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I had a major heart attack at the age of 51. I had had my annual physical exam three weeks before the attack. My cholesterol was normal and so was my blood pressure. I had never had a problem with either and was never on medication. I was not a smoker or much of a drinker. There was no history of heart disease in my family. I was maybe 10 pounds overweight at the most. Five years later, I am still on maintenance drugs but my cholesterol is normal. My doctor has me take 10mg Lipitor tablet and split in half each day. They say a small dose could be preventitive of another attack but I am not taking the statin for a cholesterol problem.

“Five years later, I am still on maintenance drugs but my cholesterol is normal. My doctor has me take 10mg Lipitor tablet and split in half each day. They say a small dose could be preventitive of another attack but I am not taking the statin for a cholesterol problem.”

I am not a doctor, but I do take a very active interest in my health. Toward that end, I have been a member of the Life Extension Foundation http://www/lef.org for about the last 10 years. They publish Life Extension Magazine, and there have been numerous articles (including one in the Feb. ‘08 issue) regarding the importance of CoEnzyme Q10. CoQ10 is in every cell of our bodies-it helps protect the mitocondria, the energy powerhouses of the cell. It depletes naturally with age, and the depletion accelerates greatly with the use of statins (because cholesterol and CoQ10 have some common chemical attributes).

Anyhow, you have the phenomenon of people with normal cholesterol (due to taking statins) that end up dying of congestive heart failure. This happens because their CoQ10 is severely depleted, robbing the heart of energy (heart cells have the highest concentration of mitocondria, and the highest need for CoQ10). What used to happen only to the very old, or someone who had damaged their heart somehow (smoking, etc.), is now happening to a lot of people. This is in addition to the possible side effects of muscle pains, liver problems, etc. The latter may not show up in everyone, but the depletion of CoQ10 is a FACT, and it is dangerous. The drug industry is proudly touting the fact that people who take statins have less heart attacks - but they are notably silent about the fact that these same people have about the same death rates as those who DON’T take statins. IOW, you get one benefit, but it comes with a cost - and you end up spending a not so small fortune on drugs for peace of mind - and really get almost nothing.

BTW, it would be untruthful to say that no one benefits from statins. Of course they do - but you just don’t hear much about those who don’t, let alone those who are harmed by them. You, like any consumer, need to educate yourself - especially considering what’s at stake.

Get yourself a copy of the 2/08 issue (most newstands don’t have it, but a Barnes & Noble might), or wait a couple of weeks and the website above will have it posted by then. If your doctor isn’t also advising you to take large doses of CoQ10, then he’s probably doing you a disservice. BTW, it ain’t necessarily his fault - the medical profession is **generally** fairly dismissive of the medical benefits of nutritional supplements, and the drug industry is positively opposed to it (because it’d cost them a fortune if everyone did a few simple things, like take a baby aspirin, 1000 IU of Vitamin D, 1000 mg of fish oil, a couple of cups of green tea, 5 grams or so of soluble fiber, and a good multivitamin everyday). Read up on CoQ10 elsewhere, and then ask your doc about it. If he doesn’t know anything, or very little, about it, seek a second opinion with someone who DOES. Your life may literally depend on it.