Stock Research - Statin Drugs (Cholesterol Fighters) and New Side Effects Revealed?

More than 40 million people in the United States take Statin Drugs every day. The purpose is to lower your LDL (BAD) Cholesterol. Statin drugs along with penicillin, and aspirin, may well be the three greatest drugs ever developed. These cholesterol fighting drugs have been known to lower your bad cholesterol by as much as 25% to 40% depending upon your unique body chemistry, and the actual dosage that you take.
Statin drugs are the most profitable drugs manufactured by the major drug firms. The five principal drug companies and their respective statin drugs are:
Name of Drug Company Generic Name Brand Name

Merck (Stock Symbol MRK) Zocor Simvastatin
Merck Mevacor Lovastatin
Pfizer Lipitor Atorvastatin
AstraZeneca Crestor Rosuvstatin
Kos Pharaceuticals Advicor Lovastatin
Abbott Labatories Lescol Fluvastatin
Research has shown that half the people in this country who suffer heart attacks have NORMAL Cholesterol levels at the time of their attack. That’s right; half the heart attack victims are NORMAL. This implies that your Total Cholesterol level is not the MAGIC KEY that doctors are looking for. We also know that if you drive your LDL (BAD) Cholesterol level down to 60, heart disease seems to stop dead in its tracks. LDL Cholesterol is a subset of your Total Cholesterol. It is just one component of your Cholesterol, but obviously a very important one.

Here’s the Potential PROBLEM???

We know that all drugs have side effects. Manufacturers attempt to measure and quantify these side effects during the FDA approved clinical trials. These trials take place prior to a drug’s mass distribution to the public. Sometimes, certain side effects do not become apparent until years after the drug’s release.
Dr. Ralph Edwards is the director of the drug-monitoring center of the World Health Organization (WHO). He possesses a data base containing 4 million people, the drugs they take, and the side effects they report. He has found 172 people in that data base who developed Lou Gehrig’s disease or something similar. All 172 had been taking prescription drugs. Of these, 40 had been taking statin drugs, which is the subject of our discussion.

Statistically, no more than ten patients should have been taking statin drugs and reported this type of result. It is a statistically unexplainable event. In other words too many people taking statin drugs are reporting the development of Lou Gehrig’s disease, or similar type illnesses. We are not saying there is a direct correlation between the use of the statin drug and the onset of these crippling diseases. There is without question, cause for immediate and further study.

In addition, if you are taking any of the statin drugs listed in this article, and you are experiencing any type of side effects at all, INFORM YOUR DOCTOR IMMEDIATELY. Call him TODAY, not TOMMORROW.

Throughout the decades the major drug companies have attempted to downplay drug side effects. This explains the FDA’s policy for decades of keeping drug side effects quiet. They were not published in the media. The World Health Organization is under no such requirement. Over the last couple of years, the FDA in response to public demand has published their drug findings on the Internet on a quarterly basis.

PATIENT BEWARE

Most of us were taught the term caveat emptor, which means BUYER BEWARE. We now must use the term PATIENT BEWARE. We have a responsibility to our loved ones, and ourselves to be aware of the adverse effects of the drugs we are using. In the 21st century, we are in a period of information overload. There is simply too much information coming at all of us to digest. This includes doctors. We as patients can not be completely reliant on our doctors being 100% knowledgeable about the adverse events that can be produced by the drugs their patients are taking. You must be informed yourself. For a more elaborate version of this article, please see our website.

Goodbye and Good Luck

Richard Stoyeck
StocksAtBottom.com

Richard Stoyeck’s background includes being a limited partner at Bear Stearns, Senior VP at Lehman Brothers, Kuhn Loeb, Arthur Andersen, and KPMG. Educated at Pace University, NYU, and Harvard University, today he runs Rockefeller Capital Partners and StocksAtBottom.com

Value Investing at StocksAtBottom.com/ez.html