Health is an industry and pharmaceutical companies run a highly profitable business. That profit depends on what Justin Smith, the writer of Statin Nation calls 'disease mongering' -- keeping individuals in a state of anxiety about their future ill-health and exploiting their fear of death. Going through this book will make the readers think twice before taking statin drugs and help them to improve their cardiac and general health by means other than medicines -- food and nutrition, exercise and meditation.

Statin Nation contains a thorough review of the statin drugs and their effect, analyses the factors that cause cardiac disease and suggests ways to avoid them. It will guide the readers to the path of healthy eating and healthy lifestyle. But it does more. It will provide you with a clear vision and help you to understand how the pharmaceutical companies and clinical trials are run and how the drug companies and health authorities induce people to take medicines that they do not need and thus convert healthy people into patients.

Statin Nation also exposes the myth that fat and cholesterol are bad for us, draws attention to the real causes of heart disease and heart attack and suggests ways to prevent them without using medicines as far as possible. It makes the readers aware of the serious side-effects of statin drugs and reveals important information about the outcome of clinical trials conducted with statin drugs.

One of the most interesting chapters of this well-written book describes the real causes of heart ailments. Here Justin Smith delineates the effects of stress and explains why our body's stress response is out-of-date. We have a very illuminating discussion here on what is stress, how the human body reacts in a stressful situation and why our bodies are made to endure short, immediate incidences of stress but not longer, sustained ones. For the present reviewer, those pages of the book are an eye-opener.

Statin Nation also dwells at length on the importance of Vitamin C, magnesium, sodium and potassium as well as the intake of water for the prevention of heart diseases. This section, although somewhat repetitive, contains a wealth of information. It will also help healthy readers who have no concerns as far as statin drugs are concerned.

This chapter on nutrition could have had a little more information on carbohydrates consumed in the form of grains and its effect on heart health. This is important because grains are the staple food in many countries, especially those that are relatively poor, as grains are a comparatively more economical source of calories.. Should we completely avoid grains or can we consume some grains and some safe starches in moderate quantities as part of a balanced diet? We hope to find the answers to such questions in the next edition of this book.

Even with all the details about scientific experiments and clinical trials, Statin Nation remains an extremely readable book for the lay readers. It will help you more than any medicines in controlling your hearth problems and attaining good health. Buy it and read it. Keep it on your shelf for future reference.

The reviewer is obligated to let the readers know that he received a free electronic copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I'm against statin drugs being handed out like TicTacs to everyone. The book makes a lot of valid points as to why we shouldn't be depending on a drug to keep us healthy , if it isn't. The book seemed well researched and wasn't that difficult of a read. Statin drugs are pushed by Big Pharm to make money.

Damn the facts. Full speed ahead!

This is crazy. We need to remove the word science from medical science. Every time there’s a breakthrough answer, it proves to be totally false. So millions follow medical advice for nothing (and worse). And keep following it, as the false solutions persist despite debunking. The system is entirely corrupted by the pharmaceutical companies, planting false stories, fear mongering diseases and conditions, bribing doctors and corrupting medical journals. Justin Smith corrects the nasty reputation of cholesterol, breaks the relation to heart disease, and destroys the dietary regimens recommended for decades (and insisted on by health insurers). In Statin Nation, Smith presents the results of nine years’ research, highly documented. Why anyone should trust their doctor is about the only question unanswered.

Smith is upsetting. He overturns decades of comforting facts. They are comforting because we have considered them as established and deal with them as real. But what Smith has found:
-Only 39% of men and 34% of women with heart disease have high cholesterol.
-High cholesterol correlates to longer life. Low cholesterol indicates shorter life expectancy.
-A meta-analysis of 11 major studies concluded that statins offer no net benefit for prevention of death by all causes. But 75% take it for precisely that.
-Big Pharma keeps lowering the safe cholesterol level, making it nearly unattainable and putting millions more in position for statin treatments for life.
-Statins save approximately one life per thousand taking them. But result in hundreds of deaths because of them. They are unsafe drugs.
-The recommended maximum 1.5-2g of sodium per day is too low and actually causes cardiovascular problems rather than preventing them according to numerous studies.
-Stress, which used to be short and acute, is chronic in our society, and is the primary cause of cardiovascular ailments and death.
-Fat is the heart’s preferred main source of energy, but stress changes that to glucose-burning instead.
-86% of medical students think politicians should not accept gifts, but only 46% say the same for themselves.

Smith never intended to go down this path. He began researching nutrition and fitness for a book and it has turned into nine years, two documentaries and this book, all focused on cholesterol. His basic discovery is that we continue to be misled, by both ignorance and fraud. Medicine actually has very few firm answers, just a lot of trends and anecdotes in the form of inadequate studies, the worth of which remain hidden from the public. Statin Nation appears to be both sensible and credible, and anyone interested in some hope and guidance along with the discouraging news should read it.

David Wineberg