Can Statins Cause Diabetes and Heart Disease?

Dr David Jenkins from the University of Toronto, showed that using a combination of soy, fiber, almonds and plant sterols (cholesterol-lowering fats) could lower cholesterol levels as much as statin medications. Dr Mark Hyman says, "Diet can lower cholesterol as much as statins which is a surprise to many, but common in my practice. Using a comprehensive approach of diet and lifestyle change, I routinely see effects that are more powerful than any medication."
PEOPLE WHO LOWER THEIR CHOLESTEROL WITH STATINS HAVE HIGHER LEVELS OF INSULIN, while those who lower their cholesterol through diet had lower insulin levels. Why is that important? Because elevated insulin levels are the first step on the road to diabetes. They make you gain weight around the middle, cause high blood pressure, increase inflammation, and promote stickiness of the blood. Each of these conditions in turn contributes to heart attacks and heart disease.
The question is this: Do statins contribute to the development of pre-diabetes and diabetes which are among the most significant risk factors for heart disease? Does lowering cholesterol with statins-a treatment purported to reduce the risk of hear disease-actually INCREASE the risk of heart disease.
Dr Mark Hyman says, "In treating thousands of patients with pre-diabetes, diabetes, high cholesterol, and heart disease, I have noticed one thing: Lowering insulin through diet and lifestyle corrects almost ALL of the risk factors for heart disease. It lowers blood pressure, increases good cholesterol (HDL), lowers triglycerides and bad cholesterol (LDL), leads to weight loss, lowers levels of inflammation (C-reataive protein), and thins the blood. Lowering insulin even increases the light fluffy harmless cholesterol and lowers the level of small dense harmful cholesterol particles in the blood.
The recent "EPIC" study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine studied 23,000 people's adherence to four simple behaviors: not smoking, exercising 3.5 hours a week, eating a healthy diet (fruits, vegetables, beans, whole grains, nuts, seeds, and low meat consumption), and keeping a healthy weight (BMI) less than 30). IN THOSE THAT FOLLOWED THESE FOUR SIMPLE STEPS THERE WAS A REDUCTION OF 93 PERCENT OF DIABETES, 81 PERCENT OF HEART ATTACKS, 50 PERCENT OF STROKES, AND 36 PERCENT OF ALL CANCERS.
Chronic disease has replaced infectious and acute illnesses as the leading cause of death in the world, both in developed and developing countries. In 2002, the leading chronic diseases, including heart disease (17 million), cancer (7 million), chronic lung diseases (4 million), and diabetes (1 million), caused 29 million deaths worldwide. These ailments are almost entirely attributable to lifestyle risk factors including poor diet, sedentary lifestyle, and tobacco and alcohol use.