Dr. Bernstein Talks About Statins and Heart Disease

"There have been a number of new studies, both large-scale direct studies and meta-analyses, which are reviews of many other studies. All the studies seem to be in agreement that statins should not be used as a primary prevention of heart disease or heart attacks.

Primary prevention means that if you have not demonstrated heart disease, you shouldn’t attempt to prevent it with statins. Just treating elevated LDL is not adequate because apparently lowering LDL does not reduce the risk of developing heart disease.

This is apparent from these recent studies, plus a re-evaluation of the Framingham Study where they found that high saturated fats did not raise LDL. The re-evaluation of the Framingham Study also showed that elevated LDL did not cause heart attacks."

"One thing is important though, if you have elevated LDL you should check your thyroid. I will never prescribe any other medication for dyslipidemia until I have checked and corrected low thyroid function. Low thyroid function all by itself can cause high LDL." - Dr. Richard K. Bernstein, M.D.