Lowering cholesterol drugs also known as stain drugs, are aimed at reducing cholesterol levels, thus preventing chronic conditions and even fatal health problems associated with high cholesterol levels. However and as effective as these lowering cholesterol drugs be, all statin drugs come with a very serious tag price: undesirable and often very dangerous side effects.

Recent studies have shown that among the many side effects inflicted by statin drugs, lowering cholesterol drugs also promote drug-induced deficiency of Q10 (CoQ10) a coenzyme and an antioxidant responsible for providing energy for your heart and for nourishing body cells.

This depletion in Q10 has been shown to worsen heart function and also as suspected cause the famous muscle pains many patients who take statin drugs often experience. Levels of coenzyme Q10, among patients who took statin drugs to lower cholesterol, were reduced by 40% in only 2 weeks.

It is quite ironic that stain drugs such as atorvastatin (Lipitor®), pravastatin (Pravachol®), and simvastatin (Zocor®) that are aimed at lowering cholesterol levels, thus reducing the risk of heart disease by 30%, also cause serious deficiency in one of the most valuable nutrients in the human body, responsible for the heart’s and body’s energy, thus worsening your heart’s condition in the process.

Patients with heart diseases often have very low levels of coenzyme Q10 in their heart muscle. Obviously these patients need urgent and constant supplementation of Q10 to sustain their heart’s health and prevent hospitalization due to heart failure. If high cholesterol levels cause their heart problems, taking statin drugs can only worsen their heart condition and sometimes in itself lead to heart failure.

Patients with diabetes or who those are over 50 years of age are even more exposed to the dangers of statin drug side effects and to the implications of Q10 deficiency.

Another serious condition resulting from Q10 deficiency is called cardiomyopathy, when the pumping function of the heart is damages due to muscle weakness.

The rule of thumb when taking statin drugs to lower cholesterol is therefore to supplement your diet with sufficient and even extra amounts of Q10, in order to eliminate the risk of damaging heart function, or causing dangerous conditions such as heart failure or cardiomyopathy.