Statin Drugs Side Effects and the Misguided War on Cholesterol [Paperback]

Duane Graveline (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 21, 2008

If you are on a statin drug or are thinking of going on a statin, this fully referenced book, Statin Drug Side Effects, is a "must read" for you. The unacceptable legacy of statin drug use at today's high doses is a trail of chronic aches and pains, numbness, weakness, confusion, fatigue, shortness of breath and even heart failure in hordes of unsuspecting victims. Only by knowing this information, and in consultation with your healthcare professional, can you make an informed decision about your health care. If you are a user of Vytorin, Lipitor, Zocor, Crestor, Mevacor, Pravachol or Lescol you must read this book. Most of the statin side effects I discuss are unknown to your busy doctor. Although knowledgeable about muscle and liver problems, few have heard of statin amnesia and other forms of memory dysfunction and fewer still associate hostility, aggression and profound depression as statin related. As a former astronaut, aerospace medical research scientist, flight surgeon and family doctor, I was appalled by the lack of information in the medical community on the full range of side effects of the statin drugs. This book is a comprehensive reference source and summary of side effects of statin drugs.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Duane Graveline MD MPH; 1 edition (May 21, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0970081790
• ISBN-13: 978-0970081797
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.4 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #236,662 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

111 of 113 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Cholesterol Truth Means No Statin Drugs August 1, 2008

By Joel M. Kauffman

Format:Paperback

This book focuses on the side-effects of statin drugs used "to lower cholesterol" or LDL-cholesterol. Its author has been an astronaut, aerospace medical research scientist, flight surgeon, family physician for at least 10 years, writer (including novels), and holder of a Masters degree in Public Health (MPH). Still, he enjoys being known as "Spacedoc". But what makes him super-qualified as author of Statin Drug Side Effects (SDSE) is that he has experienced two episodes of transient global amnesia himself after taking Lipitor(tm).

This side-effect, shocking in its implications for drivers, pilots, etc., was temporary for Spacedoc, but not for everyone, as he reports on hundreds of cases. He also wrote that there are thousands of cases of less severe mental impairments due to Lipitor, and the equally dangerous statin drugs Zocor, Mevacor, Crestor and Baycol (now withdrawn). These and the less dangerous Pravachol and Lescol had been well-known for causing muscle pain, muscle weakness, muscle decomposition leading to kidney failure, peripheral neuropathy, digestive problems, chronic fatigue, sexual dysfunction, headache and skin rash. There are warnings that pregnant women or those are breast feeding should not take any statins. Most people accepted (or were not told) about these common side effects. And now Spacedoc exposes mental problems, heart failure and increased cancer rates! He spells out the biochemical pathways for these side effects. He gives case descriptions of many of the amnesia cases, including his own episodes.

Spacedoc's experience as a novelist helped to make his book very readable. The first 112 pages are less technical than the final 44 pages of addendum, which include more detailed biochemical pathways for the brain damage, immune system damage, and heart damage from statin drugs. A final 10 pages is a brief summary of the whole. For busy physicians, these 44 pages alone are worth the price of the book. SDSE is carefully referenced, mostly to medical journals, with numbered citations (the best way). There is no index. While I disagree with a half dozen narrow aspects of the work, Spacedoc's credentials are far better than mine, and the main messages are solid. His tone is very civil, even in lamenting the baseless demonization of cholesterol. Other authors have referred to this as a fraud, myth, conspiracy and con. Spacedoc gives example after example of how common and necessary cholesterol, including LDL-cholesterol, really is in your body.

Spacedoc has explained that the whole dogma of lowering cholesterol or LDL-cholesterol has no scientific basis, despite $billions of TV advertising and medical claims based on clinical trials. Flaws in trial design and reporting are explained very well. Spacedoc has shown that the low-fat diets promoted by the avaricious or ignorant for 50 years have failed, as you can see from the number of fat people around you. Diets that will reverse obesity and type 2 diabetes are given. Spacedoc had anticipated the more recent book on diets: "Good Calories Bad Calories" by Gary Taubes.

