The Folly of Statins and Their Link with Hormones
Everyone is talking about their cholesterol levels and straining their eyes to read nutrition labels that are more misleading than helpful. They want to make sure they are not eating any egg or meat cholesterol because they figure it will end up in their blood stream. In reality, the liver converts absorbed dietary cholesterol immediately into bile salts before it ever gets into the systemic circulation. These salts are then used for the digestion of other dietary fats. In other words there is no beef cholesterol floating around in beef eaters.

The real story is that the liver will produce cholesterol from scratch only in response to a particular hormonal messenger, specifically insulin. High insulin levels give the liver the “store fat” message, and the enzyme responsible for cholesterol synthesis goes into overdrive. Statin drugs work to lower cholesterol because they block this enzyme’s activity. Some might prefer to call this “poisoning” the liver’s functional abilities.

The problem with poisoning is that it tends not to be localized and specific in effects, but rather generalized and non-specific. Thus possible side effects or unwanted effects come into play. One particularly nasty side effect is the depletion of CoQ-10 in the body, resulting in extremity muscle weakness and perhaps negative effects on the heart muscle itself (like heart failure).

Statins are an example of the cockeyed philosophy of most of orthodox medicine that results when paharmaceutical companies rule the roost. Poisoning the liver to prevent the effect of increasing cholesterol while leaving the cause (high insulin) unaddressed does not make any sense. All the other negative effects of hyperinsulinemia (too much insulin) will continue unabated, and cause a multiplicity of negative effects and a more rapid aging rate unless this causal factor is dealt with.

In chronically stressed individuals we see an increase in the secretion of adrenal steroids, and a subsequent increase in blood sugar. In a sedentary chronically stressed individual this sugar has nowhere to go. Higher insulin levels must then occur in order to remove the excess sugar from the blood. It is this elevation of insulin that makes these individuals get progressively more obese, while the high levels of cortisol cause breakdown of body protein (i.e., muscle tissue) into sugar (and then fat), further aggravating the problem by slowing the basal metabolism.

The excess sugar is mostly handled by being converted into cholesterol and triglycerides (body fat). Liver cells are loaded with receptor sites for insulin. In a sense, because of this, the liver functions as an insulin “trap” such that only excess amounts of insulin will escape capture by liver cells and end up affecting the rest of the body. Therefore, healthy people with lower sugar and insulin levels will not develop the obesity that results from this series of events. Another factor is growth hormone levels. When these are high, insulin requirements are reduced because IgF-1 (the old name for growth hormone) has an insulin like effect while also preventing protein (muscle) breakdown into sugar. That is the kind of hormonal messenger that everyone should want to have. Levels can be measured in the blood.

Going back to the statins, the enzyme which they inhibit (HMG CoA reductase) is also responsible for the synthesis of testosterone and other intrinsic anabolic hormones. Such hormones maintain body integrity by building and maintaining lean muscle mass and organ and glandular activity. Dropping testosterone levels from statin use cannot fail to have a negative effect on the body as a whole. It is very possible that the apparent increase in heart failure in statin treated patients may be due in part to diminished CoQ10 levels, and in part to dropping testosterone levels. If a patient insists on controlling their cholesterol levels by the use of statin drugs, they absolutely must have CoQ10 and anabolic hormone levels measured. Better yet, do a comprehensive natural medicine workup to address the underlying cause.