Transcription
10 reasons why I personally would not take a statin medication. Yes, I just said that as a doctor, and I'm going to be very honest and transparent with you in this video, as I'm sure you would expect me to be. And it's so very interesting when I've made topics like this before, talking about statins or other medical interventions, and I've given you my own opinion. Never once have I told anybody what to do. In fact, I always say, speak to your own doctor about any medical decision, and take into account your own history. Weigh up the risks and benefits. I'm merely giving you my own opinion.
But a lot of people reach out to me after I make videos like this, very angry. Sadly, many members of the medical establishment, including many doctors, people with MD after their name, and they are absolutely furious. They're angry, accusing me of spreading misinformation. I mean, how is anybody spreading misinformation just by stating what their own opinion is and what they would do? But it's so very alarming. We saw this during the pandemic. These types of people who are basically practicing doctors. And if they could, they would censor voices like mine in a second. Doesn't that alarm you that there are people who call themselves doctors who think that the answer to something that they don't agree with is censorship?
But I'm here, and I'm going to keep telling you what I think I should be telling you and stating what my own opinions are, what I would do, so that you can understand where I'm coming from. So, in this video, I'm going to tell you about 10 reasons why I personally, my own opinion, would not take a statin medication. Let's go.
Number one, I don't particularly want to suffer with the common symptom of weakness, muscle aches, or fatigue. This is fairly common. Maybe you know people. Feel free to comment down below if you know anybody who's had any of the things that I'm talking about, or you share any of my concerns. By the way, as I go through these 10 points, number five is going to be the biggest one of all. So, make sure you stay tuned for that. But the first point is that a not insignificant number of people suffer from muscle weakness and fatigue. And I don't want muscle weakness or fatigue. In fact, when this happens, every doctor out there who practices in an office will have a story to tell of somebody who's come in shortly after taking a statin. They've reported this side effect, and they've had to either be taken off the statin, or for some reason, they've been switched to a different statin. But this tends to get worse the older anybody gets. And I value my energy levels. I don't want that side effect. Thank you very much.
Number two, insulin resistance. I've talked about this, made lots of videos, and insulin resistance is now the number one driver of high cholesterol by far, because insulin resistance occurs in the vast majority of people nowadays, sadly, due to a suboptimal lifestyle. I'll link a video to the end of this particular video if you want more of an explanation of how insulin resistance is linked to high cholesterol. But in a nutshell, because of a sub-optimal lifestyle, people consuming vast amounts of carbohydrates, sugars, processed foods, not moving around enough, they are too sedentary, insulin levels are very high, and a process in the body called denovo lipogenesis occurs where excessive carbohydrates and sugars are converted into fatty acids, and that is then reflected in a high cholesterol level. High cholesterol level when somebody gets their cholesterol panel checked. So, I personally would far rather focus on the upstream problem and naturally reversing insulin resistance and inflammation. I'm not saying that everybody who has high cholesterol has insulin resistance, but the vast majority do nowadays. And in my opinion, the answer is not to throw a pill at people to fix a number while all of that inflammation is still going on.
Number three, co-enzyme Q10 depletion. You may have heard of co-enzyme Q10. It is an absolutely vital enzyme for energy production in the mitochondria. And the way statins work, the way that they are designed to work is to affect HMG co-enzyme reductase. That is another enzyme. And that then leads to co-enzyme Q10 being depleted. And co-enzyme Q10 is so very important for energy production. In fact, it's often recommended that when somebody is on statins, that they have a co-enzyme Q10 supplement. If that applies to you or anyone you love, make sure that they speak to their doctor about this issue. Okay.
Number four, I want to protect my liver. That goes without saying. The liver is an absolutely crucial organ. Detoxifies the entire body. The interesting thing about statins is that they can cause an elevation in liver enzymes. Estimates suggest that between 3 to 5%, which is not an insignificant number. That's one in 20 people has some rise in their liver enzymes, the ALT and the AST. And the liver actually has to come under quite a bit of stress before the liver enzymes rise. In fact, I've seen some statistics greater than 5% a slight elevation in LFTs, but that doesn't sit well with me that I would be on a medication that might affect my liver in that way. So that is the fourth reason.
