siege auto

Pages

Saturday, December 15, 2012

What Are Statins and What Are Their Side Effects By Rich Carroll

Statins are a type of drug that is prescribed to lower cholesterol levels in the blood. They might be the most prescribed drug in the world, and are marketed under such commonly known names as Lipitor, Zocor, Mevacor, Pravachol and Crestor. It works by blocking the action of a chemical in your liver that produces cholesterol. High levels of cholesterol can of course lead to stroke and heart disease, so it has helped many people in lowering the risk of these illnesses.
Additionally, along with preventing the production of cholesterol, it is believed to help the body reabsorb that which has already built up as plaque on the walls of arteries. This will help with blood flow but also lessen the chance of this plaque being dislodged and lead to heart attack, stroke and other organ failure.

Then are statins good for everyone with high blood pressure? 


The debate is divided between those in need of what is called primary prevention or secondary prevention.

• Primary prevention. For those with high cholesterol issues but no other accompanying health problems, taking statins would be considered primary prevention. Tests have shown that people in this category will receive no mortality benefit and little quality of life improvement even though a decrease in cholesterol levels will be evident.

• Secondary prevention. This category would include people with preexisting cardiovascular disease. This category will receive the greatest benefits from statins. Regarding people in this category statins can lower LDL cholesterol to the point where it will decrease by 60% the number of cardiac events and by 17% the risk of stroke when used over a long term.

Clearly statins need not be prescribed for everybody who has high cholesterol, but the ones that should be candidates are those in secondary prevention. Some experts claim that the drug is prescribed way too often, but in our quick-fix way of doing things, it becomes a panacea and not the best option. There may be better options than statins.

Some of the side effects that people have experienced when taking statins on a long-term basis are the aching of muscles and joints, liver and kidney damage, the breakdown of muscle cells, and nausea, constipation or diarrhea. Plus once you're on the drug, you may have to keep taking it indefinitely. Taking any medication when it isn't absolutely necessary is never a good idea, but it is unlikely the pharmaceutical companies will advertise this.

Before starting a life on statins, consider a change in lifestyle. The first-line of defense against high cholesterol is diet, exercise, proper weight and not smoking. 

Some of the heart-healthy foods that will be on everybody's list are blueberries, salmon, soy protein, spinach and oatmeal. Some of the things that people who are looking for in these foods are omega-3 fatty acids (salmon), antioxidants (blueberries), high in fiber (soy products and oatmeal), and folate and iron (spinach).

This is just a quick overview of a few of the foods that will make for a strong heart, as there are others. But it's much better to get on a diet with these common foods and add in some exercise before you have to turn to statins.
Sources:
http://EzineArticles.com/7298536
http://www.sxc.hu/photo/450014

siege auto

1 comment:

  1. I found out, that taking herbal treatment is the best to get rid of hpv as soon as i feel the symptoms of hpv is appearing, i took the healing process by contacting Dr onokun for natural treatment it works wonders, amazingly ever since I had the herbal treatment i have not feel these horrible disease anymore and my doc told me the virus is gone, i am glad i finally got cured out from this horrible disease. every hpv or herpes patients should also get in touch with this herbalist Dr to get ride of these disease forever his email address;
    dronokunherbalcure@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete