Statins: Are They Right For You? A Deeper Look at Cholesterol and Heart Health

What are statins?

[video transcript] Do you really need to be on a statin drug? This is a question I get all the time.

Now, what are statins? The medication names go by Atorvastatin, Rosuvastatin; the brand names might be those like Lipitor, Crestor. And what do they do? Well, they block the production of cholesterol, and if somebody has high cholesterol, this is a very good thing.

When they look at what causes heart attacks, we get hard and soft plaques built by cholesterol that get stuffed into our veins and arteries. And eventually, they just start to swell shut over years or with a major stressor. And it's usually the coronary arteries – these are the arteries that supply the heart. So if we can prevent that from happening, what a miracle! And that's where these drugs really do good.

Statins, Cholesterol Testing and Cardiologist "CYA"

But do you really need to be on it? Now, what's happened is that every single lab test that a primary care doctor will run will now include a lipid panel. They will get a blood count, a metabolic panel, and a lipid panel. Those are the big three, and they're really cheap, usually like five bucks when it all settles out. Why? Because all that fat can create a heart attack. And again, if we can measure it, we can prescribe, and we can save people's lives. And again, that is a fantastic thing.

However, we also get into "cover your butt" mode, and that's what cardiologists can do from time to time. You could look and see somebody's total cholesterol, which should be under 200, and if it's at 201, they will recommend a statin. Why? Well, if it's at 201 and they have a heart attack, then somebody can't come back at them and say, "Hey, you should have helped me prevent this." But at 201 versus 300, 400, which is true hypercholesterolemia, that is ridiculous.

The Nuance of Lipid Panels: Beyond "Good" and "Bad" Cholesterol

So we have to look at a lipid panel in context. If we're blocking the "quote unquote bad cholesterol" by this HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor, that is a good thing. And, um, you know, we can kind of keep values low, but these drugs can also make your lipids too low. And when that happens, we need lipids to build nerves. We need lipids and cholesterol in particular to build cells and and hormones. If your levels go too low, well, now you don't have enough. And I get people in here with like restless leg syndrome, muscle aches, things like that. And sometimes it is the statin.

The other thing, like I said, you've got to take all this stuff in context. If we're looking at LDL and somebody's got a very high-fat, like a ketogenic diet, well, of course their cholesterol is going to be higher because on top of what might have built up in their system, they're eating cholesterol on a day-to-day basis that is naturally occurring in foods.

The Real Cardiac Root Cause - Inflammation

So, when I look at statins naturopathically, first from a hormone standpoint, and second, just from an overall health standpoint, I think it's really important to look at the numbers, grade them, you know, where in the range is somebody, and ask yourself, what is driving these high cholesterol numbers? Is it their good cholesterol, which is HDL? Is it bad cholesterol, which is LDL? Is it VLDL, your very low density lipoprotein, which is the most inflammatory type of cholesterol? And by the way, cholesterol is neither good nor bad. These are just proteins that carry it around, and they're able to measure them and measure their effect on cardiovascular health.

So, we can measure those things, and we take 'em in context. Somebody with a high HDL that is driving their high total cholesterol, that's probably a good thing, particularly if their LDL and their VLDL are low. So we have to take things in context, and we have to also take statin drugs in context.

Statins in Context: Acute vs. Long-Term Use

These are also particularly life-saving drugs after myocardial infarction or heart attack. And people should be on them for a certain amount of time, well, until the heart is healed up enough where they can say, "Okay, this hypercholesterol process and putting these in these tender veins and arteries that were affected by this heart attack," it makes it very important to, um, you know, keep that as an intervention.

Does it have to be long-lived after that? Well, seeing a doctor such as a naturopathic doctor to assess that and look at the bigger picture and see the basis for health, which is the most important thing. Are they moving appropriately? Are they having a good diet? Are they getting enough sleep and recovering appropriately? Then there are times like that that you can take a look at the big picture and start to wean somebody off a medication like a statin.

A Holistic Approach to Your Health

If you want a big picture overview of how your medications are working for you, it is good to work with a naturopathic doctor, hopefully someone like myself. I specialize in gastroenterology and hormones here in Scottsdale, Arizona, and I have a custom solution for you. It is usually available by talking to me through my website. You can book a a discovery call for free. It's drdanwool.com. I'm also on all the socials at Dr. Dan Wool. In the meantime, it is Dr. Wool. "Fix your Gut, solve Your Health".