Statins & Preventing Blood Clots

Looks like statins have another beneficial use:

[news.yahoo.com]

I wonder what spin Dr. Mercola will put on this study.

Gordon

An interesting report. Not exactly completely in support of the idea, is it?
Note who paid for the study, the serious side effects of Crestor and Dr Hlatky's full comments..

The claimed benefits of this study on blood clots appear to be due mostly to statin's anti-inflammatory effect, which can be achieved using other means like Omega 3, Beta-sitasterol and Zyflamend among a host of other natural and much safer agents without any of the significant down sides and risks of satins.

No doubt, this article is being widely circulated by Big-Pharmacy's deep connection with the national and world press outlets. Alas, we don't see so much coverage of the dangers of statins, unfortunately. These drug are too big a cash cow.

Boy, those statin people really are desperate to sell their drug! Now they are recommending that people take it to prevent venous thromboembolism (DVT). Venous thromboembolism occurs mostly in elderly people and is particularly associated with air travel and other activities where immobility is a factor.

The trial showed that taking Crestor reduced the incidence of DVT from 0.34% to 0.19% per year or a 44% relative decrease. Looking at it another way, Crestor reduced the incidence of DVT by 13 cases/year among 8900 treated people. This means that in order to avoid one (1) case it would be necessary to treat 685 people every day with Crestor. At $3.45/pill this works out to a yearly cost of $863,00 to prevent one case of DVT or $8.6 million to save one life (mortality rate for DVT is about 10%). Nice work if you can get it!

Fortunately there is a much simpler, far less expensive and totally safe way of preventing DVT. Take nattokinase! A clinical trial of pinokinase (a blend of pycnogenol and nattokinase) found that airline passengers with a high risk of DVT were completely protected whereas 7.6% of passengers taking placebo experienced DVT. Now that is protection!

Here are the details of the Pinokinase trial. Please note that it is the nattokinase that protects against DVT while the pycnogenol protects against edema.

"Pinokinase is a recently developed proprietary blend of nattokinase and pycnogenol specifically aimed at preventing edema and venous thrombosis during long-haul flights. Pycnogenol is a water extract from the bark of French maritime pine and had been found effective in controlling edema. It is a strong antioxidant, has significant anti-inflammatory effects, and increases capillary wall resistance. Flite Tabs, the brand name pinokinase preparation, contains 150 mg of a proprietary mixture of nattokinase and pycnogenol and is manufactured by Aidan in Tempe, Arizona.

A group of British and Italian researchers recently reported that pinokinase (Flite Tabs) is indeed effective in preventing edema and venous thrombosis. Their clinical trial involved 204 airline passengers at high risk for venous thrombosis traveling between London and New York (a 7-8 hour flight). Half the passengers were randomized to receive 2 capsules of Flite Tabs two hours before the flight with 250 ml of water. The other half of the experimental group received placebo capsules in a similar fashion. The presence of blood clots in the veins of the leg was determined with ultrasound scanning within 90 minutes of the beginning and completion of the flight. The degree of edema experienced during the flight was determined through a combined edema score including ankle circumference, discomfort, subjective swelling, and a standard edema test.

The researchers observed no thrombotic events in the Flite Tabs group, but discovered 5 cases of deep vein thrombosis and 2 cases of superficial thrombosis in the control group. Thus the total incidence of venous thrombosis was 7.6% in the control group versus 0% in the Flite Tabs group. The average edema score increased by 12% in the control group after the flight, but decreased by 15% in the Flite Tabs group. The researchers conclude that Flite Tabs are effective in controlling edema and reducing thrombotic events during long-haul flights[112].

These very recent findings add to the evidence of nattokinase’s effectiveness in preventing thrombosis. Deep vein thrombosis is caused by blood stagnation in the veins, particularly in the legs. There is evidence that a significant source of blood clots in permanent afibbers with cardiovascular disease is the left atrial appendage where blood tends to stagnate during atrial fibrillation. It would seem likely that nattokinase might also be very effective in preventing thrombosis in the left atrial appendage."

112. Cesarone, MR, et al. Prevention of venous thrombosis in long-haul flights with Flite Tabs. Angiology, Vol. 54, No. 5, Sept-Oct, 2003, pp. 531-39

Excerpt from "Thrombosis and Stroke Prevention - 2nd Edition"

Hans

Gordon – True and this isn’t new news that statins can lower inflammation. There is no question that high levels of CRP places us at high risk as does a high homocysteine and ferritin. The critical question is whether it is really necessary to use such a potent drug that has such detrimental side effects?

Undoubtedly Dr. Mercola shares the same views as most enlightened physicians. Neurosurgeon Russell Blaylock, MD, writes in his newsletter that this stroke/MI issue is still the result of the inflammation factor and you can lower inflammation (hsCRP) much more economically and safely by means other than dangerous statin drugs with all of their side effects…just as your referenced link indicates. However, the difference is, mainstream medicine (Big Pharma) continues to push statins which many feel is overkill to lower inflammation when it can be done effectively (and much more safely) with natural or nutraceutical interventions.

You recall from my posts on silent inflammation, it's this irritation that causes atherosclerotic plaques to build and coupled with elevated blood viscosity, the clotting factor looms large. Aspirin and other natural anti-inflammatories do lower CRP down to below 1 (one) where it should be to ensure we don't provoke clotting tendencies.

(I'm betting Dr. Mercola says the same thing.) Using a statin to lower inflammation is like using a sledge hammer to turn off a light switch rather than your fingertip.... (aka overkill)... but it sure does add to the bottom line of the Big Pharma which has income in the billions of dollars from statins. One report* indicated total revenue for statin drugs amounted to $27 billion in 2007 in Big Pharma coffers.

