by Ray Fauteux

Created on: August 06, 2007

Some see statin drugs as a miracle cure, but many others have a much different opinion.

On discovering your high 'bad' cholesterol, your doctor may first suggest a change in lifestyle as treatment in hopes of bringing your cholesterol to acceptable levels.

If that fails, he may prescribe medication. Of all cholesterol lowering medications 'statin drugs' are the most powerful. Crestor, Lipitor, Zocor, and Mevacor, are just some of the possible choices he might make for you.

There are two schools of thought on statin drugs.

Some say it can prevent heart disease or attack, stroke, and possibly even death. That it can reduce LDL levels dramatically. In some cases by 60%. Claims are also made that triglycerides can be lowered and that statin drugs have few side effects.

However, this is not how everyone feels about statin drugs.

Some say, "sure, it brought my cholesterol levels down, but the muscle and joint pain I suffered was intense."

Some people even feel that the cure is a whole lot worse than the problem.

If taken too long, the user can suffer from chronic muscle ache, and in worse case scenarios, loss of memory. Sex hormones can be thrown out of sync and to make matters worse, statins can actually prevent the body from manufacturing healthy cholesterol.

There are those who feel the drug is heralded as the answer to low cholesterol only because it's a big money-maker for drug companies.

As a result, they feel statin drugs may soon disappear from the market-place once the public is made more aware of the brutal side-effects, or prescribed only for very short term use.

Personally, I believe diet is the most powerful weapon we have against disease. Or more specifically, a combination of diet and fitness.

Before trying any prescription drug, it seems more logical to exhaust all other non-medical options first. It may take time and patience, but researching what foods are cholesterol-lowering, and taking up an active physical lifestyle might be the only treatment you need to lower your LDL or 'bad' cholesterol to acceptable levels.

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