No risk of Heart Attack? Take Crestor!

MSNBC.com reports this week that those with a low risk of having a heart attack can prevent heart attacks by taking Crestor. What?? I just checked, I did write that correctly. This study was sponsored by AstraZeneca, who, by the way, owns Crestor. Cardiologists say this could take prevention to a whole new level because they now have reason to "treat" people they normally wouldn't have. Prevention? By taking a drug? That sounds like treatment to me, not prevention. Oh, this pill costs about $3.50 a day, which would put an estimated $9 billion in AstraZeneca's pocket each year

What I'm curious about is if these people are at low risk for heart disease, why do they need treatment? How are our doctors quantifying heart disease risk? Perhaps that's the real problem. Is it possible there is something inaccurate in the way we evaluate health risks? Surely the profession who kills a known 800,000 people a year would know how to appropriately evaluate risk...

This is also the first study that shows Crestor is effective at decreasing heart disease risk in those with high LDL cholesterol. All other statin drugs have already been shown to do such a thing, in pharmaceutical industry funded studies at least. Interestingly, Crestor has not been, not until this one, solitary study. Hmm...

Another fun fact. The study was suppose to be carried out over a period of five years. But it was stopped after only two. Why? Researchers say because Crestor was proving itself to be so wonderful that it was unethical to not provide the drug to everyone in the study. But it's still unknown what the long term side effects of being on Crestor are...

So, while Crestor was shown to be sparkly clean in multiple areas of health, it did increase the rate of diabetes in those taking it. Last I checked, diabetes was a fairly serious matter, that carried a whole bunch of potentially very serious risks along with it. Also, last I checked, there are many ways to prevent heart attacks AND diabetes AT THE SAME TIME!!! This typically includes diet and exercise and neither need to cost you any more $$ than you're currently spending.

Here's the prescription information on Crestor. I had to zoom in to at least 125% to read it, and 150% is much better, but maybe my eyesight is bad. Notice in the first column, two lines above Dosage and Administration is says the "effect of Crestor on cardiovascular morbidity and mortality has not been determined". So it won't actually save your life. All of the recommendations include adjunctive therapy i.e. diet, typically one low in saturated fats. Generally, any diet low in saturated fats will improve your lipid and cholesterol levels. Actually, no "heart health" drug has been proven to be effective without dietary modifications...has your doctor ever told you that? Side effects of Crestor include hepatitis, but this was reported after the FDA had given it's approval, so AstraZeneca doesn't think it's really related to their drug. Elevated CPK levels are also reported, which is interesting because elevated levels generally indicate to most doctors that a heart attack has occurred.

Don't be fooled by this study or by any tv commercials that will soon come. There are other ways to prevent disease, and by doing those simple things (diet and exercise) you can protect yourself from a lot more than just heart attacks.

Here's what Mike Adams from NaturalNews has to say about this study.