The raison d'etre of this website is to provide you with hard scientific information which may help you make informed decisions in your quest for health (so far I have blogged concise summaries of over 1,500 scientific studies and have had three books published).

My research is mainly focused on the effects of cholesterol, saturated fat and statin drugs on health. If you know anyone who is worried about their cholesterol levels and heart disease, or has been told to take statin drugs you could send them a link to this website, and to my statin or cholesterol or heart disease books.

David Evans

Independent Health Researcher

Thursday 26 May 2016

Review of my book Statins Toxic Side Effects by Dr Rajendra Sharma

I've had a positive review of my book Statins Toxic Side Effects by Dr Rajendra Sharma published in the Caduceus Journal

Below is the transcript of the review from the Caduceus Journal (Issue 93 Page 26).


Statins Toxic Side Effects - Evidence from 500 scientific papers by David Evans

Grosvenor House Publishing, Guildford, 2015. Pb, 504pp, £14.99 (Amazon). ISBN 978 1781483909

Reviewed by Rajendra Sharma

David Evans’ first two books on the hazards of low cholesterol and benefits of saturated fats (see article, issue 90) have yet to make the impact they should have. These reference books on the truth behind cholesterol and the risks of lowering it did more than enough to provide ample evidence to guide every prescribing doctor to think long and hard about their training in the treatment of arterial and cardiovascular disease.

As before, Evans’ clear and concise presentation of unequivocal facts highlights the enormous amount of evidence illustrating the failing of the world’s best-selling drugs, statins. Here, more so than in his previous two books, he emphasises the actual damage to our health that these cholesterol-lowering drugs do. His 21 chapters, all easy to read even by the non-scientifically trained, question the current modus operandi of statin prescribing in the face of the illness that these drugs are proven to cause.

Muscle disease, kidney and liver dysfunction, pancreatitis, neurological conditions, autoimmune disease, inflammatory problems along with the bowel, urinary tract, bone structure and fertility are all cited through published, peer-reviewed references. Evans has even highlighted that statins can be associated with depression, suicide, ‘foggy’ brain, reduced exercise performance and antisocial behaviour.

I have been confused over what to advise those with fears of dementia when asked about cholesterol-lowering drugs but Statin Toxic Side Effects records evidence of the production of abnormally phosphorylated Tau proteins, those associated with Alzheimer’s. Herein may lie why some studies suggest benefit while others increased incidence.

These diseases might all be acceptable if we were benefiting from lower cholesterol but unfortunately, normal or even high levels of cholesterol, increase life-span, avoid many lethal conditions and are even associated with lower cardiovascular disease (CVD) deaths. The book reminds us of the importance of cholesterol for production of vitamin D, sex hormones, the stress-coping cortisol and other hormones and pathways.

Evans emphasises once again how statins reduce the availability of essential nutrients such as vitamins A and E, the minerals zinc and copper and interferes with selenium activity. I learned of statins’ effect on pathways influenced by dolichols, protein-binding molecules, and Heme A.

To me, as a front-line physician, to read of many under-publicised research papers suggesting that 17-63.5% of those taking statins suffer side-effects is a relief as it reflects my practice experience. Fortunately, working as I do in integrated medicine and within the private sector, I have the time to deal with the lifestyle, nutrition, exercise, psycho-spiritual and traditional health systems that make an appreciable and real difference to arterial and CV disease. My conventional colleagues are not afforded this time by current medical practice, nor are they or our medical students taught about the alternative options.

The 500 scientific papers indicate that statins do not save lives. Even when taken for years there is little appreciable difference in the CVD mortality. Chapters illustrate how high cholesterol reduces the risk of many other diseases and one worrying chapter specifically highlights how most of those who decide on what are considered to be healthy levels of cholesterol are directly or indirectly in the pay of the statin manufacturers. These Pharma giants also, it appears, fund the majority of the research in this field. Statin sales are now $34bn annually.

Evans cites how the regulators had systematically produced, or been provided with, evidence supporting why lower and lower levels of cholesterol need to be achieved. Those accepting these figures could justify drugging up 35% of an asymptomatic adult male population, most of whom have a low risk of CVD.

The concept of a ‘typical modern day drug trial’ is already itself questionable. Wikipedia currently lists 173 commonly prescribed drugs that have been withdrawn in the last 50 years - all of which had passed conventional efficacy and safety trails. The EU has passed and withdrawn 19 drugs between 2002 and 2011. The deaths attributed to these run into the hundreds of thousands. These are not unusual drugs used in rare diseases but include medication used by millions of people worldwide. Statin withdrawal has, suggests Evans, to follow surely.  

Present this book to your doctor. Truly, it will be a gift from the heart to the heart of others.
 
 
 
Dr Rajendra Sharma (MB BCh BAO LRCP&S (Ire) MFHom is a leading Integrated Medical Doctor utilizing conventional, Functional and complementary medicine. His special interest is working with chronic disease and its underlying causes particularly CFS/ME, cancer and other difficult conditions that respond poorly to conventional medicine.
 
He focuses on optimizing health through nutritional and non-drug medicine and as, until recently, the Secretary to the British Society for Ecological Medicine is involved in environmental health screening (metal toxicity, food allergy, pollution etc.)
 
Dr Sharma is considered by many as their family doctor and as a generalist works with all medical conditions. He is the author of The Family Encyclopedia of Health and has recently published the quintessential ‘all you need to know’ healthy ageing book, “Live Longer Live Younger”. He has particular links with the media and entertainment industry and over many years has not only provided content and support to the BBC, ITV , Channel 4 and others, but also provided and continues to provide care regularly to many globally acclaimed celebrities. Over his experienced career as Medical Director at the Hale Clinic and The Diagnostic Clinic he has forged new care initiatives. These include the impact of genomics and the environment in optimizing patient protocols, treatment and care plans.