Is Spacedoc a zealot or nearly alone? Not a chance, since at least 30 books have appeared in the last 10 years in agreement, all solidly accurate and well-referenced. About 70 cholesterol skeptics and their publications may be found at <www.thincs.org>.

I recommend this book especially for physicians, physician assistants, nurses, pharmacists, as well as FDA and USDA employees. Big Pharma detail women (or men) might want to read it in secret. Many of the rest of you will find SDSE to be a personally useful revelation that will restore health in later life for you or a relative or friend. Or a window showing the dark world of over promoted prescription drugs.

55 of 56 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Statins: These drugs are heavy on dangerous side effects, and very light on extending a healthy life. October 11, 2008

By Health Reader Guy

Format:Paperback

If you have a typical headache, you can count on aspirin, acetaminophen or ibuprofen to bring relief. If you have a stuffed nose and can't breathe, Nyquil or another decongestant will provide easier breathing for sleep. On the true preventive side of things, having a pregnant woman take folic acid and other supplements absolutely prevents neural tube defects. And making sure that growing children consume calcium and get sun exposure (or take Vitamin D) absolutely prevents rickets and other bone problems.
So does taking a statin reliably prevent a heart attack? Absolutely not! The true statistics show that statins might lower the absolute risk of a cardiac event by just one or two percent over placebo. But the drugmakers use a statistical trick called "relative reduction in risk" to artificially boost this small difference, which is the way they've convinced their sales people and the prescribing physicians to believe in this giant scheme. If 7 percent of placebo users suffer a cardiac event over five years, while about 5 percent of statin users have one, that's an absolute reduction of just 2 percent over five years. But the drugmakers state publicly that it's a "relative reduction in risk" of almost 30 percent, which mathematically is correct. But it's not ethically correct, in my judgement.
And for that one or two percent increased chance of avoiding a cardiac event, side effects occur in far greater percentages of users, and some of these side effects are severe and dangerous. Dr. Graveline's important book points this out in truthful, objective and honest ways. In fact, numerous studies have shown that statins do not increase mortality statistics.
As Dr. Kauffman, Dr. Rosch, and the other reviewers have written, Dr. Graveline's book is a critically important one. It should be required reading for all prescribing physicians.

55 of 57 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Useful Information About Hidden Dangers August 18, 2008

By Paul J. Rosch

Format:Paperback

This concise but comprehensive compendium not only lists the cornucopia of statin side effects, but also clearly explains the mechanisms of action responsible for their insidious side effects. Many of these dangerous complications, including cancer and neurodegenerative disorders that have been skillfully concealed or denied by statin manufacturers are just now beginning to surface. As Dr. Graveline emphasizes, in blocking cholesterol, which is essential for neuronal communication in the brain, statins also interfere with the synthesis of Coenzyme Q10, dolichols and NF-kB (nuclear factor kappa B), vital nutrients crucial for energy production, neuropeptide synthesis and proper immune system function. He also discusses the important role of homocysteine in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and the fallacies of current dogma that perpetuates the high fat diet' high cholesterol' heart attack myths. Equally valuable is a chapter devoted to statin alternatives that are certainly much safer and can be more effective for many, especially senior citizens and women of any age. The author, who is a physician with impressive credentials, became interested in this subject after suffering two episodes of global amnesia. His previous book, Lipitor, Thief of Memory, details this and similar memory problems experienced by many others. Since then, he has established a web site www.spacedoc.net that now includes reports of over 7,000 patients who have experienced documented statin side effect. As also emphasized, statins have been the best selling drugs ever for several years. This meaty book should be required reading for the many millions of patients that take them and the hundreds of thousands of physicians who prescribe them.

Paul J. Rosch, MD, FACP
President, The American Institute of Stress

Clinical Professor of Medicine and Psychiatry
New York Medical College

Honorary Vice-President
International Stress Management Association