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Potential Life-Saving Information for Takers of Cholesterol-Reducing Drugs ... read article

The "Sunshine" Vitamin: Much, Much More than a Strong-Bone Maker... read article

Look Who's Talking... read article

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Potential Life-Saving Information for Takers of Cholesterol-Reducing Drugs
The Scoop on Statins: Cholesterol-Reducing Drugs

Statins are drugs that are prescribed by physicians to lower cholesterol.

According to Forbes magazine's Best-Selling Drug list for 2004 the two top-selling drugs were the statins, Lipitor and Zocor. They showed a combined total of $16.4 billion in sales. In fact, Lipitor has been the #1 selling pharmaceutical for the last four years running.

It has been estimated that nearly 40 million people will take Lipitor this year in the United States alone, with an additional 20 million prescribed one of the other statin drugs.

There are currently six statin drugs available on the market:

· atorvastatin (Lipitor)
· fluvastatin (Lescol)
· lovastatin (Mevacor)
· pravastatin (Pravachol)
· simvastatin (Zocor)
· rosuvastatin (Crestor)

The Danger of Statin Drugs Depleting CoQ10 Levels

Most patients, and their prescribing physicians, are either unaware of , or ignore, the fact that statin drugs reduce circulating levels of the crucial coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) within the body. In fact, statin-induced CoQ10 deficiency could cause the one thing statins ultimately seeks to prevent: heart failure.

CoQ10 is produced naturally in the body. It assists every cell in producing needed energy, in addition to acting as an antioxidant. The same enzymes that are involved in the production of cholesterol are also required for the production of CoQ10. Simply put, statins work by preventing these enzymes from producing cholesterol. Not surprisingly, lower cholesterol levels in statin users are accompanied by reduced levels of CoQ10.

CoQ10 is known to be highly concentrated in heart muscle cells due to its high-energy requirements. Without a sufficient amount of CoQ10 circulating within your system, the risk for fatigued and weakened heart muscles is high. Additionally, tests of CoQ10 levels of persons with Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) were shown in most cases to be dangerously low.

Dr. Peter Langsjoen, a cardiologist at East Medical Texas Center, who has written extensively about statin drugs for years, states "The great bulk of clinical work with CoQ10 has focused on heart disease. Specifically, congestive heart failure (from a wide variety of causes) has been strongly correlated with significantly low blood and tissue levels of CoQ10. The severity of heart failure correlates with the severity of CoQ10 deficiency.

In the last 15 years (roughly the time that statins have been on the market), the incidence of congestive heart failure has tripled."

Some of the most common complaints by statin users are: severe muscle weakness/pain, fatigue and amnesia. According to the Mayo Clinic's website, two "potentially serious" concerns are: elevated liver enzymes and statin myopathy, which means muscle weakness. Myopathy, if left untreated, could conceivably lead to kidney failure.

The importance of maintaining CoQ10 levels while taking any statin drug cannot be overstated. Moreover, the pharmaceutical companies are clearly aware of this. Indeed, in 1990 Merck Pharmaceutical Company obtained a patent to add up to 1000 mg of CoQ10 to its statin products. What's interesting is that Merck never brought this combination to the open market. Given the life of a patent runs 20 years, no other pharmaceutical company can attempt it until 2010, (even if they wanted).

Now why would Merck do this? The answer should be obvious. Though adding a nutritional supplement to a chemical drug is patentable, patenting anything that derives from nature alone is NOT! What sort of message would the larger-than-life Merck be sending out if they touted a nutritional supplement in any form, combination or dose?

Unfortunately, as long as:

1) physicians are paid "consulting fees" (for doing nothing more than prescribing a certain medication),
2) the media is paid billions of dollars to advertise their products, and
3) researchers are given grant money for "specific unilateral interests,"

the pharmaceutical giants will continue to rein.

If this doesn't convince you, note that Pfizer, the maker of Lipitor, was fined $430 million in criminal and civil charges in 2004 for paying doctors to prescribe its epilepsy drug, Neurontin for nonapproved purposes.

Although doctors are free to prescribe any federally approved drug for whatever reasons they choose, pharmaceutical companies are not allowed to promote drugs for nonapproved purposes. Which is to say, they may still continue to offer incentives (i.e., money) to doctors to write prescriptions for drugs with an approved use.

So, what do you do about the CoQ10 question if you're taking a statin. Some of you have prescribing physicians that have already covered this issue with you; however, the vast majority of you do not. And if the Pfizer fiasco says anything about the thousands of healthcare providers that prescribed, and continue to prescribe, the Neurontin for "unapproved" purposes, then you'll need to proceed with extreme caution.

