Statins can harm your heart — the stunning contradiction the mainstream just doesn’t get

The heart really wants what the heart wants

These days, if you’re over 50 and have a pulse, your doctor’s probably handed you a scrip for a statin. They dole out those little pills as if they’re as safe as Tic-Tacs, without so much as a second thought.

Your doctor may not think twice before prescribing them, but you should definitely think twice before swallowing them…

Because those billion-dollar babies do your body — and your heart — a lot more harm than good. And the list keeps getting longer — and scarier.

Not only have statins been linked to liver damage, confusion and memory loss and even diabetes, but they deplete your body of one of its most vital nutrients.

And to make matters worse, this nutrient is absolutely essential to heart health — the very area statins are supposed to be protecting.

I’m talking about CoQ10. Now, I know you’ve heard of it before. This particular enzyme has reached “broken record” status in health news — but with good reason. And if you or a loved one is taking a statin — you must know if your body’s critically low on CoQ10.

Why this enzyme isn’t optional…

This naturally occurring super-antioxidant fuels cellular energy production in every cell of your body.

That’s your brain, your eyes, your muscles, your heart — and literally everything else.. Not only that, in addition to giving all the organs and cells of your body their energy, CoQ10 is also a powerful antioxidant that repairs free-radical damage to your heart and other vital organs.

Talk about a full-time job!

So the importance of CoQ10 is beyond question. A ton of research shows that CoQ10 supplements help patients recover from heart attack, heart failure, and heart surgery. Plus CoQ10 does a great job of preventing heart problems in healthy people.

And the connection is even more obvious when you look at it from “the dark side.” Low levels of CoQ10 is one of the known causes of heart failure.

So let’s recap: Low levels CoQ10 can cause your heart to fail and statins are now proven to deplete CoQ10 from your body.

It might not be news to some. But a new clinical trial, from the Center for Healthy Aging in Copenhagen confirms exactly what researchers have feared for years.

Nearly HALF of the Danish subjects who used statins experienced muscle pain. So researchers took muscle tissue biopsies from all subjects. Results showed depleted levels of CoQ10 and three other antioxidants in statin users, but not in the placebo group.

So two things are happening here…First, it appears we’ve found the trigger of statin-related muscle pain. Second this confirms that statins do indeed lower CoQ10 levels, which can lead to a whole host of problems.

So what are some early signs of CoQ10 deficiency to look for?

Weakness for starters. Since CoQ10 is the building block of cellular fuel — lack of CoQ10 can easily lead to feeling weak or more tired than usual. Not just physically weak, either. Low CoQ10 levels could cause mental fatigue as well…like confusion. And it can certainly cause muscle aches and pains.

But it’s the potential long-term consequences, like diabetes and heart failure, that are the most outrageous.

There is a lot more evidence of the risk of statins than the benefits. If you aren’t already on a statin, don’t start. And if you are taking one, talk to your doctor about stopping…safely. If he pushes back, look for another doctor that will work with you.

It can be hard to question your doctor. But we continue to hear more and more about how statins are damaging hearts, muscles and brains and less about how they are saving lives.

Sources:
“Simvastatin Effects on Skeletal Muscle: Relation to Decreased Mitochondrial Function and Glucose Intolerance” Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Vol. 61, No. 1, January 2013, onlinejacc.org

“Study confirms CoQ10 decline in statin-treated patients” Life Extension Foundation, 1/11/13, lef.org