Stumbled across this while researching a related topic. Lovastatin plus ezitimibe increases sterol binding proteins, which then promote a large (3x) increase in expression of 5 alpha reductase type 2.
this might be a breakthrough find bro,I think the human trials were at 40mg of each at 6-12 week trials.If this is the case it wouldnt cost more then 40 bucks a month to try it.man this is very good news,I think the recomended dosage is 10mg of each should be sufficient.
Aren’t the “statins” cholesterol reducing drugs? They have their own host of problems. Your body needs cholesterol to produce many things like cortisol, adrenaline, etc.
Well -I have been on Lovastatin during the time off the drug and I can vouch that it has been no real help below the waist. I am on for high cholesterol - I will continue to take since it is the most natural of the statins
Why don’t you just change your diet?
Dude -I was a vegetarian for 20 years, never heavy and cut out just about all fat out of my diet. Diet and exercise can only bring cholestorl down 10-15%; in my case that would not be enough.
Being a vegetarian does not mean you have a diet that’s good for high cholesterol. In fact high carb intake, which many vegetarian diets are, can be one of the worst things for high cholesterol, it all depends on what you eat.
Have you tried red rice yeast? My grandmother took this instead of a statin and it’s brought her’s into a normal range.
That is exactly what Lovastatin is - it is a naturall occuring substance found in red yeast rice…
HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors, like lovastatin, have been found to greatly decrease Co q10 production. Co q10 has a key role in the mitochondria, the part of a cell that produces energy. So, not sure if the benefits outweight that side effect. Also, if your diabetic or have heart issues you want to steer clear of it.
All good points, thanks. Anyone look at this ezitimbe ?
martinM, what was your total serum cholesterol? Docs are handing out statins like crazy, and I can show you data that indicates that if your total serum cholesterol is lower than 250 then you should not even bother. Small, dense LDL is the true marker of potential circulatory issues.
By the way, low fat diets have absolutely nothing to do with cholesterol metabolism. We need cholesterol to make testosterone and many other hormones.
kazman
Do you have to be using both drugs at the same time? … is that what the study means?
No idea and I don’t know if I will be able to get tested here.
Tried this for two weeks… no noticeable effect.
This article (check the Google cached version) appears to indicate that Ezetimibe by itself might act as a 5AR2 inhibitor
newsrx.com/health-articles/2186422.html
“Ezetimibe reduced prostatic enlargement in aged hamsters as effectively as finasteride and combining the two drugs worked better than either one alone … finasteride caused atrophy of the hamster prostate while ezetimibe did not”
I wonder who conducted that study…
I know what you did there…
http://www.renalandurologynews.com/hypogonadism-linked-to-statin-use/article/163939/
“After adjusting for potential confounders such as BMI and cardiovascular (CV) risk, both total and free testosterone levels were significantly lower in men taking statins than in those not taking the medications, the researchers reported in the Journal of Sexual Medicine (2010; published online ahead of print)”
Just something to think about. I also vaguely remember a conversation among a few guys on healthboards all talking about how they ended up with low T after using lovastatin etc…