Number five, this is the biggest one of all, probably the number needed to treat. Now, you may have heard this term banded around a lot, and it's so very important. And I know it's difficult for people who perhaps don't have a background in medicine or science to understand this. But basically, what it means is how many people need to be treated with a medication for it to have a beneficial effect on the population. For statins, this is not impressive at all. This is not me making this up. This is actual data from the pharmaceutical companies when they did their trial. In fact, I often advise when there's any type of back and forth going on with a doctor, ask them what the number needed to treat is for whatever it is they are recommending. And if they're a good doctor, they should enjoy being asked this question. Because for statins, there's a difference between primary prevention and secondary prevention. So, what that means is if somebody's already had something like a heart attack or a stroke, the statistics might be a little bit better. They're not great, but for anybody who hasn't had anything happen yet, we're talking about hundreds of people needing to be treated to prevent one heart attack or one stroke. And the statistics also show that even if somebody religiously takes a statin for their whole lives, that their life expectancy might be improved by only a few days. So that doesn't sound like good odds to me.
And if I can give you an example, supposing somebody came around to a street of houses, and there were let's say 300 houses on the street, and they knocked on every door, and they knocked on your door and said, "Look, we want to redo the plumbing." And you said, "Well, we don't think we've got an issue with the plumbing." And they said, "No, no, no. If we redo the plumbing on all 300 houses on this street, then there's a one in 300, one of the houses may avoid a problem happening in the next 10 years." You wouldn't think that they were great odds. And especially when you think that if you do other things in life, I'm coming back to medicine now, but if somebody, for instance, reduced their sugar intake by 30%, their chances of avoiding something bad happening would be much, much better. Why doesn't the medical establishment promote that as much? I know everybody isn't going to do it, but I think if more people had the odds presented to them, then they may be able to make more informed choices. And that is what true medicine should be about. Not following something like dogma, which goes on far too much.
Now, number six, I have a radar for when I hear about any type of magic miracle drug. And there are some people within the medical establishment, you can look at this online, who think that statins are absolute magic. In fact, some have advocated, probably tongue in cheek, but they've said it, that statins should be added to the drinking water. That is how much they believe in statins. And to me, when I hear something like that, my BS radar goes right up. Magic miracle drug or injection. Right now, we have the same thing going on with GLP1s. I just instantly am extremely skeptical whenever I hear that. So that type of wording alone makes me skeptical of any intervention, in this case, statins.
What's next? I want to protect my brain. What am I talking about? Well, the brain is 60% fat. And there is evidence out there, research, that if you are very aggressive with trying to lower a cholesterol number, that's obviously going to negatively affect the brain. And there's a potential link with cognitive issues. And this is more of an issue. And this is why I feel so very sorry for a lot of people over the age of 75 who get admitted to hospital, and they come out with a diagnosis, and they're on a high-dose statin, and they've got written all over their chart by the neurologist or cardiologist, "Statins must be prescribed, lower LDL to under 70." This is very shady evidence indeed for being so aggressive. And to me, it makes no sense at all. Again, another red flag. If you're going to be that aggressive, especially in somebody who's much older, that is going to come with potential problems. So, I don't think that that has been thought through, but I want to protect my brain. And I am also skeptical that when you are very aggressive about doing this with a medication, lowering the LDL number, I don't think that it's particularly good for the brain. Again, as with any of these points, I'm not saying that anybody out there should immediately stop their medication. What I'm trying to do is to encourage people to have discussions with their doctor if certain concerns arise.
