The other night at dinner, I had a conversation about Washington States ant 522 initiative requiring labeling of GMP foods. The conversation led to a discussion about the problems most people have understanding the science behind today’s miracle drugs and even foods. For example, David Mendosa , a medical journalist makes a case against the use of statins for people with diabetes . Mendosa refers to a recent study , “Simvastatin impairs exercise training adaptations.” Interestingly, as a diabetic myself, I went off statins for exactly the reasons raised in the study.
Stains are marketed for their ability to impair synthesis of cholesterol. Since most body cholesterol is synthesized by our own liver, statins are far more effective than diets in lowering this risk factor and are responsible for a huge part of the increase in the American life span.
So good so far! The problem is that statins are not specific for making cholesterol. They block the formation of the building blocks for cholesterol but those same carbon chains are used for molecules very important in cell signaling .. including signaling that controls everything from cancer to muscle building. When statins were first introduced , it was very important that we watch the incidence of disease because we really had no way of knowing what side effects might occur when the population taking these drugs became huge. Fortunately the outcomes studies so far show amazing benefits and little risk. The study Mendosa referred to was small, short, and the participants weren’t even diabetic. In other words is could not prove that the statins waste muscle and certainly could not prove that taking statins adversely affects diabetes life spans, something very unlikely given that
So why did I quit? First, there is substantial scientific data to support worries that statins can adversely affect muscle mass. Moreover, the clinical tests for loss of muscle mass are fairly crude. So, the changes in my muscles may have a causal basis that does not appear in the mass studies. Second my cholesterol level is low, not as low as it could be but well below the scary levels many folks have. Still I likely could reduce my level of risk even more ..BUT. The “but” is that I lost a large amount of muscle mass on the statins, mass that returned after removing this drug from my pill case.
Still, what would the GMO opponents say if we engineered a common food, say the beef in a MacDonald’s Big Mac, to include a statin? Even scientists need to play their hunches!
Readmore about statins and diabetes by my brother in law, an excellent diabetes physician.