Lipitor: Side Effects And Natural Remedy

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Serious side effects have been reported for Lipitor and other cholesterol-lowering drugs - the so-called statins - prescribed to millions for preventive purposes. The prescription of these drugs is based on the discredited hypothesis that high cholesterol levels cause heart attacks. The cholesterol myth has been one of the most long lived falsehoods around - probably because it has been excellent business, both for large pharma producers as well as for the food multinationals, who introduced margarine telling us how much healthier it is than butter.

There is an easy, widely available nutritional solution to heart attacks: Vitamin C. Needless to say, taking more vitamin C has been opposed by big pharma and its mainstream medicine followers for decades.

When a "preventive" medicine causes severe muscular degeneration as a "common" side effect, something must be awfully wrong. Jonathan Campbell examines the side effects and postulates a mechanism - proposing an astonishingly simple remedy.

Lipitor - Reports of Neuromuscular Degeneration
by Jonathan Campbell, March 16, 2004

Numerous adverse side effect reports have implicated Lipitor as a possible cause for severe neuromuscular degeneration. Some people who have been using Lipitor for two years or more report symptoms similar to multiple sclerosis or ALS - Lou Gehrig's Disease - in which they are losing neuromuscular control of their bodies.

For instance, in an article entitled "Life After Lipitor" that appeared in the newspaper Tahoe World on January 27, 2004, Tahoe City (California) resident Doug Peterson began having serious neuromuscular problems after taking Lipitor for two years. He began losing muscular coordination and slurring words when he spoke. Then he lost balance, followed by loss of fine motor skills - he had difficulty writing. He went from doctor to doctor, trying to figure out what could be happening. Finally one doctor suggested that he stop taking Lipitor, and the downward health spiral stopped and his health is now slowly improving.

These adverse effects have begun appearing in peer-reviewed medical journals, and numerous people have reported similar symptoms at public adverse effect reporting websites such as medications.com. People have reported "trouble swallowing, trouble talking and enunciating words, feeling fatigued all the time, neck aches," "motor neuropathy which mimics ALS," "Blinding headaches, nausea, vertigo, disorientation, memory loss, extremely dry eyes, pain and stiffness in my neck and calf muscles, abominal pain," and "Muscle pain, weakness, spasms, buzzing in right leg. Can't hold arms or head up in vertical position for 2 minutes without extreme pain and weakness."

How could Lipitor potentially cause this kind of harm to so many different parts of the body? Lipitor is a "statin" drug which inhibits the production of cholesterol in order to lower LDL cholesterol counts. By limiting the production of cholesterol, Lipitor may be indirectly causing membrane degeneration in neural and muscle tissue.

The problem is this: cholesterol is essential in your body for many functions. It forms part of what is called the cell membrane - the outer layer of every cell in your body. It helps transport and pack the major components of the cell membrane, called "phospholipids," that are made from essential fatty acids (EFAs). Without sufficient cholesterol we would die, because our tissues are constantly being repaired and replaced with new cells.

Our body produces several thousand milligrams of cholesterol per day to carry out these essential functions, and each day the excess of cholesterol is supposed to be naturally recycled. If your body doesn't have enough new cholesterol each day, you cannot repair and replace your cell membranes and they will eventually degenerate.

The continual recycling of cholesterol happens naturally when you have sufficient ascorbate, another name for vitamin C. Excess cholesterol is naturally converted to bile acid and then excreted. But if you don't consume enough vitamin C (about 2000-3000 milligrams per day for an adult), cholesterol builds up in your bloodstream. It is here that doctors make a critical error: instead of telling you to take more vitamin C, they prescribe Lipitor.
If Lipitor and other similar statin drugs are in fact indirectly causing neural and muscular degeneration, this is a very serious matter indeed.

There are twenty million people in the U.S. on Lipitor alone, and probably millions more on other statin drugs (Zocor, Pravachol, Mevacor, Altocor, Lescol, Crestor, etc.). Are they all going to become victims of cell membrane degeneration and nervous system problems? There are few long-term studies that bear out the safety of these drugs, and side effects such as "muscle pain or weakness" are just classified as a reason for some to stop the medication rather than an indication of something very wrong with the drug.

What is most horrifying about this problem is that cholesterol balance can be achieved without drugs, simply and safely by taking 2000-3000 milligrams of vitamin C per day for an adult. Unfortunately, vitamin C was misclassified as a micronutrient in the 1930s and 1940s, rather than an essential nutrient involved in dozens of body processes. Our health authorities recommend that we take only 60 milligrams per day, barely enough to prevent scurvy.

It is my hope that people on Lipitor and other statins learn that they do not need to take these potentially harmful drugs.

For more information about the connection between vitamin C and the prevention of cardiovascular disease, see the article Natural Therapy for Cardiovascular Disease, or visit the research website of Dr. Matthias Rath.

References:

Ginter E. Ascorbic acid in cholesterol and bile metabolism. Annals of the New York Academy of Science. 258 (1975): 410-421

Medications.com. Lipitor Drug Information - Atorvastatin Calcium - Lipitor Side Effects.

Medications.com - Your online medication discussion resource. March 16, 2004.

Rath M, Pauling L. Solution to the Puzzle of Human Cardiovascular Disease: Its Primary Cause is Ascorbate Deficiency Leading to the Deposition of Lipoprotein(a) and Fibrinogen/Fibrin in the Vascular Wall. Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine 6 (1991): 125-134

Siig M. Life After Lipitor: Is Pfizer product a quick fix or dangerous drug? Residents experience adverse reactions. Tahoe World, January 29, 2004

Silverberg C. Atorvastatin-induced polyneuropathy. Ann Intern Med. 2003 Nov 4;139(9):792-3

Ziajka PE, Wehmeier T. Peripheral neuropathy and lipid-lowering therapy. South Med J. 1998 Jul; 91(7):667-8.

See also:

Lipitor - The Human Cost

Forget Cholesterol - it's really not relevant

Fat and cholesterol - a nutty myth

Cholesterol - what a business plan

The good, the bad and margarine

Vitamin C beats statins in cholesterol - heart disease

Let them eat cake, butter, cream ... For decades the advice has been to cut cholesterol and protect your heart. Now some doctors think it makes no difference

Posted at March 18, 2004 03:19 PM | TrackBack p> 

Comments

I thank you and other scientists who are bringing forth the need for concern about statins. I, too, experienced grave physical sxs while on Lipitor for 1yr.
#balance problems,severe muscle spasms and pain to bilat. legs, numbness in my feet, and dangerously elevated CPK. I've been off Lipitor for 6mos. and note slight improvement. No more Lipitor for me....... Elaine

Posted by: Elaine Plunkett on March 26, 2004 02:12 AM