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Scary side effects from these cholesterol-lowering tablets
Matt Cook here, and I’ve been researching the potential harmful effects of Big Pharma treatments for decades…
And yet it’s still alarming when you find out that supposedly “well-tolerated” treatments that are taken by millions of people…
…can have alarming side effects.It’s even worse when those side effects are rarely discussed and patients are blind sided by them.
But it happens far more often than you think.
One of the most broadly used groups of treatments that cause these types of surprise side effects is statins.
These treatments are used to lower cholesterol…
…but they can have side effects that can really mess up quality of life and create a great deal of misery.
A terrible side effect of statins is a condition called idiopathic inflammatory myositis.
This isn’t a super common side effect, but if you get it then you can end up having serious problems.Now… I’m not saying to go off of treatments without consulting with your doctor.
If you are concerned about treatment you are on, then you should always consult with your doctor before going off of them.
I’m not a doctor and I can’t give medical advice.
Idiopathic Inflammatory Myositis
Idiopathic inflammatory myositis (IIM) is an inflammation of the muscles that are used for body movement.
Idiopathic inflammatory myopathy is a group of disorders characterized by inflammation of the muscles used for movement (skeletal muscles).
The symptoms of this IIM include muscle weakness, joint pain, and fatigue.
If you end up with IIM it can cause serious problems with day to day function in life.
The primary symptom of idiopathic inflammatory myopathy is muscle weakness, which develops gradually over a period of weeks to months or even years. Other symptoms include joint pain and general tiredness (fatigue).
Of course, your heart is a muscle and statins are supposed to benefit heart health…
…but if they cause muscle weakness are they actually doing that?
It seems to me that something that causes muscle damage may also be DAMAGING your heart.
Here’s a study from Australia that shows that statins can cause idiopathic inflammatory myositis.
In this large population-based study, statin exposure was significantly associated with histologically confirmed IIM. Given the increased use of statins worldwide and the severity of IIM, increased awareness and recognition of this potentially rare adverse effect of statin exposure is needed.
And here is another study published way back in 2007 that shows that statins put you at higher risk for myositis!
Myositis was significantly associated with statin monotherapy (RR 2.8 [95% confidence interval
Big Pharma has known about this correlation for over a decade and patients still don’t usually know that this risk is a very real possibility.
I think doctors are afraid that if they tell patients about this risk then they won’t take the treatments…
…and the FDA doesn’t seem to think that myositis is worth making a big deal about.
I can’t tell you what to do, but personally I would never take a statin.
The side effects can be severe, there is no real evidence that they extend life…
…and cholesterol isn’t the super bad guy that the medical community makes it out to be.
I also think it’s super important to take a critical eye to whatever treatments that your doctor gives you…
…and to ask questions so that you understand if the risk is worth the benefit in your particular situation.
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