In a study published this spring, researchers found that physicians were lacking in awareness of the teratogenic risks (ability to cause fetal malformations) of statins and other cardiovascular drugs they prescribed for their pregnant patients. The study followed a report in February that showed that statins should be avoided in early pregnancy due to their teratogenic capability. An earlier study in Japan showed that cholesterol plays an essential role in embryonic development, and that statins could play a part in embryonic mutations or even death. In the first study, researchers said:

Physicians’ baseline awareness of ACE inhibitor, ARB, or statin teratogenic risks and risk documentation was lacking. Improvement in risk documentation was seen after intervention; however, continual improvement is essential.

In a stunning revelation exactly opposite of what modern treatment paradigms tell you, a new study shows that statin usage actually can contribute to heart disease, by adversely affecting bilirubin levels in the blood.  A low-circulating level of bilirubin is associated with increased cardiovascular risk, and bilirubin is emerging as a protective factor against heart disease and stroke. And this study shows, quite unexpectedly, that the use of statins is associated with lower total bilirubin levels, indicating they adversely affect cardiovascular disease risk.

New information reported in the drug store industry’s newsletter, DrugStoreNews, shows that a simple combination of common spices could be the solution to reducing your insulin levels by 21 percent, and your triglycerides by 31 percent. The study, which used a combination of rosemary, oregano, cinnamon, turmeric, black pepper, cloves, garlic powder and paprika, was published in the Journal of Nutrition.

Sometimes nothing’s better than what comes straight from the horse’s mouth – and in this instance, a drug industry newsletter is reporting that some drugs commonly prescribed to diabetics for heart disease don’t work. As reported in Drug Discovery & Development, an FDA review panel determined that a class of drugs called fibrates, which are supposed to lower triglycerides and raise HDL levels, have not been proven successful in preventing heart attacks in Type 2 diabetes patients with elevated cholesterol. The New England Journal of Medicine also had a few things to say about these drugs.

A new look at statins from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology claims that no study has ever proven that statins improve all-cause mortality – in other words, they don’t prolong your life any longer than if you’d not taken them at all. And rather than improving your life, they actually contribute to a deterioration in the quality of your life, destroying muscles and endangering liver, kidney and heart function. According to Stephanie Seneff, author of this stunning revelation:

“There can be no doubt that statins will make your remaining days on earth a lot less pleasant than they would otherwise be. To optimize the quality of your life, increase your life expectancy, and avoid heart disease, my advice is simple: spend significant time outdoors; eat healthy, cholesterol-enriched, animal-based foods like eggs, liver, and oysters; eat fermented foods like yogurt and sour cream; eat foods rich in sulfur like onions and garlic. And finally, say ‘no, thank you’ to your doctor when he recommends statin therapy.”

Could it be possible that everything your doctor’s telling you about high cholesterol and how it relates to heart disease and strokes is wrong? In a thought-provoking two-part series, Dr. Ernest N. Curtis, a doctor of internal medicine and cardiology is now challenging decades-old studies that supposedly “proved” the cholesterol-heart disease link. He also says:

“The supposed benefit provided by statins in reduction of non-fatal  heart attacks by a few percentage points is no greater than that achieved by other anti-platelet and/or inflammatory drugs. Therefore I would never subject a patient to the potentially severe side effects of statins in order to achieve a questionable benefit that can be provided by drugs of much lower risk.”