This article was adapted from ANH International’s recent piece. Read the original here.
Are you or any of your loved ones taking statins? Are you confused by conflicting reports and views on statins?
For decades, we’ve been told that lowering cholesterol is the key to preventing heart disease—but is it true? Despite widespread statin use, heart disease remains the leading global killer. New research challenges the cholesterol hypothesis, revealing that statins may not be the magic bullet they’re claimed to be. With billions at stake, are we prioritizing profits over patient health? In this article we take a closer look at the science behind statins, the risks, and the overlooked natural strategies that truly support heart health.
Statins – a Multi-Billion-Dollar Industry
Since 2000, cardiovascular diseases (CVD) have remained the leading cause of death globally, accounting for 13% of all deaths. In 1987, cholesterol-lowering statins were approved as a breakthrough treatment, promising to reduce total cholesterol (TC) levels and lower the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Early trials, such as the widely cited 1994 Scandinavian study, reported a 30% reduction in mortality for CVD patients, leading to a widespread adoption. With this, a multi-billion-dollar industry was born, with the 2024 fiscal year alone reporting over $15 billion in profit.
For nearly two decades, statins were accepted as a safe and effective solution for CVD. However, in 2004-2005, new regulations in the US (here and here) and Europe (and here) mandated full disclosure of clinical trial data, allowing independent researchers to analyze statins’ primary data and trial results. Since then, several studies have revealed that statins’ benefits were exaggerated and that contrary to the cholesterol hypothesis, there was no link between low cholesterol level and low risk of CVD. Rather, overly low cholesterol has been linked to higher risks of cancer, diabetes (here, here and here) and other health issues (here, here and here).
Primary Treatment Despite Revised Guidelines
Statins continue to be the primary treatment for preventing and managing CVD actively pushed onto those over 50 whether their cholesterol is high or not. The ‘ideal’ cholesterol level is constantly revised downward, helpfully expanding the pool of people eligible for these drugs. This raises serious concerns about unnecessary medical treatment, the pharmaceutical industry’s influence on healthcare, and the role of evidence-based medicine in clinical decision-making.
In the US, guidelines were made more lenient in 2024, potentially exempting millions from eligibility for statins. But doctors may ignore these guidelines and still over zealously prescribe statins. For example, it’s been found that coronary artery imaging, with the CAC scan, can reveal who’s really at risk. Many who are prescribed statins have zero coronary plaque making heart disease unlikely, meaning around 17 million Americans on statins could be deprescribed – but will they? As further evidence that health requires a deeply personalized approach, many people with high levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL)—the current indication for statin treatment—have zero or minimal CAC scores; conversely, some with “normal” LDL are found to have significant plaque. However, let’s not forget that there are many very effective ways of removing plaque naturally without statin use.
Unpacking the Cholesterol Myth
The cholesterol hypothesis claims that high levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL), often labeled ‘bad cholesterol’, causes arterial blockage, increasing the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Since cholesterol is present in arterial plaques, reducing it through statins is believed to prevent heart diseases and related deaths. This is an outdated notion.
What conventional thinking seems to get wrong is that cholesterol is vital to human health. We’ve noted in the past that cholesterol isn’t the ticking time bomb most people have been led to think—in fact, the real danger is that our cholesterol levels can get too low as we age! Even “bad” cholesterol is essential.
Do Statins Really Deliver?
In an acute situation, statins can reduce recurrent heart attacks and strokes in high-risk CVD patients. Other studies show that moderate doses of statins can lower LDL levels by 20- 40%, with reductions in cardiovascular events within two years. Further studies support statin use for secondary prevention, meaning they help individuals who already have CVD avoid further complications (here, here and here).
However, a more critical question is whether statins reduce overall mortality. Several studies indicate that while statins successfully lower cholesterol, they do not lower death rates, even in high-risk individuals. A major review by the Cholesterol Treatment Trialists (CTT) analyzed 27 statin trials and found that although statins reduced cardiovascular events, they had no significant impact in overall mortality. This finding remained consistent in several studies for both high-risk and low-risk individuals (here and here).
If statins don’t prolong life, do they at least improve quality of life? Unfortunately, evidence suggests they may do the opposite. Many statin users experience muscle pain, fatigue/dizziness, sudden hearing loss, gastrointestinal distress, depression and memory loss (here and here). Less obvious but serious side effects include type 2 diabetes, cancer, congestive heart failure, cataracts, kidney injury or liver failure. These risks aren’t surprising giving that cholesterol is essential for cell repair, hormone production, and brain and immune function. Since statins work by blocking cholesterol production, they also interfere with the creation of other vital molecules, explaining the health issues associated with their long-term use.
These side effects are real, but sadly too often discounted by doctors. Especially concerning is the increased incidence of elevated blood sugar, particularly in women, for which they earned a warning.
The Statin Dragnet Widens
Beyond these concerns, an even bigger issue is the ever-growing pool of people deemed eligible for statins, despite the change in guidelines in the US last year. This expansion is largely driven by the continuous lowering of the ‘ideal’ LDL cholesterol level. In 1987, only 8% of people met the criteria for statin use under the European Society of Cardiology/European Atherosclerosis Society (ESC/EAS) guidelines. By 2016, this figure had skyrocketed to 61%—a staggering 663% increase due to changes in treatment thresholds.
Much of this increase stems from the growing use of statins as primary prevention for individuals without diagnosed CVD. Physicians often rely on risk calculators, such as the one produced by the American Heart Association, to predict a patient’s likelihood of a heart attack or stroke based on age, cholesterol level, blood pressure and smoking status. However, a 2016 study by Kaiser Permanente found this tool to overestimate cardiovascular risk by up to 500%. These calculators also don’t capture the full picture with regard to fitness levels, body fat percentage to lean body mass ratios, blood sugar handling, metabolic state, stress management, sleep, nutrition etc. Despite these vast inaccuracies, the calculator remains in use, pushing more people toward unnecessary statin prescriptions.
A Call for Truth and Balance
For decades, we’ve been sold the “lower is better” cholesterol mantra. This belief, rooted in the cholesterol hypothesis, has proven flawed and inconsistent, as research has failed to establish a link between high cholesterol and CVD. While statins are beneficial for high-risk individuals where the benefits outweigh the risks, their use for primary prevention in low or moderate risk individuals has shown little to no benefit. Despite this, statin prescriptions continue to rise, putting profits over patients and highlighting the vice-like grip of pharmaceutical industry influence over conventional medicine.
Beating heart disease isn’t just about statins. Proven, safer strategies—exercise, fresh air and nature time, a healthy diet, targeted nutrition and lifestyle modification strategies, quitting smoking, and anti-inflammatory foods—can cut risks without the side effects. Yet, medicine clings to outdated, pharma-driven models. It’s time for healthcare to focus on real prevention, not just symptom suppression.
