“More than half (56%) of people who attempt to come off antidepressants experience withdrawal effects” notes a new review paper by Dr. James Davies, from the University of Roehampton in London, England, and Prof. John Read, from the University of East London.

“Withdrawal incidence rates from 14 studies ranged from 27% to 86% with a weighted average of 56%.”

“Nearly half (46%) of people experiencing withdrawal effects describe them as severe.”

Withdrawal effects can last for weeks or months the paper notes.

One study calculated the average duration of withdrawal to be 79 weeks or 1.5 years!

“Typical [antidepressant] withdrawal reactions include increased anxiety, flu-like symptoms, insomnia, nausea, imbalance, sensory disturbances, and hyperarousal,” notes a new review paper by Dr. James Davies, from the University of Roehampton in London, England, and Prof. John Read, from the University of East London.

“Dizziness, electric shock-like sensations, brain zaps, diarrhoea, headaches, muscle spasms and tremors, agitation, hallucinations, confusion, malaise, sweating and irritability are also reported.”

“Although the aforementioned symptoms are the most common physical symptoms, there is also evidence that [antidepressant] withdrawal can induce mania and hypomania, emotional blunting and an inability to cry, long-term or even permanent sexual dysfunction.”

“Typical [antidepressant] withdrawal reactions include increased anxiety, flu-like symptoms, insomnia, nausea, imbalance, sensory disturbances, and hyperarousal,” notes a new review paper by Dr. James Davies, from the University of Roehampton in London, England, and Prof. John Read, from the University of East London.

“Dizziness, electric shock-like sensations, brain zaps, diarrhoea, headaches, muscle spasms and tremors, agitation, hallucinations, confusion, malaise, sweating and irritability are also reported.”

“Although the aforementioned symptoms are the most common physical symptoms, there is also evidence that [antidepressant] withdrawal can induce mania and hypomania, emotional blunting and an inability to cry, long-term or even permanent sexual dysfunction.”

“I forgot to take my citalopram [Celexa] for two days and woke up one morning with severe dizziness. It was so extreme that I fell over when I tried to get out of bed and I threw up,” one antidepressant user was quoted as saying in a new review paper about antidepressant withdrawal by Dr. James Davies, from the University of Roehampton in London, England, and Prof. John Read, from the University of East London.

“The withdrawal effects if I forget to take my [antidepressant] pill are severe shakes, suicidal thoughts, a feeling of too much caffeine in my brain, electric shocks, hallucinations, insane mood swings. ….. kinda stuck on them now coz I’m too scared to come off it,” one antidepressant user was quoted as saying in a new review paper about antidepressant withdrawal by Dr. James Davies, from the University of Roehampton in London, England, and Prof. John Read, from the University of East London.

“While there is no doubt I am better on this medication, the adverse effects have been devastating – when I have tried to withdraw - with “head zaps”, agitation, insomnia and mood changes. This means that I do not have the option of managing the depression any other way because I have a problem coming off this medication,” one antidepressant user was quoted as saying in a new review paper about antidepressant withdrawal by Dr. James Davies, from the University of Roehampton in London, England, and Prof. John Read, from the University of East London.

“It took me 2 months of hell to come off the antidepressants. Was massively harder than I expected,” one antidepressant user was quoted as saying in a new review paper about antidepressant withdrawal by Dr. James Davies, from the University of Roehampton in London, England, and Prof. John Read, from the University of East London.

“It took me almost two years to get off Paroxetine and the side effects were horrendous. I even had to quit my job because I felt sick all the time. Even now that I am off of it, I still feel electric shocks in my brain,” one antidepressant user was quoted as saying in a new review paper about antidepressant withdrawal by Dr. James Davies, from the University of Roehampton in London, England, and Prof. John Read, from the University of East London.

For years we have been told that lower cholesterol levels are associated with a lower risk of death.

But it turns out that this is not true!

Research shows that the exact opposite is true!

When cholesterol levels fall, people are at a greater risk of death, not a lower risk of death!

This is noted a new review paper by independent researchers Uffe Ravnskov, MD, PhD, author of The Cholesterol Myths, Dr. Malcolm Kendrick, author of The Great Cholesterol Con, and other independent researchers.

In the review paper, they note:

“If high [total cholesterol] was the major cause of CVD [cardiovascular disease], people with high [total cholesterol] should have a higher risk of dying from CVD.

“The hypothesis that high [total cholesterol] causes CVD [cardiovascular disease] was introduced in the 1960s by the authors of the Framingham Heart Study.

“However, in their 30-year follow-up study published in 1987, the authors reported that ‘For each 1 mg/dl drop in [total cholesterol] per year, there was an eleven percent [11%] increase in coronary and total mortality’.

