hi everyone I'm Dr Philip ovadia your guide to understanding the complexity of statins and their impact on metabolic Health today I'm going to break it down because most people are not fully informed about the effects of these commonly prescribed medications here's what we're going to talk about today first why statins might not be solving our heart health problems then we're going to dive in to the deeper metabolic risks of taking statins and finally I'm going to let you know what you should be considering before picking up your Statin prescription so let's jump in first let's
talk about why statins might not be solving our heart health problems what we need to understand statins do lower cholesterol but despite the fact that Statin have been widely prescribed for over 40 years now and our LDL cholesterol levels are lower than they have ever been as a population we see the rates of cardiovascular disease and other chronic illnesses continue to rise and despite that drop that we've been seeing in average LDL cholesterol levels over 93% % of adults in the United States are not considered metabolically healthy we all including your doctor need a deeper
understanding of the impact of this poor metabolic Health on driving the heart disease epidemic and understand that while cholesterol may play a role in the development of heart disease it is not the primary driver insulin resistance and poor metabolic health is is the primary driver behind this epidemic of heart disease that can be manifested with things like obesity and diabetes and this is what we need to focus on not lowering our cholesterol now let's talk about some of the deeper metabolic risks of taking statins did you know that the risk of developing type 2 diabetes
increases by 71% when you take a Statin for the long term even in people that don't have a prior history of diabetes before starting the medication more concerning to me is when I look at the numbers related to insulin resistance in people on statins I often see them developing increased insulin resistance over time and this as I mentioned earlier is a primary driver of heart disease so while we might be lowering some Risk by lowering overall cholesterol levels if we are driving people towards insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes we may be causing more harm
in the long term than benefit now there are some other concerns related to statins many people develop muscle related symptoms and in fact these muscle related symptoms are related to the way that statins work you see statins interfere with our mitochondrial mechanisms the powerhouses of our cells are negatively impacted by taking statins and this can manifest with some of the muscle symptoms that we see in people who start and continue on Staten therapy there are also concerns around nutritional deficiencies and deficiencies of certain key elements like co-enzyme Q10 that your heart relies on for Optimal
Health ultimately whether or not a Statin is going to be a net benefit to your health is a very detailed discussion that you should be having with your physician unfortunately many Physicians are not in the position to have that discussion because they don't fully understand the risks and benefits that go into Staten therapy and they are just following blanket guidelines that are broadly applied to populations but may not apply to you as the individual so that's going to lead us into our third topic today what you should consider before picking up your stat and prescription
I want you to understand the great influence that the pharmaceutical company have had on the guidelines that doctors are told to follow regarding Statin prescription most of the early studies that were done leading to the approval of Statin were industry L studies and they were done in the days before data transparency was mandated a lot of them have refused to release the underlying data that were published in those studies now that doesn't necessarily mean that the statins don't work as the studies would suggest but it certainly gives me concern I also want people to consider
the alternatives to statins it turns out that today we have a wide range of medications that can lower cholesterol levels if it is determined that lowering your LDL cholesterol level is in fact going to be beneficial there are non-statin alternatives that you should ask your practitioner about there are things like aetam and bidic acid and we have pcsk9 Inhibitors as well there are a number of supplements that have also been suggested to be helpful in the lowering of LDL cholesterol levels so if it is determined that lowering your LDL cholesterol may be beneficial talk to
your doctor about nonstatin Alternatives and finally I want you to educate yourself about the important role that cholesterol plays in our bodies despite what you may have been led to believe cholesterol isn't there only to cause heart disease or only to cause damage to our blood vessels cholesterol plays vital roles in the immune system and also is an important precursor to many of the hormon hormones like our sex hormones so understand that lowering cholesterol levels across the board again may have other ramifications now I know you're going to have lots of questions statins are one
of the topics that I get asked about most and if that's the case go to askd fill.com and there you'll be able to leave a question that may get get answered by me and my team thank you for taking time to watch this video and for being a an important part of our community if you have any feedback or insights to share please leave them in the comments below
