight, increasing your energy and lowering your blood pressure and triglycerides.

But suppose that lowering your "bad" (LDL) cholesterol was not actually the key to lowering your risk of heart attacks and heart disease? Would you still want to risk all of those statin side effects? Well, this is just what several research studies have found, raising the basic question of whether statin drugs even work to lower the risk of heart disease.

One study, published in the August 2003 American Journal of Cardiology found that lowering bad cholesterol with statin drugs may not reduce the rate at which plaque builds up in the arteries surrounding the heart. This finding flies in the face of the widespread belief that lowering LDL cholesterol levels is the best way to reduce arterial plaque. In the study, participants taking varying doses of a statin did generally lower their cholesterol. However, all the groups had an average increase in arterial plaque of 9.2 percent.

Another study published in the December 2002 Journal of the American Medical Association looked at the effect of statin drugs versus usual care (improving diet, exercise, etc.). While the statin group did lower their bad cholesterol levels significantly more than the usual care group, both groups had the SAME rates of death and heart disease.

In light of these reports, and the known dangers of statin drugs, you would expect some major news in the area of statins, but the studies received hardly any mainstream media coverage. As with many health care issues, you’ll have to sort out the truth for yourself.

If you truly want to prevent heart disease, check out my article Protect Yourself From Heart Disease With Simple Lifestyle Changes. For a quick tip, one of the easiest and most effective ways to reduce your risk of heart disease is by increasing the omega-3 in your diet. Omega-3 fatty acids, which are found in oily fish and fish oils, offer great protection. Studies have shown that omega-3 works by preventing the buildup of fatty deposits in the arteries. One of the best ways to make sure you have enough omega-3 in your diet is by regularly consuming fish oil. It’s important to use a high-quality oil to ensure that the product is fresh and purified of mercury and other toxins. Carlson’s fish oil is the best brand I’ve come across; you can look for it in your local health food store or in our online store.

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