Full Transcript Statins, LDL, and what the numbers miss 0:00 Hello from the jungles of Costa Rica. 0:01 I want to tell you, your LDL can drop dramatically on a statin, and that impressive looking number still does not tell whether the drug meaningfully reduced 0:11 your chance of a heart attack, extending your life, or addressed what is damaging your arteries in the first place. 0:17 Most patients are shown how far their LDl fell. 0:21 They're not shown the far more important number, how much their absolute risk changed, and they are rarely told what inflammation, 0:30 oxidative stress, insulin resistance, toxins, poor nutrition, disrupted sleep, or other root causes may still be doing to their cardiovascular system. 0:41 By the end of this video you'll know what a statin is actually doing for you, whether your symptoms may be connected to it and the questions your doctor 0:52 should have answered before handing you a lifetime prescription. 0:57 and I've worked with cardiovascular patients for more than 20 years. 1:02 If you want to discover what your cholesterol numbers leave out before making a statin decision, I'll show you in my free webinar, 1:10 the truth about cholesterol. 1:12 Here's where I begin. 1:13 I call this the safe statin audit. 1:17 S is for study your situation. 1:20 Just start with one question. 1:21 Is this stat in being prescribed for primary or secondary prevention?
Primary vs secondary prevention and baseline risk 1:26 Primary prevention means you've never had a cardiovascular event. 1:31 Secondary prevention, means, you have already had heart attack, stroke, angioplasty stent or bypass surgery. 1:38 Now, why does this matter? 1:40 Because your starting risk determines the size of any possible benefit. 1:45 A person at high risk may have a larger absolute benefit, but if you are younger, have never experienced a cardiovascular event and were prescribed a statin 1:54 simply because one cholesterol number frightened your doctor, the absolute benefits may be surprisingly small. 2:01 That distinction changes the entire conversation and it often gets glossed over. 2:06 So write down your statin. 2:08 What is the dose? 2:09 What does the schedule? 2:10 Why was it prescribed? 2:11 And when was that started or even increased? 2:14 Add your cholesterol results before and after treatment, cardiovascular history, blood pressure, sugar, smoking, symptoms, 2:20 medications, and other supplements. 2:23 Drug interactions can increase how much statin circulates in your body and potentially increase adverse effects. 2:29 Ask whether your evaluation included more than a basic cholesterol panel. 2:33 Depending on your situation, that may include ApoB, glucose, A1C, fasting insulin, liver enzymes, thyroid, inflammatory markers, 2:42 oxidative stress, and so much more. 2:44 Check your CK if you have muscle symptoms. 2:46 But understand this, a normal Ck. 2:48 does not prove that your muscle pain, weakness, fatigue, or exercise intolerance is unrelated to the statin. 2:54 You're more than one laboratory result. 2:56 Now, A in the safe model is for assess the evidence and ask the tough questions. 3:01 Lowering LDL and helping the patient are not the same measurement.
What statins change and what they don't 3:05 they never have been. 3:06 A s down within weeks while t attacking the blood vessel in place. 3:08 The drug does diet. 3:09 It does not restore And it certainly does not correct insulin resistance. 3:24 It makes it worse. 3:26 it doesn't heal the gut, it doesnt rebuild the blood vessel, and it dosen't improve your oxidative stress. 3:32 Now it DOES move a laboratory number like cholesterol and LDL. 3:35 That does NOT mean the number is meaningless. 3:36 IT means the NUMBER is not the patient. 3:39 Not you. 3:39 And should never be sold as proof that the underlying problem has been solved. 3:44 Because it hasn't. 3:44 For instance, the cholesterol treatment trial is collaboration pooled approximately 175,000 participants and they reported that 21% relative risk reduction 3:56 in major cardiac events. 3:58 21%. Sounds enormous, but that's why relative. 4:01 Risk is effective in pharmaceutical marketing. 4:03 but among people with a five-year cardiovascular risk below 10%. The reported difference was approximately 11 fewer events for every 1,000 people treated 4:14 for five years. 4:15 Put another way, 989 out of a thousand people did not have a major vascular event prevented by the statin during that period. 4:24 That is the number patients need to hear. 4:27 It's a tiny, tiny benefit. 4:29 And what is a better way? 4:30 but instead they're showing the LDL reduction, congratulating on the great numbers, and sent home with refills. 4:37 They are rarely shown the absolute risk reduction if ever. 4:40 they are not shown which outcome was reduced or whether the total mortality was changed. 4:46 LDl looks controlled, so everyone stops looking. 4:50 Meanwhile, the inflammation, oxidative stress, insulin resistance, nutrient deficiencies, toxic exposures, disrupted circadian biology, 5:00 poor sleep, and unhealthy lifestyle patterns continue unchecked. 5:04 No cholesterol test can tell you with certainty that you will benefit from a statin. 5:08 Additional testing cannot predict that either.
