The statins and liver cancer connection?

How low can you go?

How many of you have gone out to dinner or have attended a cocktail party and the conversation invariably turns to: “What’s your cholesterol level?” I mean, we can’t talk politics, religion, or sex, so what else is there to discuss?

In yesterday’s Reality Health Check, I began my discussion on cholesterol. The big question to address today is: What, exactly, is a healthy cholesterol level? That is the $64,000 question.

Twenty years ago, we knew that, for the most part, the only people who had low cholesterol were long-distance runners and cancer patients. But then, sometime in the generation ahead of me, doctors were taught that 300 was an acceptable level. In my generation, 250 was a target number. And that number just keeps creeping downwards. Do you know why?

Because there are drugs to lower it!

I am convinced that a statin drug caused the death of my father–but that is not why I have a beef with cholesterol lowering medications. I have hated them since they were first brought to market.

There is no–and I repeat no–scientific evidence to support the use of statin drugs for anything but lowering cholesterol levels. And there is no evidence that lowering your cholesterol level will decrease your risk for heart attacks or strokes.

So, why does the medical establishment insist upon it?

Because statins are the biggest selling drugs in history.

The bottom line is no one knows if lowering cholesterol does any good in terms of keeping you healthier. But we do know that it has made the Big Pharma shareholders very rich.

But, back to my dad. He was diagnosed with colon cancer, had it removed, and was doing perfectly well. When he was diagnosed, the doctor also told him he had high cholesterol, so he was put on a statin medication.  Five years later, he was diagnosed with liver cancer. It wasn’t a metastasis from the colon cancer but a new cancer totally separate from the one he had originally. Four months later, he passed away.

Liver cancer is very rare in the United States but, guess what? It has been on the rise since the use of statin drugs. Coincidence? You be the judge…And think twice before you reach for your daily dose of a statin.

The fact is, there is no reason to use a medication for something when you can use either nutritional supplements or diet to accomplish the same goal.