If your health is important enough to you, you will initiate some of your own research. The web is an incredible source of information, both good, bad and questionable. Ultimately, you will have to decide what course of action to follow.

Below are instructions to CoQ10 supplements that you can purchase from within this website to maintain and/or increase your CoQ10 levels. However, as with all supplements of any kind, it is recommended that you consult a physician if you are pregnant, lactating, taking prescribed medications of any kind, or otherwise unsure of the doseage amounts you may or may not need.

If you believe we have missed anything, we invite you to email our customer service department at Doctor's Choice, Inc.

Enter CoQ10 in the search engine at the top of this page. All of the CoQ10 products will be listed for your perusal.

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† This statement has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

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The "Sunshine" VITAMIN
Much, Much More than a Strong-Bone Maker

Vitamin D has always been touted as the "sunshine" vitamin, and for good reason. Strong healthy bones make for strong "happy" people.

Over the last several years however, clinical research trials of vitamin 'D' in humans have focused on more than just bone health. In its March 2004 issue, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition stated that vitamin D is important "in the prevention of cancers, type 1 diabetes, heart disease, and osteoporosis1,2,3,4,5."

Because there are few food sources that naturally contain vitamin D, sunshine supplies most of our requirements. However, before you rush to don your shades and bathing wear, remember this:

You need to protect yourself from the harmful effects of ultra violet (UV) rays, which can cause its own serious health issues. Sunscreens with an SPF factor of 8 or more will block the UV rays that produce vitamin D, yet a sunscreen with an SPF factor below 15 allows room for trouble. The Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS), a federally funded organization recommends:

"An initial exposure to sunlight (10 -15 minutes) allows adequate time for Vitamin D synthesis and should be followed by application of a sunscreen with an SPF of at least 15 to protect the skin. Ten to fifteen minutes of sun exposure at least two times per week to the face, arms, hands, or back without sunscreen is usually sufficient to provide adequate vitamin D."

This advice, states the ODS, is all dependent on:

"...season, geographic latitude, time of day, cloud cover, smog, and sunscreen, which affect UV ray exposure and vitamin D synthesis. For example, sunlight exposure from November through February in Boston is insufficient to produce significant vitamin D synthesis in the skin. Complete cloud cover halves the energy of UV rays, and shade reduces it by 60%. Industrial pollution, which increases shade, also decreases sun exposure and may contribute to the development of rickets in individuals with insufficient dietary intake of vitamin D."

Many foods today are fortified with Vitamin D, which make those of us from the "cod-liver-oil generation" much happier. Some of the foods that contain Vitamin D naturally however, are: salmon, tuna, milk, eggs, liver, beef and cheese. Evenso, Vitamin D deficiency seems to be a problem for many of us. Vitamin D deficient diets are associated with milk allergy, lactose intolerance, and strict vegetarianism. Infants fed only breast milk also receive insufficient amounts of vitamin D unless they also receive appropriate levels of vitamin D supplementation.

According to ODS, "It can be difficult to obtain enough vitamin D from natural food sources. For many people, consuming vitamin D fortified foods and adequate sunlight exposure are essential for maintaining a healthy vitamin D status. In some groups, dietary supplements may be needed to meet the daily need for vitamin D."

Below are instructions to CoQ10 supplements that you can purchase from within this website to maintain and/or increase your CoQ10 levels. However, as with all supplements of any kind, it is recommended that you consult a physician if you are pregnant, lactating, taking prescribed medications of any kind, or otherwise unsure of the doseage amounts you may or may not need.

If you believe we have missed anything, we invite you to email our customer service department at Doctor's Choice, Inc.

Enter Vitamin D in the search engine at the top of this page. All of the Vitamin D/Calcium formula products will be listed for your perusal.

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† This statement has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

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Look Who's Talking
The Many Faces of Pharmaceutical Drug Companies

"More than half of the experts hired to advise the government on the safety and effectiveness of medicine have financial relationships with the pharmaceutical companies that will be helped or hurt by their decisions, a USA TODAY study found."

By Dennis Cauchon, USA TODAY
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"Aggressive marketing and pricing have made pharmaceutical companies America's most profitable industry. On the whole, Americans pay higher prices for prescription drugs than anyone else in the world because the United States is the only industrialized nation that does not exert influence over prices." Original article ...

By Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele, NEW YORK TIMES
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"In the last two decades, the drug and biotech industries have gained unprecedented leverage over what doctors and patients know--and don't know--about the $200 billion worth of prescription pharmaceuticals consumed by Americans each year. Industry has gained that leverage by funding and, increasingly, controlling medical research. It has also used its deep pockets to effectively buy the loyalty of physicians in private practice and to sway the opinion of thought-leaders in academia." Original article ...

By Shannon Brownlee, MOTHER JONES

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