12 November 2008

If you are diabetic, beware of statins

Supports Chapter 1: Trick to treat, Chapter 2: What’s behind the screens? and Chapter 20: Diabetes deceit.

As diabetics are about eight times more likely to suffer a heart attack than the healthy population, not only are they told to eat an unhealthy 'healthy' diet, they are also routinely prescribed the cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins.

Disease of the blood vessels caused by diabetes mellitus represents a significant medical problem that has been firmly established in large clinical trials to be directly related to high glucose levels. At a cellular level, high glucose exposure damages endothelial cells (the cells that line the blood vessels) and inhibits their repair. Needless to say, this is highly undesirable and could account for many of the complications of diabetes.

Glucose does this by inhibiting the 'mevalonate pathway', a series of chemical processes that produce a number of compounds needed for endothelial cell repair.

Cholesterol is also a compound which is manufactured via the mevalonate pathway; it is this pathway that is inhibited by statins.

A brand new study from the University of Sydney, Australia, finds that statins, not surprisingly, which work by blocking not only cholesterol but also the other vital compounds that the body needs, have a similar effect to high levels of glucose.

It would seem foolhardy, therefore, to continue the practice of putting all (or indeed any) diabetics on statins.

Mather A, et al. High glucose induced endothelial cell growth inhibition is associated with an increase in TGFβ1 secretion and inhibition of Ras prenylation via suppression of the mevalonate pathway. Int J Biochem Cell Biol (2008),
doi:10.1016/j.biocel.2008.07.007

12 comments:

Wendy said...

I cannot believe statin drugs are prescribed to people with diabetes - or ANY person for that matter - when such scientific evidence is available which should persuade otherwise. It seems, the very core of what scientific research is supposed to be about is being turned away from; -ALL evidence should be taken into account and judged accordingly, not pick and choosed. The Health authorities are one-sided. "If there is a black swan in the lake, don't dismiss it just because all the others in the lake are white swans." - The health authorities should have this analogy drummed into them.

Thanks for your website/research/books, Barry. The information you have presented has certainly 'woken me up'.

Barry Groves said...

Hi Wendy

I couldn't agree more. And the more studies that are published - even by statins' manufacturers - the more they confirm that lowering cholesterol is an adverse side effect.

But any excuse Big Pharma can use to get everyone on statins before their very lucrative patents run out in a coule of years' time, the more they will exploit them.

Type two diabetes can be cured in a day without the use of any drugs at all. But where's the money in that?

Anonymous said...

Barry,

I'm currently reading Trick and Treat and also Gary Taubes's book 'Good calories, Bad Calories' and the evidence for a carbohydrate/diabetes link appears to be overwhelming. I wonder, have you ever been in contact with Diabetes UK, or any other relevant group, to ask them why they ignore such profound evidence?

Best wishes

Mathew

Barry Groves said...

Hi Mathew

Not recently.

I used to lecture on diabetes in hospitals to nurses and other health professionals. The 'establishment' soon put a stop to that.

As Upton Sinclair once remarked: 'It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it.'

What would happen to Diabetes UK and the ADA if they let it be known that they knew the dogma they spouted was harming their patients?

Anonymous said...

Hi Barry,

I've been reading your website second opinions and your blog. THANK YOU for your work.

It is hard to change a mindset routine but it would be helpful to have recipes and mealplans. Do you have any to recommend?

Thanks, Anne

Barry Groves said...

Hi Anonymous

I have thought of putting recipes online.

The problem is that people's preferences can vary widely so that I could put many recipes online that many might not like.

For this reason, I don't like to prescribe specific foods but let people choose their own diet within a set of guidelines. By giving guidelines I had hoped that readers could choose their own foods from within those.

That said, I have examples and the basics at: http://www.second-opinions.co.uk/diabetes-6.html

If you or others feel a need for either full recipes or daily menus, I'll see what I can do. I do have a huge collection.

Anonymous said...

Hi Mr. Groves,
Been reading your 'Second Opinions' works for years, you're one of my 'go-to' experts on nutrition and self-healing. I wanted to know (and of course, I'll be taking another visit to Second Opinions after I'm done writing this...) if your stance on consumption of omega 6s has at all been modified by any new news or knowledge that has come your way?

The only reason I ask is, despite doing extremely well following a low-carbohydrate diet, I occasionally hit walls when I begin consuming more-than-perhaps-I-should, two of my favorite breakfast/lunches: Tuna and Egg salad--not in their natural states, mind you, but mixed with yes, you know it, mayonnaise.

Of course, heaven forbid I should be able to remember anything I read for more than two days, (ah, so much knowledge out there...) but I distinctly remember you writing about not being a particular fan of vegetable oils since they're laden with omega 6s.

Besides mayonnaise being highly caloric (I know, forgive me for calorie counting here...) do you think it's inflaming my system and interfering with otherwise normal weight loss that accompanies strict low-carbohydrate dieting?

I just began writing at my blog again after taking a long break, and before I write about this, I wanted your thoughts, if you have the time.

I sincerely respect the work you've done.
Sincerely,
Adam Wilk

Barry Groves said...

Hi Adam

Many thanks for your kind comments.

This is a bit off-subject, but my stance on omega-6 fatty acids hasn't changed.

There is till some debate about whether the 'essential fatty acids', omega-6 and -3, are really essential. But assuming they are, our requirement is for about 2% of calories as omega-6 and half that amount of omega-3. To put that in context, if you are eating a 2000 calorie diet, it's about one teaspoon of 6 and half a teaspoon of 3.

The problem today is the promotion of vegetable oils which are high on 6, and with very little 3. This is way out of balance. Some nutritionists, therefore,advise that to compensate we should eat more omega-3.

But there is a downside to such advice as ALL of these are polyunsaturated fatty acids which are prone to autoxidation and the creation of harmful free radicals. For that reason I would caution against increasing omega-3s; it is much safer to reduce your intake of omega-6.

Unfortunately, as you probably know, commercially-made mayo is high in omega-6. Try making your own with olive oil

Anonymous said...

Hi Barry,

Re: recipes

Thanks for the link. If you aren't diabetic does the same food list apply? Or do you have a link for someone who isn't diabetic?

Thanks again, Anne

Anonymous said...

Hi,
Unfortunately, I just found out about your books(forgive me) and ordered one. Thanks a lot. I can't wait to read it. I told my daughter who just have a baby 9 month old and she asked "Well, how I supposed to feed my baby now?" She still breastfeeding and making her best give the girl all organic, etc. But we're really don't know how to reduce carbs even though it's "good" carbs. Thanks in advance

Barry Groves said...

Hi Anne and Anonymous

Anne. Yes, the same food lists apply for health generally.

Anonymous. Chapter 18 of Trick and Treat, when it arrives, will tell your daughter all she needs to know.

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