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Blaylock - Vytorin Danger - Like Other Cholesterol Drugs

 

NewsMax.com
April 3, 2008

A headline-making new study has revealed that the widely prescribed cholesterol drug Vytorin may not reduce the risk of heart attack.
 
But the report about the ineffectiveness and dangers of a cholesterol drug like Vytorin comes as no surprise to readers of The Blaylock Wellness Report (published by Newsmax), edited by Russell L. Blaylock, M.D., one of the nation's leading nutritionists.
 
Clinical trials showed that Vytorin failed to slow, and might even speed up, the growth of fatty plaques in the arteries, and The New England Journal of Medicine published an editorial on Sunday saying that Vytorin and one of its components, Zetia, should be used only as a last resort.
 
"So Vytorin is no better than Lipitor or other cholesterol drugs - who cares?" Dr. Blaylock told Newsmax.
 
Blaylock has been warning consumers for years that statin drugs don't cure the root cause of heart disease, namely inflammation. Instead, he argues that cholesterol drugs offer so many side effects to users they should be viewed as dangerous.
 
"An enormous amount of research" has shown that the medical community's claim that elevated cholesterol is the culprit in heart attacks and strokes is "pure baloney," Blaylock says.
 
Back in August 2004, Blaylock's report noted: "The fact that 50 percent of all strokes and heart attacks have absolutely nothing to do with elevated cholesterol levels has been kept from the public eye and from physicians' medical education.
 
"Based on the buzz, you could conclude that if you solve your cholesterol problem, you won't suffer heart disease or a stroke. That is a big lie."
 
He also stated that the public has not been told that the statin drugs used to lower cholesterol are associated with major complications and side effects.
 
For one thing, statin drugs significantly suppress vital immune cells called helper T-cells, which play a major role in protecting against cancer and fungal, bacterial and viral infections, observes Blaylock, who says statins have become "the cash cow of the pharmaceutical companies."
 
Dr. Blaylock recommends safe alternatives to statin drugs. Alternatives include antioxidants and flavonoids such as green tea extract, which "prevent cholesterol from oxidizing, which is the only reason cholesterol causes hardening of the arteries in the first place.
 
"Un-oxidized cholesterol is perfectly harmless even when elevated."
 
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