Posted on 12/13/2011 12:11:01 PM PST by decimon
New study reveals molecular mechanism promoting the breakdown of plaque by statins
In a new study, NYU Langone Medical Center researchers have discovered how cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins promote the breakdown of plaque in the arteries...
The findings support a large clinical study that recently showed patients taking high-doses of the cholesterol-lowering medications not only reduced their cholesterol levels but also reduced the amount of plaque in their arteries. However, until now researchers did not fully understand how statins could reduce atherosclerosis, the accumulation of fat and cholesterol that hardens into plaque in arteries, a major cause of mortality in Western countries. High blood cholesterol is a major culprit in atherosclerosis. As a result of narrowing arteries, blood clots can form or plaque can break off causing blockages in vessels. This can lead to a potentially fatal heart attack or stroke.
"Our new research shows statins actually promote the regression of atherosclerosis by altering the expression of a specific cell surface receptor within plaque cells," said co-author of the study, Edward Fisher, MD, PhD, Leon H. Charney Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine and director of the Marc and Ruti Bell Vascular Biology Program at NYU Langone Medical Center. "This molecular phenomenon helps dissolve plaque by expelling coronary artery disease-causing cells from the plaque lining the arteries."
The NYU Langone study reveals how statins promote the transformation of arterial plaques by activating a protein that sits on the surface of macrophages, immune cells that are prevalent in plaque. The immune system sends macrophages to clean up cholesterol deposits in arteries, but once they fill up with the bad form of cholesterol they get stuck in the arteries, triggering the body's inflammatory response. The bloated macrophages then become major components of plaque lining artery walls.
(Excerpt) Read more at eurekalert.org ...
My dose of Livolo is so small. I get 8 1mg tabs, cut them in half and take one half every other day. that last me one month. My cholestrol dropped 100 points in 2 months. I have a lot of trouble with reactions to prescription drugs, I feel really lucky that I can take this one....... so far so good! :D
We did try dosing adjustments, and even different brands. I was aware of the grapefruit issue before I started taking them, so that wasn’t an issue. BUT...# 2 is something new to me, I’ll look into it. Thanks.
hdl should read 34, not 84. duh!
I believe if you take a very good absorbable calcium supplement along with your D, you can increase the amount of D and calcium (both) you can absorb.
In general most people are way, way low on vitamin D. I know doctors who take 10-20,000 IU of D a day. And then bump it up more in the winter.
Considering your body can make 50,000 IU with decent skin exposure for a half hour at peak sun, almost everyone is deficient.
If you want to lower LDL, I thought eating oatmeal was good for that.
Since I don't use the enzyme he names ( Co Enzyme Q10 ) he might have more information to pass along to you.
My doctor didn't think that would be of much interest to me since my cholesterol levels were already LOW ~ although she thinks I should stick to a low dose for the plaque effects.
No other dietary changes. In fact, I eat eggs almost every day, red meat about once a week, ice cream when I get the urge, and of course pasta every Sunday ( I am Italian, after all).
I don't know about cinnamon and tumeric. How do they help...?
Studies show that higher cholesterol could slash your stroke risk by nearly 300%!
William Campbell Douglass, M.D.
Keeping cholesterol levels HIGHER can...
• Revive your sex drive...
• Lower your likelihood of cancer...
• Improve your brain function...
• And make you far less likely to die!
That’s because of one simple truth: Cholesterol is not your enemy!
1. HIGHER cholesterol makes you far less likely to die...
FACT: Lowering cholesterol can make heart disease worse. A review of medical studies on cholesterol and mortality in heart patients found that lower cholesterol levels led to death––not survival, like the drug companies want you to think.
FACT: Low cholesterol can trigger the deadliest kind of stroke. It’s called a massive stroke and it happens when blood vessels in your brain are so weak, they burst open. Any cholesterol count below 200 is a red flag for this kind of stroke.
