According to the results of a new international study involving 22,000 patients throughout Europe and Canada who are treated with statins (pharmaceutical drugs for reducing cholesterol), almost half of them (48%) had higher than normal levels of LDL (low-density “bad” cholesterol). Additionally, 73% of them had at least one abnormal reading of LDL, HDL (high-density “good” cholesterol) or triglycerides.

The patients, aged 45 and older, had been on statins for at least three months, and had other cardiovascular conditions, including high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease.

The DYSlipidemia International Study (DYSIS) results showed that even in those patients reaching their LDL target, 25% still had abnormal levels of triglycerides and/or HDL. Additionally, 38% of the participants had elevated triglyceride levels, and 26% had HDL levels below target. (High HDL levels are desirable.)¹²

What’s so bad about cholesterol?

Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance that occurs naturally in all parts of the body. Your body needs some cholesterol to work properly, and makes all the cholesterol it needs to make hormones, vitamin D, and substances that help you digest foods.

But if you have too much cholesterol in your blood, it can stick to the walls of your arteries forming plaque. And plaque can narrow your arteries or even block them, resulting in atherosclerosis. This, in turn, blocks normal blood flow, and can result in heart attack or stroke.³

Added to that, elevated cholesterol levels in midlife—even levels considered only borderline elevated—significantly increase your risk of Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia later in life, according to a new study by researchers at Kaiser Permanente's Division of Research and the University of Kuopio in Finland.

The four-decade study of 9,844 men and women found that having high cholesterol in midlife (240 or higher milligrams per deciliter of blood) increases, by 66%, the risk for Alzheimer's disease later in life. Even borderline cholesterol levels (200 - 239 mg/dL) in midlife raised risk for late-life vascular dementia by nearly the same amount: 52%.⁴

Statin drugs---are they worth it?

Drugs such as Lipitor®, Zocar®, Lescol® and Crestor® supposedly block the action of an enzyme called HMG-CoA reductase, which controls cholesterol production in your liver. These statins slow the production of cholesterol and increase the liver’s ability to remove LDL cholesterol that is already in the blood. Statins are also supposed to increase HDL, decrease total cholesterol and triglycerides, and lower the risk of chest pain (angina), heart attack, and stroke.

But as you can see from the study, it looks like they’re not doing their job. Statins can also produce side effects such as headache, nausea, vomiting, constipation, diarrhea, muscle pain, and weakness. The most serious, but rare side effects are liver failure, muscle damage, and kidney failure.

There are better ways to lower your cholesterol by:

• exercising more
• eating more fruits and vegetables; oatmeal and foods containing soluble fiber such as kidney beans, apples, pears; nuts (especially walnuts); fatty fish such as salmon, mackerel, herring and sardines; olive oil
• taking safe, nutritional supplements proven to support healthy blood lipids without side effects:

1. Policosanol is a mixture of alcohols isolated and purified from sugar cane, whose main component is octacosanol. Policosanol has been studied extensively for the past 10 years and several human trials have been published in medical journals in North America and throughout the world showing that it helps lower total cholesterol while raising HDL cholesterol.⁵⁶ Although there are a few different forms of policosanol (rice and beeswax), it is important to note that the results from the clinical trials were obtained using ONLY the policosanol derived from sugar cane wax.
2. A full spectrum vitamin E complex helps reduce LDL cholesterol, reduce triglycerides, and raise "good" HDL cholesterol.⁷
3. Folic Acid, Vitamin B6 and B12 are vitamins well known for supporting healthy blood lipids, and a healthy heart and mind.⁸⁹
4. Resveratrol, red wine extract, prevents cholesterol plaque from forming within artery walls regardless of whether circulating levels of cholesterol are high or low.¹⁰
5. Lycopene, the carotenoid found in tomatoes, reduces cholesterol. Researchers at the Technion Faculty of Medicine in Haifa, Israel, found that giving a dietary supplement of lycopene to men for a 3-month period resulted in a significant 14% reduction in the men’s plasma LDL cholesterol concentrations.¹¹
6. Fish oil, (or omega 3 fatty acids found in fish), have been shown to support cardiovascular health in hundreds of studies.¹²¹³

And remember this: What’s good for your heart is good for your brain. 

References

Articles of Interest from Smart Publications Health & Wellness Update

• DHA-Rich Diet Improves Cholesterol and Life Expectancy
• Policosanol: The Secret Cuban Sugar Cane Compound That Lowers Cholesterol
• Policosanol: Start Improving Your Cholesterol Today
• Emblica Reduces Cholesterol and Helps Detoxify The Body!