“Three years later the American Heart Association and the US National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute published a joint summary [8] concluding “a one percent reduction in an individual’s [total cholesterol] results in an approximate two percent reduction in CHD [coronary heart disease] risk”.

“The authors fraudulently referred to the Framingham publication to support this widely quoted false conclusion.”

In other words, they’ve been lying to us for 30 years!

There is no association between total cholesterol and the degree of atherosclerosis notes a new review paper by independent researchers Uffe Ravnskov, MD, PhD, author of The Cholesterol Myths, Dr. Malcolm Kendrick, author of The Great Cholesterol Con, and others.

“If high [total cholesterol] causes atherosclerosis, people with high [total cholesterol] should have more atherosclerosis than people with low [total cholesterol]. In 1936 Landé and Sperry found that corrected for age, unselected people with low [total cholesterol] were just as atherosclerotic as people with high [total cholesterol]. Since then their seminal observation has been confirmed in at least a dozen studies,” they note.

Men not taking statins with higher total cholesterol levels — above 180 mg/dL — were 18-29% less likely to get Parkinson’s disease than those with lower cholesterol levels.

Men not taking statins with the middle one-third total cholesterol levels — above 180 mg/dL — were 18% less likely to get Parkinson’s during an average follow-up of 7.9 years compared to men with the one-third lowest total cholesterol levels.

Men not taking statins with the highest one-third total cholesterol levels were 29% less likely to get Parkinson’s compared to men with the one-third lowest total cholesterol levels.

(I have requested a copy of the paper to get exact cholesterol levels for each group. I will update this article when I do.)

Men not taking statins with higher LDL cholesterol levels — above 110 mg/dL — were 20-28% less likely to get Parkinson’s disease than those with lower cholesterol levels.

Men not taking statins with the middle one-third LDL cholesterol levels — above 110 mg/dL — were 20% less likely to get Parkinson’s during an average follow-up of 7.9 years compared to men with the one-third lowest total cholesterol levels.

Men not taking statins with the highest one-third LDL cholesterol levels — above 140 mg/dL — were 28% less likely to get Parkinson’s compared to men with the one-third lowest total cholesterol levels.

(I have requested a copy of the paper to get exact LDL cholesterol levels for each group. I will update this article when I do.)

Women not taking statins with higher total cholesterol levels — above 180 mg/dL — were up to 7% less likely to get Parkinson’s disease than those with lower cholesterol levels.

Women not taking statins with the highest one-third LDL cholesterol levels — above 140 mg/dL — were 7% less likely to get Parkinson’s compared to women with the one-third lowest total cholesterol levels.

(I have requested a copy of the paper to get exact LDL cholesterol levels for each group. I will update this article when I do.)

Women not taking statins with higher LDL cholesterol levels — above 110 mg/dL — were 2-12% less likely to get Parkinson’s disease than those with lower cholesterol levels.

Women not taking statins with the middle one-third LDL cholesterol levels — above 110 mg/dL — were 2% less likely to get Parkinson’s during an average follow-up of 7.9 years compared to women with the one-third lowest total cholesterol levels.

Women not taking statins with the highest one-third LDL cholesterol levels — above 140 mg/dL — were 12% less likely to get Parkinson’s compared to women with the one-third lowest total cholesterol levels.

(I have requested a copy of the paper to get exact LDL cholesterol levels for each group. I will update this article when I do.)

I just published a book called The Three Best Ways to Lose Weight.

I’ve been researching and writing about obesity and weight loss for 25 years (since 1993).

I just published a book called The Case Against Statins.

It is a collection of articles that I have written about statins over the past 11 years.

It contains evidence that:

• Statins are not effective.
• Statins increase atherosclerosis.
• Statins increase the risk of heart attacks.
• Statins increase the risk of certain cancers.
• Statins increase the risk of diabetes.
• Statins increase the risk of Parkinson’s.
• Statins increase the risk of Alzheimer’s.
• Statins increase the risk of ALS.
• Statins increase the risk of cataracts.
• Statins increase the risk of kidney failure.
• Statins increase the risk of liver dysfunction.
• Statins increase erectile dysfunction.
• Statins increase muscle fatigue.
• Statins can cause muscle rupture.
• Statins have an immunosuppressive effect.
• Statins increase the risk of dying.

This book is just about statins, but the problem is not just with statins.

It is a problem with most drugs given long-term.

People randomly assigned to either a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet for one year had lower scores for anxiety and depression than people who were randomly assigned to a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet according to a 2009 study from Australia.

Both groups lost an average of 30 lbs after one year.