FACT: Low cholesterol may raise your cancer risk. Yes, a new study actually links low LDL levels with an increased risk of developing cancer. And it’s not the first one. In fact, more than 20 studies have been done on cholesterol and cancer. And the overall majority linked cancer with low cholesterol!
How could all this be so? For the same reason that your body makes its own cholesterol. It’s a vital nutrient! Cholesterol is a necessary building block for your immune system and especially your brain cells. In fact...
2. HIGHER cholesterol may improve your memory, stave off depression and even protect you from Alzheimer’s...
Believe it or not, healthy brain cells are chock full of cholesterol. Yup, 25% of your body’s cholesterol is in your brain. It fuels the electrical impulses that make thinking possible. Plus, studies show...
FACT: Low cholesterol impairs brain function. It’s been linked to depression. And cholesterol-lowering drugs have been shown to trigger memory loss. (Drug companies want us to forget this — and we may – if we keep taking statin drugs!)
FACT: Low cholesterol is linked to Alzheimer’s. The eminent researcher Iwo J. Bohr recently published a peer-reviewed paper on the subject. He points out that Alzheimer’s patients typically have lower cholesterol and suggests that a great way to prevent the disease may be to eat a high cholesterol diet.
FACT: Low cholesterol is even linked to suicide ––and it’s not just because folks are fed up with celery and tofu! The real reason is probably that low cholesterol literally makes you crazy!
And now for some upbeat news...
3. HIGHER cholesterol could super-charge anyone’s sex life...
Why? Because cholesterol is the “raw material” for your sex hormones. Without it, you can’t manufacture testosterone, women can’t make estrogen––and none of us would have any more sex drive than an earthworm!
Now aren’t you ecstatic
that your cholesterol is over 200?
If it isn’t, think of all the fun you’ll have getting it back up to healthy levels!
Try adding red rice yeast to your diet; a natural statin....it seems that the trio of niacin, red rice yeast, and fish oil is what really works over the long term.
CoQ10 in addition to being a powerful antioxidant is also part of the Krebs cycle in the mitochondria of the cells that make the energy “stuff” of the cells, adenosine triphosphate.
ATP is the actually fuuel of the cells that provides energy by donating phosphate groups, then it gets turned into Adenosine di-phosphate, goes back and gets recycled and once again becomes ATP.
The body “burns” sugars and fats for one and one reason: to manufacture ATP.
(the liver does alot of stuff with fats, but it’s not part of the respiratory cycle).
I have read estimates that a healthy young adult man or woman manufactures/recycles THEIR BODY WEIGHT of ATP in a day!
CoQ10 levels in the cells start to drop significantly in the mid-forties and decline faster after that.
About 4 AM your liver gives you a shot of sugar. The liver does things with fats, and it does things with sugars ~ just like honeybees. Check http://biology.about.com/library/organs/bldigestliver5.htm
http://jcem.endojournals.org/content/early/2011/11/10/jc.2011-1846.abstract suggests parts of what you cite are wrong, or you are giving them the wrong slant. Low cholesterol, per se, doesn’t hurt anyone.
Not surprising at all. Figure by 4 am the average person has probably not eaten anything for 6 hours or more.
Something I have come to realize over the years is that sleep itself is NOT a period of inactivity like suspended animation or something! Sleep is probably the time when the actual biochemistry of the body is in highest gear, synthesizing proteins, cell division and repair, all the good stuff!
Lots of times I sweat like crazy when I sleep. Way more than if I’m out doing physical activity like gardening or even on my stair-stepper.
Supposedly, statins reduce the body’s production of cholesterol which is good if you have too much, but they also decrease the production of CoQ10 in the body. Low levels of CoQ10 can mean muscle and nerve pain, so a CoQ10 supplement can help. For me, it reduced the frequent muscle aches I got after starting on Simvastatin.
http://www.ehow.com/facts_5792113_coq10-statin-drugs.html
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