Cholesterol meds having negative effects on exercise; does this medication make sense? The NY Times explores. There is a growing chorus of evidence that Statins, which lower cholesterol inhibits the ability to exercise, something we do naturally to stay fit and lower our own cholesterol while improving cardiac function and health. While this information is certainly not new, most people are not aware that these medications have harmful effects used long term on the liver, and your quality of life. Most people are not aware that cholesterol is but one of 18 different risk factors that can cause a heart attack, even th0ugh it is promoted by many physicians through their protocols as being the most important. More evidence is now available that shows that the use of statins makes exercise more difficult. It also requires you to be constantly monitored by your doctor for harmful side effects which should give one pause, especially for a drug where the benefits should outweigh the risks. The more we read, the more we need to wonder if the risks have always outweighed the benefits. The problem is fear of the unknown which is used to talk insured people into taking these medications that create problems and diseases that would not have occurred had the person acted differently. The one size fits all approach to cholesterol makes little sense considering many people have genetic adaptations that allow them to have high cholesterol and still live a long life. The truth is, eventually, we will all succumb to something, so the actual benefit of taking a substance that creates problems for us which has maybe a marginal effect on how long we live with side effects that are life threatening are questionable. Clinically, patients report pain while attempting to exercise in their muscles which affects their quality of life while the doctors who placed them on these medications tell them the importance of exercise. In our chiropractic practice, statins often affects our results and our outcomes, even with the best and most effective rehabilitation regimens. Check out the NY Times article here Can Statins Cut the Benefits of Exercise? By GRETCHEN REYNOLD An important new study suggests that statins, the cholesterol-lowering medications that are the most prescribed drugs in the world, may block some of the fitness benefits of exercise, one of the surest ways to improve health. No one is saying that people with high cholesterol or a family history of heart disease should avoid statins, which studies show can be lifesaving. But the discovery could create something of dilemma for doctors and patients, since the people who should benefit the most from exercise — those who are sedentary, overweight, at risk of heart disease or middle-aged — are also the people most likely to be put on statins, possibly undoing some of the good of their workouts. For the new study, which was published online in The Journal of the American College of Cardiology, researchers from the University of Missouri and other institutions gathered a group of overweight, sedentary men and women, all of whom had multiple symptoms of metabolic problems, including wide waistlines, high blood pressure or excess abdominal fat. Most had slightly but not dangerously elevated cholesterol levels. None had exercised regularly in the past year. All underwent muscle biopsies and treadmill testing to determine their aerobic fitness — which was generally quite low — and agreed to continue with their normal diet. Then they all began a supervised 12-week exercise program, during which they visited the university lab five times a week and walked or jogged on a treadmill for 45 minutes at a moderately vigorous pace (about 65 to 70 percent of their individual aerobic maximum). Half of the group also began taking a daily 40-milligram dose of simvastatin, a particular type of statin sold under the brand name Zocor. At the end of 12 weeks, the participants fitness and muscles were retested. read more