Posted on 03/02/2013 10:24:14 PM PST by neverdem
Revised guidelines for heart health are set to move away from target-based approach.
Soon after Joseph Francis learned that his levels of ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol sat at twice the norm, he discovered the shortcomings of cholesterol-lowering drugs — and of the clinical advice guiding their use. Francis, the director of clinical analysis and reporting at the Veterans Health Administration (VA) in Washington DC, started taking Lipitor (atorvastatin), a cholesterol-lowering statin and the best-selling drug in pharmaceutical history. His LDL plummeted, but still hovered just above a target mandated by clinical guidelines. Adding other medications had no effect, and upping the dose of Lipitor made his muscles hurt — a rare side effect of statins, which can cause muscle breakdown.
So Francis pulled back to moderate Lipitor doses and decided that he could live with his high cholesterol. Later, he learned that other patients were being aggressively treated by doctors chasing stringent LDL targets. But Francis found the science behind the target guidelines to be surprisingly ambiguous. “You couldn’t necessarily say lowering LDL further was going to benefit the patient,” he says.
--snip--
Clinical trials have shown repeatedly that statins reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke, but lowering LDL with other medications does not work as well. The benefits of statins may reflect their other effects on the body, including fighting inflammation, another risk factor for heart disease.
Krumholz’s scepticism is rooted in experience. In 2008 and 2010, the Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (ACCORD) clinical trial challenged dogma when it reported that lowering blood pressure or blood sugar to prespecified targets did not reduce the risk of heart attack or stroke. In the case of blood sugar, the risks were worsened...
(Excerpt) Read more at nature.com ...
This article is spot on science. I have preached this same for the last 5 years, but the high carb nuts say no, we need carbs for endurance energy. The same with the stupid vegetarians.
This article is spot on science. I have preached this same for the last 5 years, but the high carb nuts say no, we need carbs for endurance energy. The same with the stupid vegetarians.
Thanks for posting this. Had a quad bypass in February 09. Docs put me on Lipitor and the side effects were terrible with leg cramps and shortness of breath etc. So then they put me on Crestor. Tried that for a few weeks with all the same problems. So I just quit using the crap.
The article you support on Dr. Lundell needs a disclaimer. From 2000 to 2008 Lundell had various violations of medical practice in Arizona ultimately leading to the loss of his ability to do surgery at Banner Desert Medical Hospital and the loss of his medical license. In 1990 Lundell filed for bankruptcy with a 20 million dollar judgment against him and also filed again for bankruptcy in 2005. He claimed no revenue for 2004/2005 and in 2004 plead guilty for failure to file income tax.
Take it orally, usually in tablet form.
Eggs are a staple of my diet....IMHO, you cannot eat too many eggs, although I do limit the yoiks, because of calorie count...but eat as much egg whites as you want.
Thank you very much for posting these interesting articles!
Good post. Thanks.
I remember seeing an article by a doctor who had performed thousands of cardiovascular surgeries. He stated that every single patient suffered from inflammation of the vessels and opined that absent the inflammation, no elevated level of colesterol would be problematic. Cure the inflammation, and the colesterol would freely flow.
ps - curing the inflamation is done through diet - processed flower is the #1 killer. If everyone's diets were predominently whole foods, we wouldn't have but a tiny fraction of the problems we have today.
Cholesterol is not a disease, and God did not make ‘bad’ cholesterol. The statin drugs are poison, and their being allowed on the market is evidence of the evil link between the FDA and the drug companies.
A cholesterol level of 250 is much more healthy than one of 150. The liver makes cholesterol because all cells require it, and especially the brain. Statin drugs cause Alzheimer’s symptoms in many. Statin drugs weaken the heart muscle. Statin drugs are deadly.
I had chest pains after taking statins for a couple of weeks. Everyone freaked out. I did a stress test and aced it. I stopped taking the statin and the pain went away. It was more a tightness than a pain. My levels weren’t even that bad.
gleeaikin
Good for you. Stay off those statin meds.
I was very sick and recovered by eating my self back to health. I did a lot of reading and research one area was cholesterol and how bad Statin drugs are. I wrote about my findings quoting others who wrote on the subject.
The War on Cholesterol.
http://coconutcreamcare.com/2012/07/04/the-war-on-cholesterol/
The Cholesterol Myths
http://coconutcreamcare.com/2012/07/12/the-cholesterol-myths/
"So my doctor has me on niacin..."
Me too plus insomnia. I stopped taking the niacian too when I started getting vertigo every day. I take one baby aspirin a day now...that's it.
Your note of dr lundell s professional troubles needs a disclaimer. He was already retired when they revoked his license. He admits to being poor at finance and paperwork, and he was working on some very sick patients. The ulterior motivation against him may have been his dissing of the whole cholesterol low fat scam.
I eliminated all foods containing cholesterol from my diet years ago. I would never take a statin. I try to avoid any medication , period.
“Every statin gives me muscle aches.
So my doctor has me on niacin...”
me too and red rice yeast which is a natural stsin. no problems at all except for the flushing but i’m usually asleep before it happens and, if not, i know what it is and just accept it.
http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2012/07/taubes_on_why_w.html
http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2011/11/taubes_on_fat_s.html
Two great talks by Taub at EconTalk. Russ Roberts is a great interviewer and the entire site is worth perusing.
I understand that he claims he was retired when in fact his license was on probation since the year 2000 and his medical practice had pretty much fallen apart. With that type of probation he was on it is very difficult for a surgeon to purchase mal practice insurance because the insurance companies see him as a high risk. Only surgeons that do bad thinks to patients end up on probation and then also have their license removed by the state. I note that you do not dispute the numerous court cases he has lost that do not pertain to his practice of medicine. How do you try to sugar coat those? If you wish more disclaimers about this guy just let me know and I am sure if his dead patients could talk you could learn even more. Don’t let the facts slow you down. Buy into the fear he is selling about traditional medicine so he can sell you his book, DVDs and supplements. Most folks that wish to buy fear go to a scary movie or read a scary book. At the end of the day those that wish to know more need only search the web for the scary truth about this guy.
I'm surprised they didn't tell you that CoQ10 will prevent/treat the myalgias (for many people, including me), and that rhabdomyolysis will not occur unless untreated muscle pain precede it, and the liver damage is easy to monitor for and testing generally isn't even done frequently anymore because damage is much less prevalent than was thought earlier. But I agree on the undesirability of over-treatment, of pretty much anything.
oh great another vegetarian.....enjoy that
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