Have any studies been done on % body fat before and after?

[Linda W]

Last year my husband went through a Wellness program at the Cooper Clinic in Dallas. The clinic is founded by Dr. Kenneth Cooper who is also known as the father of Aerobics for any of you who were runners in the 70's. It is a great facility. Hubby had been having heart palpitations, high blood pressure, feeling bad in general at only 53 years. He was also 40 lbs overweight. As part of the program they determined his % body fat the most accurate way - in a pool. From the body fat measurement they determined his ideal weight. At the same time he went back on the evil Vytorin and some BP meds. He lost 40 lbs and is now at what was supposed to be his "ideal" weight. He used to be quite muscular despite the excess weight carried in the tummy. Now he looks thinner but not as toned and fit as you would expect from the workout regimine he has kept up for 11 months plus the weight loss.

I am 52, female and 7 weeks ago I started working out (running and elliptical machine) to get back in shape. I have lost 6 lbs and toned up so that I dropped a dress size. I went from 150 to 144, I am 5' 8" tall and have a large frame. It does not make sense to me that in 7 weeks I have more muscle which people have noticed, and my husband has worked out 9 months longer and seems to have lost as much muscle as fat. Everyone notices the weight loss but, as atheletic as he, is I am concerned the statins have robbed him of muscle mass. He was taking some CoQ and vitamins thanks to the Cooper Clinic or it would be so much worse.

I initially found this forum while researching the behavioral issues that reared their ugly heads, but now that he quit the Vytorin and has turned back into the nice man I married, instead of the evil person I saw a few months ago, I am noticing the other things discussed here with muscle and joint problems. He had shoulder surgery 2 years ago and in the past few months the post surgical progress in range of motion has gone backwards a year or more, very stiff and hurting all the time.

I have read many stories of people going from healthy and active to couch potatos due to statin related problems. If some study could figure out which population groups suffer most from statins it would help figure out who should never touch the stuff.

My question is: has anyone ever done a body fat measurement study before and after statins? I have seen info on muscle damage and various other measurements. If the muscles are damaged and not working properly either one's weight goes down due to muscle loss or body fat increases as fat replaces lost muscle. I would really be interested in the results of such a study. Is my observation of muscle mass lost vs fat lost just anecdotal or in a larger study would it be statistically significant?

[Brian C.]

ALL population groups suffer statin poisoning, NOBODY should touch the stuff!

Brian (who is a member of the population for whom statins were first proposed - those with familial hypercholesterolemia and heart disease)

[bunnylady]

Well, I get regular pedicures because I love the foot massage part of a pedicure- I have beeen going to the same clinician for 2 years and she asked me if I was losing weight because my legs seemed so much thinner-didn't want to explain the whole Lipitor thing to her so I said
no and she just kept chatting about my calves and ankles being so thin- I can see if too and now know for sure its just not my imagination

[Cat Mom2]

I don't know about the fat measurement but I have gone from 170 pounds on statins to bouncing from 135 to 143 since I got off of them and that is due mainly to how I have changed my eating habits since I got off of them.

[Ray Holder]

Linda

Is your husband taking any L carnitine? muscle wastage can occur when taking statins and can continue long afterwards due to carnitine deficiency. Q10 alone does not deal with this additional effect, as the damage to carnitine production can be permanent.

Ray

[adec]

Or just eat a nice juicy steak, or three. :oops: :D

[Ray Holder]

A 3 ounce steak is reported to contain 80 mg of carnitine. As I take about 7 or 8 grams of carnitine a day, nearly 300 ounces of beef steak would be needed to provide that amount, or about 19 LBS !!!! each day, not very practical

Ray

[Dee]

Linda,

Your husband should have another body mass test done, and compare that to the baseline. That will tell you what you need to know.

Then you should contact the statin study led by Dr. Beatrice Golomb at:

*http://medicine.ucsd.edu/ses/about_us.htm

e-mail address is: statinstudy@ucsd.edu

phone number is: (858) 558-4950 x 215

mailing address is:

UCSD Statin Effects Study
9500 Gilman Dr. Dept. 0995
San Diego, CA 92093-0995