By Peter A. McCullough, MD, MPH
The pandemic response debacle has caused a loss of public trust in conventional medicine and pharmaceuticals. Everyday in the office I am confronted by patients who are either intolerant to or who simply do not want to take statin medications. Statins are cholesterol-lowering medications taken nightly and have been shown in ~100 randomized trials to reduce the risk of myocardial infarction, ischemic stroke, need for coronary stenting, heart bypass surgery, and cardiovascular death. Common prescription statins are generic and very low cost. The problem is ~15% of patients who take statins get muscle aches and it is difficult to tell in each patient in whom these symptoms are ubiquitous—is it the statin causing side effects or not. Additionally, books have been published such as The Statin Disaster by David Brownstein, MD, that claim risks outweigh benefits in statin administration.
I sat down with Dr. Joel Kahn who is one of my mentors for many years to have an evidence based discussion on the alternatives to statins. Dr. Kahn is a preventive cardiologist who is on his 47th year of following a whole food plant based diet and walks the talk with his fitness regimen. He is also the author of the widely read book The Whole Heart Solution: Halt Heart Disease Now with the Best Alternative and Traditional Medicine. I think this interview has something in it for everyone interested in preventing the most common form of heart disease—atherosclerosis.
Here are just a few of the products and doses we discussed on the show:
-Red Rice Yeast (natural lovastatin precursor) 1200-2400 mg per day
-Berberine 500 mg three times per day
-Citrus Bergamot 500-1000 mg per day
-Aged Garlic Extract 2.4 g per day
-Amla (Indian Gooseberry) 1-3 g per day
You must listen to the entire program to get the key points on blood cholesterol panels, lipoprotein (a), coronary artery calcium scoring, and how these over the counter supplements can influence these measures and either complement current medical regimens or indeed replace prescription pharmaceuticals.
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Peter A. McCullough, MD, MPH
President, McCullough Foundation
Natural Alternatives to Statin Therapy