| Part 2: What You Should Know About Treating | | | | responsible for keeping the heart functioning. It is |
| High Cholesterol with Statins | | | | also responsible for producing collagen and elastin |
| If you have high cholesterol, your doctor has | | | | necessary for heart cell repair. Statins restructure |
| most likely prescribed a statin medication to help | | | | the way that your body makes certain enzymes |
| lower it. Statins inhibit the liver from producing | | | | increasing your risk of permanent nerve damage, |
| cholesterol, thus lowering the overall blood | | | | cancer, anxiety, depression and more. |
| cholesterol level. However, there are risks | | | | Admittedly, statins are popular because they do |
| involved in taking statins that you should be | | | | their job well. Their job is, specifically, to lower the |
| aware of before you start, stop or change | | | | blood cholesterol levels. But, does that mean that |
| cholesterol medications or treatment. | | | | you should put your body through the damaging |
| Statins work by replacing the enzyme HMG-CoA | | | | chain reaction of events that stem from inhibiting |
| reductase in the liver. This enzyme is responsible | | | | your cholesterol production? |
| for producing cholesterol, so replacing it lowers | | | | Before taking statins it is critical to understand |
| your levels. Sounds great, right? Well, there is | | | | how they affect the body and the side effects |
| always something to consider when we mess | | | | that may ensue as a result. We need to evaluate |
| with how the body works. The human body | | | | the benefits and risks of these drugs before we |
| adjusts to the changes that we make. For | | | | resort to their use. |
| example, when the liver senses that less | | | | Some signs that you may be having adverse side |
| cholesterol is being made, it produces a protein | | | | effects from taking statins include shuffled steps, |
| that increases the number of LDL (bad | | | | muscle pain or weakness, heel pain, bone spurs, |
| cholesterol) receptors. What follows is just a chain | | | | severe back pain from weakened muscles, slurred |
| reaction of chemical adjustments that our bodies | | | | speech, fibromyalgia, fatigue, pins and needles in |
| must make to compensate. | | | | the extremities or severe deep itching of the |
| One side effect of statins is that the body | | | | palms or soles of the feet. Some people have |
| becomes depleted of coenzyme Q10, specifically, | | | | immediate reactions (within thirty days of starting |
| ubiquinone. We learned in a recent blog article here | | | | to take statins) and others do not see the |
| that the body converts Ubiquinone into ubiquinol, | | | | effects for years. |
| which is responsible for clearing free radicals out | | | | Talk with your doctor before combining statins |
| of our cells and facilitating our cells use of oxygen | | | | with any supplements. Do not stop taking statins |
| for energy. One may think that you could just | | | | without talking with your doctor first because |
| take a CoQ10 supplement and be fine. But, that's | | | | there is a severe risk of heart attack associated |
| not the case. Statins interfere with a huge array | | | | with suddenly stopping or reducing your use of |
| of enzymes that our bodies need to survive. | | | | statin medication. |
| Recent studies are emerging that show reducing | | | | Part 3 of the "Cholesterol and You" series will |
| your cholesterol with statins can actually increase | | | | focus on cholesterol maintenance using more |
| your heart attack risk due to CoQ10 depletion. | | | | natural substances, such as diet, niacin, vitamin C |
| The heart requires the most oxygen and the | | | | powder, fish oils and Eurofiber, a supplement |
| most energy of all the muscles in the body to | | | | containing a valuable combination of the best |
| function. CoQ10 produces the cellular energy | | | | soluble fibers. |