“In conclusion, we found that despite similar weight loss after energy-restricted [high-fat, low-carb] and [low-fat, high-carb] diets for 12 months and rapid improvements in mood during the first 8 weeks with both diets, over the long term many of the benefits regressed in the [high-fat, low-carb] diet group such that participants on the [low-fat, high-carb] diet achieved better outcomes,” the authors of the study concluded.

Three servings of hibiscus tea (H. sabdariffa) per day for six weeks lowered blood pressure by an average of 7 mmHg systolic and 3 mmHg diastolic in people with mild hypertension or prehypertension according to a study from researchers at Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Each serving was 8-ounces (240 mL).

Blood pressure dropped in those given hibiscus tea from an average of 129/79 mmHg to 122/76 mmHg after six weeks compared to an average drop in those given a placebo from 130/80 to 129/79 mmHg.

The authors of the study noted that other studies have found that hibiscus tea lowered blood pressure about twice as much in people with higher blood pressures.

“Daily consumption of 3 servings of H. sabdariffa (hibiscus) tea, an amount readily incorporated into the diet, effectively lowered [blood pressure] in pre- and mildly hypertensive adults,” the authors of the study concluded.

In people with mild hypertension, hibiscus tea (H. sabdariffa) lowered blood pressure by roughly 15 points systolic and 11 points diastolic from an average blood pressure of 139/91 mmHg to 124/80 mmHg after four weeks.

In people with mild hypertension, hibiscus tea (H. sabdariffa) lowered blood pressure, both systolic and diastolic, by roughly 11% within twelve days of starting treatment which would mean a drop of roughly 16 points systolic and 10 points diastolic.

In other words, if someone had a blood pressure of 150/90 mmHg, their blood pressure would be lowered to 134/80 mmHg.

The one-fifth of women consuming the most potassium, an average of roughly 4500 mg of potassium per day, were 59% less likely to die during a 7.6 year study than the one-fifth of women consuming the least potassium, an average of 1560 mg per day according to The Scottish Heart Health Study.

The one-fifth of women consuming the most potassium, an average of roughly 4500 mg of potassium per day, were 15% less likely to die during a 7.6 year study than the one-fifth of women consuming the second most potassium, an average of 2700 mg per day according to The Scottish Heart Health Study.

The one-fifth of men consuming the most potassium, an average of roughly 5400 mg of potassium per day, were 55% less likely to die during a 7.6 year study than the one-fifth of men consuming the least potassium, an average of 1840 mg per day according to The Scottish Heart Health Study.

The one-fifth of men consuming the most potassium, an average of roughly 5400 mg of potassium per day, were 22% less likely to die during a 7.6 year study than the one-fifth of men consuming the second most potassium, an average of 3350 mg per day according to The Scottish Heart Health Study.

The one-fifth of people consuming the most potassium relative to sodium were 30% less likely to have an ischemic stroke (where a blood clot interrupts the blood supply in the brain) during a 24 year follow-up than the one-fifth of people consuming the least potassium relative to sodium.

The one-fifth of people consuming the most potassium relative to sodium were 37% less likely to have a hemorrhagic stroke (where a blood vessel in the brain bursts) during a 24 year follow-up than the one-fifth of people consuming the least potassium relative to sodium.

The one-fifth of people consuming the most potassium relative to sodium were 22% less likely to have cardiovascular disease during a 24 year follow-up than the one-fifth of people consuming the least potassium relative to sodium.

The one-fifth of people consuming the most potassium relative to sodium were 14% less likely to die from any cause during a 24 year follow-up than the one-fifth of people consuming the least potassium relative to sodium.

Prolonged use of statins for more than 4 years was associated with an 18% increased risk of lung cancer according to a recent analysis of data from 574 UK general practices from 1998-2008.

Prolonged use of statins for more than 4 years was associated with a 23% increased risk of colorectal cancer according to a recent analysis of data from 574 UK general practices from 1998-2008.

Prolonged use of atorvastatin (Lipitor) for more than 4 years was associated with a 51% increased risk of colorectal cancer.

Prolonged use of statins for more than 4 years was associated with a 29% increased risk of bladder cancer according to a recent analysis of data from 574 UK general practices from 1998-2008.

Among a total of 214 consecutive patients attending a diabetic clinic, 30% were taking beta blockers to lower blood pressure according to a study from Australia.

Those taking beta blockers were 19.6 pounds heavier than patients not taking a beta blocker (202 lbs vs 183 lbs).

Beta blockers are drugs are given for:

• abnormal heart rhythms
• High blood pressure
• Heart failure
• Angina (heart pain)
• Tremor
• Prevention of migraines
• given after a heart attack
• hyperthyroidism
• akathisia (restlessness or inability to sit still)
• panic disorder
• anxiety
• aggressive behavior