By this time it is common knowledge that excess levels of estrogen are dangerous for women. Too much estrogen can cause fibrocystic breasts, heavy periods, uterine hemorrhage, headaches, and cancer. For most women, excess estrogen is eliminated through the liver's detoxification mechanisms. However, for women with high estrogen levels or who are taking estrogen replacement therapy while taking cholesterol drugs (statins), detoxification is often impaired. This can lead to all kinds of estrogen problems that might not occur without the cholesterol drugs.
The liver keeps the body detoxified through four major biochemical procedures, one of which is the P450 enzyme system. Statin drugs inhibit enzymes like CoQlO, thus interfering with the P450 system in the liver. And as magnificent as the liver is, it most frequently cannot overcome a chemical monkey-wrench in the system. That is why people who drink too much alcohol will usually develop liver damage.
So if prescription drugs like statins (Lipitor, etc.) are causing liver damage, all the nutritional protocols, liver detoxification procedures, herbs, etc. will not help much. In this case the only answer is to treat the cause by stopping the drug with the help of the prescribing physician.
Drugs Cause Diseases
Since prescription drugs are the fourth leading cause of death, it is appropriate to address this issue. For women treated with estrogen and cholesterol drugs at the same time, ignoring the cause could cost lives. I found the following chain of events in the February 2002 issue of the Health Alert newsletter by the late Dr. Bruce West.
The scenario goes like this. A woman presents to her physician for treatment of hot flashes. It is discovered that she also has a cholesterol level of 225. Even though this level is normal, her physician prescribes estrogen and a statin drug. She develops blinding headaches, severe nausea, sore breasts, and uterine bleeding. Her physician adds a synthetic progesterone drug while ignoring the warning signals.
Log in to read the rest of this article addressing the related topics below:
- What Happened Next
- The Moral of the Story
- A simple explanation for why doctors react this way
