You are here

Statins & K2

Hi everyone

Hope you are all feeling as well as possible ….

I’m coming up to my 12 month anniversary since diagnosis, in a far better head space these days& feel my CML is being well managed. I’ve dropped from 293.6 WCC to BCR-ABL 0.04…

Recently I was prescribed the lowest dose of statins, to manage my 5.5 cholesterol reading. I tried hard  with diet, but it seems fixed at this. My GP & specialist said this wouldn’t have been an issue in the pre Tasigna days .. but now there is a known link with cholesterol & cardiac events .. I’ve had a CT coronary Artery calcium score & at the time there wasn’t any calcified plaque identified… anyhow sidetracked a bit.

My question is do statins do same/similar job to K2? Clearing the arteries … Do I need to take K2 if on statins? I realise statins are for cholesterol management & K2 about the calcium deposits, I guess just wondering if there is any crossover management of these conditions - What dose of K2 is suggested if advised if needed. Also, regarding vitamin D & Zinc any tips on dosage would be greatly appreciated.  

Thanks so much - in advance ;) 

Anne 

 

 

 

 

Hi,

It is a long time since  dx (2006) and have been on a statin for some time.My experience was that only Pravastatin sits comfortably with a tki and most experienced CML specialists will tell you that.Simvastatin has a bad record with any tki in terms of side effects and Aforvastatin I found was also problematic-the usual complications are muscle inflammation and swelling especially of the legs.

I am not sure about the benefits of K2 but it is known that taken with a Vitamin D supplement it aids absorption and effectiveness especially if taken with a fatty food at the same time.If your platelets are not in order be careful with K2 as it can have blood thinning qualities.

Generally the most natural way to reduce cholesterol is via diet and exercise but many of us do need medication as well in order to control cholesterol levels.

Regards

John

Hi Anne,

Statins do not clear arteries of cholesterol. They 'may' lower the rate at which cholesterol deposits occur. In many patients, taking a statin is a method to help slow down artery disease. High cholesterol is a symptom of other issues and is not a cause of artery disease. Causes of artery disease is bad diet and lack of artery expanding exercise.

There is indeed a link between tasigna and cholesterol production by the liver. The key question is what happens to that cholesterol in the blood. Does it float on by or get deposited in the artery? Healthy arteries do not go bad because of cholesterol. Bad arteries are caused by excess sugar, sedentary lifestyle (arteries are not expanding/contracting much) and low vitamin K2 (among other things). Anything that "scratches" arteries leads to cholesterol depositing as a repair mechanism - just like a scab forming on your skin due to a cut. Over time, if you don't irritate the scab/cut area, the scab reduces in size and disappears. This is what 'can' happen in arteries when healing is allowed. Excess sugar scratches arteries. Fat in the liver leads to overproduction of sugar and lowered insulin sensitivity. Chronic high sugar in the blood (especially overnight) is a sure way to get heart disease.

I take 200-400 mcg vitamin K2 per day as MK-7. I take 5,000 IU's vitamin D3 per day except on days when I am in the summer sun (> 50 degrees sun elevation). I no longer eat any sugar especially fructose and eliminated carbs from a bag (no chips). I tend to fast one day a week and once/twice a year I eliminate all alcohol (40 days during spring - and I hate it, but I do it).

Get a liver scan and verify if you have a fatty liver. If you do - that is where you focus first. Clearing out the liver of fat (which is mostly cholesterol by the way) by burning it off (calorie deficit, low carb) will help the liver perform more normally. And in my case, lowered my bad LDL numbers dramatically. Another rough indicator of fatty liver is to check sugar levels (glucose) at night before bed and then first thing in the morning. If you glucose rises overnight by more than 10-15 points - odds are your liver is fat. Having a waist circumference greater than 34-35 inches is also an indicator.

There is a lot more to know regarding liver health, but the liver is the most important organ in our body controlling artery health.

Hi Annie,

Firstly, congratulations on your great response to TKI therapy.

I am not convinced that 5.5 should be considered 'high' enough as the only reason to take statins (which certainly have their own side effects)...the 'normal' cholesterol range seems to depend on a consensus that has changed over time.  

I was watching Dr. John Campbell's YouTube video on the subject of K2 (with D3) yesterday in which he covers your question about whether to take K2 and what benefits it may have in general but particularly with countering the risk of developing atherosclerosis. Take a look here

Best wishes,

Sandy

Thanks for your reply John, it helps to know at times - that you are not alone. The statin is Rosuvastin 5mg, haven’t noticed any side effects.. yet ;) 

 

Thank you for your detailed response. I’ll definitely look at prioritising  the K2. If there are any potential side effects from K2 that you know about could you please let me know. I did have a liver scan & there wasn’t any mention of fatty liver, masses of cysts were identified - however these had been detected, incidentally, years before on a previous scan for my back & deemed harmless as well as  unchanged since then. The commitment to fasting is something I’ll look at adding (though I do practice the 8/16 diet - most days) & since diagnosis - the toughest one, I’ve had zero alcohol :(.
Also, re vitamin D, that’s something I hadn’t actually looked at in terms of my existing levels… so I’ve been quite conservative in taking this supplement for fear of taking too much, I’ve been taking just 1000iu daily. I’m also adding more aerobic speed to my daily activities :). Thanks again 

Hi Sandy, thank you for the reply & the link . I found John very easy to watch & further supports my thinking that around how important or beneficial to know the questions to ask when at my next GP consult. It’s the extra things that we can do to add to our  treatment that for me, makes me feel less powerless in recovery. This site is the only place I’ve found advice that adds to the TKI therapy. Thanks again for the info. Take care Annie