Especially number eight, the mere fact that statins are a multi-billion dollar industry. I've seen some estimates over $20 billion every year. These drugs are blockbusters, and they have become blockbusters based on some of the evidence that I've already told you about, and also some of the known side effects. And when you have a drug which is generating more revenue than the entire GDP of certain nations, that should be pause for thought. What are we doing here? And are there other big reasons for wanting to push these drugs so much and not really talk about what we're doing in terms of benefits versus risks?
Number nine, negative experiences from people I know. Not just the patients that I've interacted with. Let's leave the patients out for a moment, but even people I know. And this is always something that I encourage people to use their own eyes, ears, power of observation, which is what medicine and science should all be about. People I know in my life, many of whom very dear to me, family, friends, friends of friends, even neighbors. Over the years, I've heard so many stories of people who have been prescribed statins, especially high-dose statins, and they've had so many issues with them, and they've had to go back to their doctor. That alone is a reason for me to think I absolutely don't want to be on one.
And number 10, the number obsession that we have in medicine right now. The medical profession who can be easily swayed with fixing a number. And this is another big area of skepticism for me. When you are focused on a number instead of the actual patient, to me, that is not practicing good medicine. And I really think that huge segments of the medical establishment have been utterly hoodwinked. They get hoodwinked every single day. They don't dive into the data. Sadly, they don't take a step back, apply some critical reasoning, critical thinking skills, think outside the box. I'm not saying doctors are bad people. I would never say that. Some of my best friends are doctors. I do a podcast with a couple of great doctors. Many of you know them. The issue is that the medical profession and doctors have got themselves into a place where they are following protocols. They're not really thinking things through. They are terrified of stepping out of line. They have targets. They have quotas. And when you have doctors who are not thinking things through, bad things happen. And I believe that we're only at the tip of the iceberg.
In this video, I've talked about statins. We could equally apply this to other interventions as well. Maybe I'll make more videos. I will make more videos on those topics in the future. But I want to stick with statins. Those are 10 reasons why I personally wouldn't take a statin. Let me know your thoughts down below. I've been very open and transparent with you. I will not take a statin for those 10 reasons. If you've had negative experiences with statins, feel free to comment below. If you've had positive experiences with statins, comment below. I'm okay with hearing anything. Unlike the people who label me as a misinformation spreader, they label me as someone who is making videos talking about ridiculous things. And also, if you enjoy my videos, that's also saying that you are idiots as well. Because the doctors who say that I shouldn't be making videos like this, they're very dangerous. In my opinion, those doctors are not true to the principles of Hippocrates. They are the real ones who have fallen under the spell of dogma. They're terrified of stepping out of line. They don't think outside the box either because they can't think out of the box, they don't have those intellectual capabilities, or they simply don't want to because it's far easier to do what they're told by their physician authorities and repeat the same things over and over again without really thinking things through.
But it's not the doctors that really matter here. It's not the other doctors. It's not even me. It is you. It is you and your family being in a place where you're being fed all of the information by a transparent medical profession, weighing up the true benefits and risks, having a holistic approach given to you. So, at least you have that option. Sadly, I don't think we are there. But I hope that you can continue to do your own research. Continue to be skeptical. Be skeptical of everything. Even be skeptical of what I'm saying. Do your own research. I want the best for you and your family. Take care everyone. Let me know again your thoughts down below. Check in the links down below if you haven't already joined my free newsletter, Why on Earth Not? Please make sure you signed up for that. Also, check for my 30-day Met Thrive Health Reset Natural Insulin Resistance Reversal and Fat Loss Program. We've had a lot of terrific reviews for that, and we have a special section for anybody over the age of 60. Also check out our natural health and wellbeing store, ohighwellness.com. If you're in the USA, North America, ohighwellness.co, if you're in the UK, Europe. If you enjoyed this video, you'll also enjoy some of my other videos. Again, I will link that video to natural cholesterol reduction right here. Hit the like button if you like this video. Subscribe button for more similar videos in the future. Do share with anyone else who may benefit. And we will speak again very soon.