Absolute risk reduction and potential harms 5:10 But inflammation, metabolic, particle numbers, and oxidative stress markers can reveal problems that a routine cholesterol panel misses. 5:19 Look at the whole person. 5:20 Tests don't guess. 5:21 Knowing that your LDL dropped is not enough. 5:24 In my free webinar, The Truth About Cholesterol, I show you which markers complete the risk picture and which food and lifestyle strategies begin addressing 5:34 the root causes. 5:35 Check the link below. 5:36 Now F in our method is for focus on risk versus benefits and find possible alternatives. 5:43 Do not let anyone sell you a relative risk percentage without showing you the absolute numbers. 5:48 A claim 20% relative reduction could mean your risk falls from 20 percent to 16 percent. 5:55 An absolute reduction of 4 percentage points. 5:58 Or it could your mean risk fall from 2% to 1.6%. An absolute risk reduction of only 0.4% points. 6:06 Same impressive headline, completely different personal benefit. 6:10 Ask how many people like you must take the drug and for how long for one person to avoid the specific outcome being discussed. 6:19 ask whether the outcome was a non-fatal event, a procedure or actually dying. 6:24 These outcomes are not interchangeable even though they're often bundled together to make the results look more impressive. 6:31 Then look honestly at the potential harms. 6:34 Did muscle pain, weakness, fatigue, brain fog, memory changes, poor exercise tolerance, sleep disruption or blood sugar problems Begin after starting the 6:45 drug or increasing the dose. 6:46 Are the symptoms affecting large muscle groups on both sides? 6:50 Did they improve during a medically supervised pause and return after a medical supervised restart? 6:56 Do not allow a symptom that began after new medication to be dismissed simply because a laboratory test remained normal. 7:04 Other possible contributors, including medication interactions, thyroid dysfunction, kidney problems, blood sugar dysregulation, 7:12 physical injury, poor sleep, and nutritional deficiencies should also be investigated. 7:17 But it couldn't be the statin is not an investigation. 7:20 It's an assumption. 7:21 Statins reduce certain cardiovascular events in clinical trials. 7:26 But that fact does not answer the question that matters to you. 7:29 What is my absolute chance of benefiting? 7:32 What does my chance have experiencing harm? 7:34 And what is being done about every other contributing factor to cardiovascular risk?
Symptoms, diabetes risk, and a case example 7:42 A lower LDL result is not proof of better health. 7:45 It is NOT proof that the arteries are healthier. 7:48 And it's certainly not a substitute for evaluating the entire person. 7:52 Statins can raise blood sugar and contribute to new diabetes diagnoses, particularly in people who are already metabolically vulnerable, 8:01 which are most people. 8:03 If strength, stamina, muscle, discomfort, cognition, blood sugar controls changes after starting a statin drug, don't shrug it off. 8:11 Investigate it. 8:12 Test, Don't guess. 8:13 Here's one example. 8:14 I'll just call him Jim at 64. He was prescribed 40 milligrams of atorvastatin for primary prevention. 8:21 Within three weeks, he developed significant brain fog. 8:24 We stopped the medication and his symptoms resolved within days. 8:29 Now that does not prove that everyone will respond the same way. 8:33 However, it does demonstrate why the timeline matters. 8:37 When the symptoms begin after starting a medication and improve after stopping it, that connection deserves serious investigation, 8:45 not a dismissal. 8:46 E is for engage in a plan to reduce your risk. 8:50 with your doctor, not instead of them. 8:52 Bring these four questions to your next appointment. 8:55 First, am I taking this statin to prevent my first cardiovascular event or because I've already experienced one? 9:02 What is my estimated absolute risk with the drug and without it? 9:07 That's very important. 9:08 Second, which specific outcome is this Statin expected to reduce for me? 9:14 How many people like me must take it and for how many years for one person to avoid that outcome?
Questions to bring to your doctor 9:20 Third, could my symptoms or laboratory changes be connected to the statin? 9:26 How can we investigate that safely instead of automatically dismissing the possibility? 9:31 Fourth, Beyond LDL, what are we measuring and addressing that may be driving my cardiovascular risk? 9:39 Things like inflammation, oxidative stress, insulin resistance, environmental toxins, and other metabolic factors. 9:47 Bring your complete medication and supplement list, the dates and doses of every change, cholesterol results before and after, 9:54 blood pressure readings, glucose, A1C, liver enzymes, thyroid, and anything else that's important in a written timeline of your symptoms. 10:03 Do not abruptly stop, reduce, alternate, or restart a prescription medication on your own. 10:08 Make changes with appropriate medical supervision, especially if you've experienced a heart attack or stroke or have undergone a stent or bypass procedure. 10:16 Chest pressure, sudden shortness of breath, fainting, facial drooping, One-sided weakness or difficulty speaking is not a wait and see situation. 10:25 Call emergency medical services. 10:27 Severe unexplained muscle weakness, dark urine, yellowing of the skin, or signs of severe allergic reaction require urgent medical evaluation. 10:36 That is the safe statin audit. 10:39 Study your situation, assess the evidence, focus on risks versus benefits, and engage in a plan with your doctor. 10:47 Statins are very effective at lowering a lab number down. 10:52 That does not mean they've corrected the causes of cardiovascular disease. 10:57 They don't. 10:58 It does not mean everyone who takes a statin drug receives a meaningful benefit. 11:03 They don't. 11:04 And it does mean symptoms should be sacrificed at the altar of an LDL. 11:10 No. 11:10 Don't do it. 11:11 The mainstream, lower is always better model has reduced cardiovascular medicine to chasing cholesterol while too often ignoring the damaged biological
Closing message and webinar call to action 11:21 terrain in which heart disease develops. 11:23 You are not an LDL result. 11:25 Your arteries are no cholesterol panel and a prescription is not a root cause plan. 11:30 If you want to move beyond cholesterol fear, understand what your numbers leave out, and build a strategy around your actual cardiovascular health, 11:40 watch my free webinar, The Truth About Cholesterol. 11:44 Click the link below and thank you for watching.
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