zocor and reduced lung capacity....

[catspajamas]

I developed a cough and shortness of breath during and after my experience with zocor(along with a lot of other bad symptoms)...I have since read somewhere that both could be another side effect of statins...Has anyone experienced this?...The cough I had is gone but I experience shortness of breath at times for no apparent reason(had lots of tests...all neg).....

[Dee]

Dr. Paul Phillips has found some abnormality in CO2 exchange in the lungs of statin victims. Not sure if the information is listed here, but this is his statin study site:

*http://www.impostertrial.com/

[catamaran]

I used Zocor for ten years. During that time I was running a two-mile course three times a week. Early in the routine I was running comfortably and enjoyably the two-mile course in 12-14 minutes. Over the years my endurance. mainly due to increasing shortness of breath, decreased where now a 10 minute mile is a push. I consulted a physical trainer and inquired if my loss of endurance was typical for a man in my condition and age. His response indicated that the ten years of advanced age, in his opinion, would not have caused such a loss of endurance.

In the last two years I learned of a side effect caused by all statin drugs, pulmonary inflamation and its possible sequel, pulmonary interstitial fibrosis. I am of the opinion from my own experience that Zocor has caused a loss of my lung capacity through sclerosis of the lung tissue. If I could prove that, I'd have MSD in court.

I quit the statin drug altogether four years ago and my endurance remains constant, but still at a 10-minute mile.

[cjbrooksjc]

I guess I missed this when it first appeared, but Yes, I had a lot of breathing problems during and following my outing with Zocor. During Zocor, I had lots of trouble with chest colds and twice was diagnosed with Pneumonia. I now use bronchial inhalers often, and can get short of breath while doing NOTHING. Also, while on Zocor, I had terrific bouts of coughing, esp at night and when lying down. I still have a cough, but it is nothing like it was. There are times when I can behave normally and not have a problem, but the shortness of breath will visit me now and again, and I can't pin down any predictors. I also have a lot of buildup in my sinus and lungs on occasion; again, no idea why. I, as you, just live with it until I find some concrete evidence I can use to assuage the condition or to file suit.

Brooks

[xrn]

Hi Catspajams, Dee, Catamaran and Brooks.

As a matter of interest, it has been shown that LDL has a role in the immune system and we know that statins lower LDL. Draw your own conclusions... but as is usual with statins, it is all bad news. ;)

The paper I have referenced below; found that men with lower LDL values had differences in their white blood cell counts, when compared with men with higher LDL values. Other work has been done since 1997, which supports the initial work of Muldoon and co-workers but I have insufficient access to those papers as yet.

The tentative conclusion of Muldoon et al, was that there were immune system differences between subjects with high cholesterol and low cholesterol values and that the higher cholesterol values predicted higher white cell counts.

Muldoon MF and others. Immune system differences in men with hypo- or hypercholesterolemia. Clinical Immunology and Immunopathology 84, 145-149, 1997.

Kind regards to all
xrn

[catamaran]

Cholesterol as a precursor to heart disease (CVD) is slowly being debunked as more data becomes available.

A bit of study into the matter reveals that the scenario just doesn't make any sense since the "plaque" is composed primarily of an unstable proliferation of cells that thickens the vessel wall reducing the calibre of the lumen (cross-sectional area of the vessel). That the lesions occur only at points of high mechanical stress such as bifurcations and sharp turns is another fatal blow to the cholesterol-CVD theory.

Dr. Thomas Levy's in-depth research and compilation of clinical data going back nearly 50 years has quite well nailed the CVD cause: Chronic vitamin C deficiency.