This is a re-post of the article by Francois Lubbe of The Cholesterol Truth. I am most grateful to him for permission to post here.
The original is available at
http://www.thecholesteroltruth.com/praluent-cholesterol-drugs-side-effects-hypercholesterolemia/
Big Pharma seems intent in sticking to its backward way of thinking when it comes to cholesterol. So far their efforts, to create a drug that can prevent heart disease failed miserably.
Fortunately, many people have cottoned onto the fact that lowering cholesterol to ridiculously low levels with drugs is a bad idea because it can seriously put your health at risk. In the last few years, even some mainstream experts are beginning to agree that the Big Pharma has got it all wrong and that cholesterol is not the villain it is made out to be.
As a result, fewer people are taking cholesterol-lowering statin drugs and there is no doubt Big Pharma will feel this in their pockets — these drugs are among the top-selling of all time raking in billions of pounds each year.
However, instead of trying a different approach, Big Pharma and its cronies have their minds set on developing new cholesterol-lowering drugs, which are proving to be even more dangerous.
Cholesterol drugs: Going one step too far
Recently, the pharmaceutical giant Sanofi submitted its application to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for the approval of a new cholesterol-lowering drug, Praluent (alirocumab).
Praluent is in a class of drug known as PCSK9 inhibitors. It is intended for the treatment of patients with hypercholesterolemia — people with hereditary high cholesterol. PCSK9 promises to reduce LDL cholesterol levels to previously unheard of lows… dangerously low levels!
The bigwigs at Sanofi are probably rubbing their hands together as they wait for the EMA’s approval, because as far as they are concerned they have struck gold.
Statin drugs reduce your cholesterol by blocking an enzyme in your liver that is responsible for making cholesterol. When taking a statin drug, people are usually able to reduce their cholesterol to between 70 and 100 mg/dL. However, patients with hypercholesterolemia usually cannot reach the ridiculously low targets set by the mainstream and that’s where PCSK9 inhibitors come into the picture.
According to Dr. Elliott Antman, president-elect of the American Heart Association and a dean at Harvard Medical School, PCSK9 inhibitors can reduce cholesterol levels to below 50 mg/dL.
That’s just madness! Too low cholesterol levels — even for those with hypercholesterolemia — will make patients vulnerable to a host of health problems. For example, research published in the journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology, showed that low cholesterol levels are associated with poor memory and even memory loss in middle-aged adults. That’s because cholesterol helps your brain form memories and it is vital to your neurological function.
Here’s where the prospect of Praluent hitting the market gets a bit more disturbing: When the company submitted its approval for Praluent to the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the first thing the agency said was that it was concerned about the neurocognitive side effects these drugs have shown.
That’s right, PCSK9 inhibitors damage your brain.
In fact, the FDA is so concerned about the detrimental effect these drugs can have on your brain that it asked Sanofi to show neurocognitive testing in outcomes trials. In other words, the drug maker needs to show that Praluent won’t fry your brain.
Furthermore, studies have also shown that if your cholesterol levels are too low, and if these low levels begin to affect your brain, you increase your risk of dementia, violent and aggressive behaviour, depression, suicide, cancer, Parkinson’s disease — and likely heart disease, as a result of cholesterol sulphate deficiency.
Cholesterol drugs: It’s time to dig deeper
Yes, that’s right, too low cholesterol levels may cause heart disease. A well-respected researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dr. Stephanie Seneff, recently said in an interview: “Heart disease, is a cholesterol deficiency problem, and in particular a cholesterol sulphate deficiency problem…”
Dr. Seneff points out that all of the information is available in research literature, to support her statement. By carefully dissecting all the research available on heart disease, she has come to the conclusion that the mechanism we call “cardiovascular disease,” of which arterial plaque is a hallmark, is actually your body’s way to compensate for not having enough cholesterol sulphate.
Now there’s a surprise, especially since conventional medicine has been telling us for years that heart disease is due to elevated cholesterol levels and it has been recommending that we lower our cholesterol to extremely low levels… levels that clearly harm our overall health…
Perhaps it’s time for Big Pharma to throw in the towel. Their drugs seem to be becoming more vicious and more damaging and they still have not figured out what really lies at the root of the problem.
And if you pay attention to what Dr. Seneff says, then these snake oil salesmen definitely have been pulling the wool over our eyes for much longer than we know.
As a sufferer of with hypercholesterolemia, one thing is certain, you won’t see me taking a statin drug and you certainly won’t ever see me anywhere near PCSK9 inhibitors.
Heart to a healthy and happy heart,
Francois Lubbe
Editor
The Cholesterol Truth
Sources:
Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology June 30, 2008
New Cholesterol Drug PCSK9 Is Likely to Prematurely Kill You, published online 03.06.13, articles.mercola.com
Could THIS Be the Hidden Factor Behind Obesity, Heart Disease, and Chronic Fatigue?, published online 17.09.11
Praluent (anti-PCSK9), published online, consensus.druganalyst.com