Increase in strokes? Why the surprise?

Since low cholesterol levels can cause strokes, it should come as no surprise that more women are suffering strokes, since more women are now taking statins.

by Becky Coffield — 

A recent article in the Arizona Republic reported that the number of middle-aged women having strokes has greatly increased. This is in spite of the increase in the number of women who are now taking statins to reduce cholesterol. Is this really so surprising?

More and more reputable researchers are challenging the safety and efficacy of statin drugs. They also are questioning the validity of the studies performed and the interpretation of the results, when statin-producing pharmaceutical companies finance the studies.

From Uffe Ravnskov, author of The Cholesterol Myths, to Dr. Malcolm Kendrick’s The Great Cholesterol Con, to Gary Taubes’ Good Calories, Bad Calories, increasing numbers of researchers, scholars, cardiologists and writers are debunking the cholesterol bogeyman.

As Kendrick states numerous times, “Statins do not save lives in women.” Further, Kendrick sets about showing that the protection provided by statins is so small as to be not worth bothering about for most people (and all women). The reality is that the benefits have been hyped beyond belief.

He goes on to say, “A raised cholesterol level doesn’t cause strokes, but a low cholesterol level may well do so. A raised cholesterol level doesn’t increase overall mortality, but a low cholesterol level does. A raised cholesterol level does not cause heart disease in women.”

Indeed, it seems that a high cholesterol level “… is not a risk factor in the over-70s. If anything, raised cholesterol protects against heart disease in the over-70s, especially in women — for whom a raised cholesterol level isn’t a risk factor for heart disease at any age.”

Since low cholesterol levels can cause strokes, it should come as no surprise that more women are suffering strokes, since more women are now taking statins.

Becky Coffield is the author of several books, including You Can Conquer TMJ: Ideas and Recipes. www.youcanconquertmj.com.

Reprinted from AzNetNews, Volume 28, Number 3, Jun/July 2009.