With around 610, 000 deaths per year in America only, heart disease is one of the major causes of death.  As it has been suggested that high cholesterol levels have a detrimental effect on health, numerous people started using cholesterol-lowering drugs to reduce their risk of heart disease.

Yet, apparently, statins, the most popular medications for lowering the cholesterol levels in America fail to provide effects, and at the same time, they have been linked to cancer and various other severe side-effects.

Namely, they are popular, prescribed drug used to reduce LDL, or “bad” cholesterol, as the main reason for heart disease. However, studies have found that statins are ineffective in lowering the LDL cholesterol levels.

The journal Vascular Health and Risk Management published a study which found that these drugs were extremely ineffective at lowering cholesterol levels in patients with heart disease.

It has been found that they only lowered cholesterol levels to the desired amount in 18% of the patients who took them, and thus fail to provide effects in over 80% of the time.

Despite their ineffectiveness, they cause numerous side-effects, such as:

• Increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes
• Memory loss
• Diarrhea
• High blood sugar
• Rash
• Drowsiness
• Constipation

They have been related to sever side-effects, like myositis and rhabdomyolysis, which are conditions which lead to muscle inflammation and serious muscle damage. Rhabdomyolysis can also lead to kidney damage, which can cause kidney failure and death.

Statins were found to increase the risk of cancer in numerous other studies. The journal Current Oncology published a study which discovered that these drugs raise the risk of cancer in the case of breast or prostate cancer, or in the elderly. Statins have been found to promote tumor growth in the case of bladder cancer.

The link between cancer and statins is believed to be the way statins affect the immune system.

According to researchers, statins support the body’s production of T-cells (white blood cells that fight off infection), but thus weaken other body immune responses, and it becomes more prone to cancer.

These medications became popular due to the widespread belief that cholesterol negatively affects the body, and contributes to the clogging of arteries, that will eventually lead to heart disease.

According to Dr. Beverly Teter, a lipid biochemist at the University of Maryland, this was a mistake made by mistake scientists long time ago.

She suggests that as soon as scientists noticed that high cholesterol levels damaged the blood vessels, they stated that cholesterol is the main reason for heart disease. Teter believes that cholesterol was put there to solve an issue whose actual cause was inflammation.

She stated:

“It’s the inflammation in the vessels that start the lesion. The body then sends the cholesterol like a scab to cover over it to protect the blood system and the vessel wall from further damage.”

She suggests that in order to prevent heart disease, one should consume foods that are rich in anti-inflammatories, not low in fat.

These foods include sources of natural saturated fats, and omega-3 fatty acids. Moreover, terry advises the elimination of sources of inflammation-causing trans fat.

Here is a list of the most popular foods which are rich in anti-inflammatories:

• Walnuts
• Wild salmon
• Pecans
• Flaxseed oil
• Hickory nuts
• Eggs
• Edamame

Furthermore, make sure you avoid the following inflammation-causing foods:

• Crackers
• Pie crust
• Cake frosting
• Non-dairy creamer
• Margarine
• Deep-fried foods

You should avoid all kinds of fried and processed foods, in order to eliminate inflammation-causing trans fats. Despite causing inflammation, these foods increase the cholesterol levels, and thus creating a combination which can lead to heart disease.

Source: familylifegoals.com
Other included sources linked in Family Life Goals’s article:
http://www.webmd.com/cholesterol-management/side-effects-of-statin-drugs?page=2
http://www.bupa.co.uk/health-information/directory/h/high-cholesterol
http://www.cdc.gov/dhdsp/data_statistics/fact_sheets/fs_heart_disease.htm
http://www.healthline.com/health/high-cholesterol/do-statins-cause-cancer#1
http://jco.ascopubs.org/content/early/2015/01/20/JCO.2014.58.9564.full
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2496987/
http://jco.ascopubs.org/content/early/2015/01/20/JCO.2014.58.9564.full
Featured image source: www.healthandlovepage.com
Original image sources:
http://cdn.images.express.co.uk/img/dynamic/11/590x/134293519-462607.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/Blausen_0486_HighBloodPressure_01.png