Dear Dr. Jonny,
Following your suggestion, I just finished reading “The Great Cholesterol Lie”! What an eye-opener.
But I recently read in the mainstream media about a study called the JUPITER Study that showed the benefit of statin drugs even for people with normal cholesterol! How can this be?
Well, I can certainly see why my reader was confused. So let’s try to sort it out.
In the JUPITER study, people with normal cholesterol were given statin drugs. But these people didn’t just have normal cholesterol- they also had elevated levels of a blood protein called C-reactive Protein (CRP).
When this group of people took statin drugs (specifically Crestor), their risk factors did indeed improve.
The question is, “Why?”
Here’s the answer- and it’s not nearly as confusing as the results might seem at first.
Statin drugs are mildly anti-inflammatory. I believe- and I’m quite sure Dr. Lundell would agree with me- that any good that statin drugs do is solely because of their ability to reduce inflammation. In the JUPITER Study, statins lowered CRP, which is- guess what- a measure of systemic inflammation!
And here’s what backfired for the pharmaceutical company. This study confirmed the fact that cholesterol is largely irrelevant. The patients in the JUPITER Study were at risk not because their cholesterol was high (it wasn’t) but because they had high levels of inflammation.
The statin drug lowered their inflammation, and any lowering of inflammation improves risk factors for heart disease, not to mention overall health. Let’s not forget those nasty side effects of painful muscle cramping and recent studies that show extreme cognitive dysfunction from statins.
Wouldn’t an aspirin be better? And better yet, Omega-3?
Statins are the “Frankenstein” medication of our time. And Dr. Lundell exposes the reasons why in his excellent book.
The bottom line is that Inflammation is a very, very serious thing—it’s a silent killer.
Cholesterol is not. My advice? Take Omega-3 fish oil, the most anti-inflammatory compound on the planet and one that has exactly zero side effects. With fish oil available, why in the world would someone choose a statin as their anti-inflammatory drug of choice?
The simple steps to begin healing your heart outlined in Dr. Lundell’s book, “The Great Cholesterol Lie” will absolutely astonish you.
Go here now and silence that deadly killer – inflammation.
I searched for something completely different, but found your website! And have to say thanks. Nice read. Will come back.
many thanks!
warmly
jb
hi this is really great information thank you for sharing it with us all.
A topic close to my heart thanks. Like your blog design too.