However, since statin drugs are such big business, we'll continue to see much more similar publicity for other uses just to keep Big Pharma’s revenue up there. Dr. Blaylock says "the dream of all pharmaceutical company CEOs is developing a drug that people will need to take for a lifetime in order to control their condition.... and statins have fulfilled that dream."

He says that "the latest studies show inflammation is an independent risk factor for heart disease that is much stronger than any measure of cholesterol." [Ridker, P.M., et al., “C-reactive protein levels and outcomes after statin therapy,” New Eng J Med 2005; 352: 20-8.]

In the recent study using Pravastatin or Atorvastatin Evaluation and Infection Therapy —Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction 22 (PROVE IT-TIMI 22) study, patients on high and moderate doses of statin drugs were followed. The study found that in both groups, there was no difference in the cholesterol levels of those with cerebrovascular event (stroke) and those without.

The only difference was the levels of hsCRP — which is inflammation.

He says a considerable amount of research has shown that various nutraceuticals can dramatically reduce inflammation.
These are Curcumin, Quercetin, Hesperidin, Ellagic acid, Resveratrol, Vitamins C and E in combination.

We already know that Zyflamend works well to lower inflammation.

In the case of Curcumin (I did a lengthy report on that some time ago), it acts powerfully to reduce inflammation, immune over-activation and smooth muscle overgrowth - all of the factors responsible for lesions causing heart attacks and strokes.

I don't know about you, but I'd certainly rather take an inexpensive nutraceutical with no harmful side effects than use a statin any day. I took statins early on when they were first pushed by Big Pharma and my cholesterol was hardly elevated. It was just “in vogue” to prescribe statins. Stupidly, I didn’t research it and maybe back then in the late 80’s, much wasn’t known about adverse side effects, but I do know I suffered mitochondrial damage that is regretfully with me yet today almost 20 years later. In fact, when I complained about the symptoms, my Internist said…there are no side effects to Pravachol but he switched me to Zocor with no relief from the weakness or pain. Live and learn.

Of interest is the recently published and first comprehensive report on statin adverse side effects. A paper co-authored by Beatrice Golomb, MD, PhD, associate professor of medicine at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and director of UC San Diego's Statin Study group which cites nearly 900 studies on the adverse effects of HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors (statins) used to treat high cholesterol. Statin adverse effects : a review of the literature and evidence for a mitochondrial mechanism
[www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]

Jonathan Wright, MD, and early pioneer of complementary/alternative medicine (CAM) reviews statins adverse affects at his website:
In a previous alert, we also listed the following side effects that may occur with the chronic use of statin drugs:
• Neurological side effects: Amnesia, confusion, forgetfulness, and disorientation, increase of any pre-existing senility and persistent loss of short-term memory
• Muscle pain: You may feel this pain as a soreness, tiredness or weakness in your muscles. The pain can be a mild discomfort, or it can be severe enough to make your daily activities difficult. You may also develop joint pain, muscle ache and fatigue.
• Liver Damage: Statin use could cause your liver to increase its production of enzymes. If left unchecked, increased liver enzymes may lead to permanent liver damage. Liver problems may develop without symptoms which is why people who take statins should have their liver function tested about six weeks after they start taking a statin.
• Digestive Problems: Nausea, diarrhoea, abdominal pain, or constipation can occur after taking a statin.
• Rash or flushing: You can develop a rash or flushing after you start taking a statin and these may occur sporadically.
• Migraines and headaches: If you are prone to either you may find that statin use will trigger your headaches and migraines more often and they can become more severe. Dizziness and flu-like symptoms are also common side-effects. [www.thehealthierlife.co.uk]

In addition to Dr. Wright’s listing, it’s now found that statins likely influence vitamin D absorption and vitamin D deficiency is almost epidemic. Not a day goes by without another study revealing various patient populations with disease conditions and the finding that they are also vitamin D deficient…hypertension, osteoporosis, osteopenia, colon, breast, prostate cancers and so on.

Bottom line: Beware that statins can have irreversible side effects and have failed to prove many of the claims offered in studies that may also have a tendency toward reporting bias and manipulation for the sake of making product claims.

Don’t use them unless you have tried everything else first – and remember, if cholesterol lowering is the reason given for the prescription, you need to be aware that cholesterol isn’t the enemy…but rather, it’s silent inflammation and all the factors that cause it.

Jackie

Last comment from Dr. Blaylock:

Articles appearing
in some of the most
prestigious journals
have actually
been written by
scientists employed
by pharmaceutical
companies.

Statin Mania
Based on a flurry of flawed studies,
statin promoting physicians in elite positions
are insisting that everyone should be on
statin drugs for a lifetime — even suggesting
during early childhood. The companies
making these drugs have recruited
prestigious medical centers to support their
products, despite major concerns about
efficacy and safety. If you check the conflict
of interest declarations on many of these
studies, you will see that most of the authors
have strong financial ties to the makers of
these statin drugs.


Drs Blaylock and Wright aren’t the only ones who are writing to enlighten the unsuspecting public about the dangers of statin drugs,. Virtually every nutritionally oriented healthcare practitioner is acutely aware of the downside of statin drugs and why they are so highly promoted by mainstream medicine.

Jackie

PS – just as an aside, the statin combo drug, Vytorin/Zetia, (Vytorin linked to increased heart attacks) now is reported to cause in 64% increase in risk of cancer but the FDA is ‘still investigating’ and says that there is no reason to remove from the market. (Reported by Byron Richards CCN)

Based on the special hiring of authors for study results, whom do you want to believe?

* [heartscanblog.blogspot.com]