The trouble with statins is that they do their job by blocking an enzyme that makes something called mevalonate, from which the body makes both cholesterol and Co-enzyme Q10. CoQIO is a nutrient vital for the heart, and a deficiency in it is associated with fatigue, muscle weakness and soreness, and heart failure. So, as has been well established in trials with people, statins effectively cause a CoQIO defi¬ciency, and taking them long term is therefore itself risky. Women are particularly susceptible to CoQIO deficiency, which suppresses immunity. But just how serious these problems are isn' t known. The major trials of statin drugs excluded people with the most severe forms of heart failure, class 3 and 4, so any link between the drugs and death rates from congestive heart failure remains a mystery.

A number of symptoms have been linked to statins, ranging from dizziness, headache, extreme fatigue and swelling of the ankles to muscle aches. Statins can be dangerous if taken with high levels of long-acting (time-release) niacin, or vitamin B3. (Large amounts of niacin have been shown to lower cholesterol very effectively on its own, and often form a part of nutritional strategies for people with raised cholesterol levels.) Personally, I think statins should be taken as a last resort, used only if someone has undergone a complete nutritional strategy and failed to lower their raised cholesterol.