Aa
Why there is no answer to my questions?
Why there is no answer to my questions?
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/General-Health/How-can-I-ask-a-question-in-Expert-forum/show/1380676?personal_page_id=894519#post_6300037
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Heart-Disease/How-to-avoid-passing-high-cholesterol-on-to-the-next-generations/show/1380643?personal_page_id=894519#post_6299924
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/General-Health/How-can-I-ask-a-question-in-Expert-forum/show/1380676?personal_page_id=894519#post_6300037
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Heart-Disease/How-to-avoid-passing-high-cholesterol-on-to-the-next-generations/show/1380643?personal_page_id=894519#post_6299924
Slash Heart Disease Risk by 81 Percent
Nov 05, 2010 03:20PM - 11 comments - (Public)
Slash Heart Disease Risk by 81 Percent
For millions or people, statin drugs are the number one doctor-prescribed defense against heart disease. In fact, so many people take them that we spent $12.5 billion on Lipitor in 2006 alone. But brand new research reveals that they may seriously damage your health. That’s because statins significantly increase your risk of diabetes.
That means millions of people taking the drugs now have to decide which is worse… heart disease or diabetes.
An epic study shows that specific dietary changes can reduce your risk of heart disease by 81 percent – without resorting to statin drugs. And leading doctors agree that combatting heart disease through diet isn’t just safer… it’s far more effective too.
Dangers of Statin Drugs
Plenty of reports say statin drugs cause severe pain and can actually make muscles atrophy. Worse, they may actually increase your risk of stroke.
Now, a brand new study, published in The Lancet, confirms that statins do cause diabetes. Researchers reviewed the case files of over 91,000 people from 1994 through 2009. They found a direct link between people taking statins and developing diabetes.
Why use a [drug] with significant risks when other treatments [are] more effective for reducing heart disease? asks Dr. Mark Hyman, a Massachusetts physician who serves on the Board of Advisors at Georgetown University. He says he’s helped hundreds of patients combat heart disease without using statin drugs.
Another study – put out several years earlier by the American Medical Association – also found that statins increase diabetes risk. The paper showed that while statins lowered cholesterol, they raised insulin levels. And that’s a precursor for diabetes.
What’s worse, raised insulin leads to extra body fat… higher blood pressure… and increased inflammation. All of which contribute to heart disease.
“In other words, lowering cholesterol with statins actually increases the risk of heart disease,” says Dr. Hyman.
But statin drugs are huge business. They generate over $12.5 billion in sales each year for Lipitor alone. And many doctors are pushed to prescribe them.
These drugs are the conventional response to high cholesterol. So drug companies have worked to make sure more people take them.
“When I was at medical school, the ‘normal’ cholesterol was 250,” says Dr. Carolyn Dean, MD. “The new ‘normal’ promoted by drug companies is 180. Hammering cholesterol down with statin drugs is the wrong approach.”
Causes of Heart Disease
The Archives of Internal Medicine has just published the results if its “EPIC” study. Researchers took 23,000 people and studied their risk factors for heart disease. They found that changes in diet reduced heart attack risk by 81 percent.
How could such simple changes deliver such amazing results? By lowering blood pressure and reducing inflammation.
This comes as no surprise to NHD panel member Dr. Dwight Lundell. He was a heart surgeon for 25 years and performed over 5,000 open-heart surgeries. During his career he’s pioneered several innovative advances in coronary medicine.
He says four things cause inflammation and lead to heart disease.
1) Simple carbs and grains are the single biggest threat to heart health. They raise blood sugar which releases insulin into your system. Insulin stores and builds fat – especially around the waist.
“Every time we raise our blood sugar we injure the delicate lining of our blood vessels,” says Dr. Lundell.
And that leads to inflammation and heart disease.
2) Vegetable oils are deadly for our coronary system. They contain an unhealthy amount of omega 6 fatty acids.
Our bodies change these fatty acids into chemicals that cause chronic inflammation.
“We do need omega 6,” says Dr. Lundell. “But we’re getting 20-25 times more in our diets.”
3) Deficiency in omega 3 fatty acids hurts heart health.
“Omega 3 is a powerful natural anti-inflammatory,” he says.
There’s plenty of research which shows omega 3 boosts heart health. Those studies say it’s your best option for cooling inflammation.
4) Oxidative stress damages your heart. Free radical damage causes inflammation and increases stroke risk.
“Oxidative stress is detrimental to health and is definitely [linked] with heart disease,” says Dr. Lundell.
The good news is that all of these heart risks are easy to fix without statin drugs. Small, simple changes in diet can improve heart health.
Boost Heart Health through Diet
You can take a few key steps to improve your diet and heart health. In a nutshell, you need to eat more omega 3s and cut back on omega 6s. Slash your carbs and go for healthy fats and protein. And look to boost your intake of antioxidants.
Here’s a step-by-step guide to what you need to do:
Make omega 3 fatty acids part of your daily diet. So much scientific evidence shows that omega 3s are vital to heart health. And there are plenty of good sources to choose from. There’s no good reason not to enjoy omega 3s.
Your best sources for these fatty acids include:
Sardines, Tuna, Wild salmon, Grass-fed beef, Milk, Cage-free eggs,
Be sure when choosing fish that you avoid the farm-raised variety. It’s better to go for cold-water wild fish. That’s because they have a proper ratio of omega 3 to omega 6.
Dr. Lundell says you need to eat at least two to three servings of fresh fish each week.
Another easy option for getting omega 3 into your diet is a simple fish oil supplement.
“Supplement your diet with at least 3 grams of high quality pure fish oil,” says Dr. Lundell.
Cut out omega 6 from your diet. Too much of this fatty acid will do serious harm. So try to keep your omega 3s high and your omega 6s low. It’s pretty easy to do with a little effort and well worth it. Just make sure you avoid the worst foods. These include:
Grain-fed beef, Grain-fed chicken, Processed foods, Fried foods, Vegetable oils
Try to get more saturated fats into your diet. These can really help to reduce inflammation.
Great sources include:
Olive oil, Walnuts, pecans, and almonds, Avocados
Slash sugary and starchy carbs from your diet. These are the worst offenders for raising blood sugar and insulin. That process wreaks havoc on long-term heart health. Worst offenders include:
Bread, Pasta, Rice
Look to enrich your diet with antioxidants.There are so many to choose from. Even foods like dark chocolate and red wine are loaded with them. Some of the best antioxidants include:
Berries, Broccoli, Grapes, Spinach
You can easily combine all of these suggestions into simple meal plans. For breakfast, switch out bagels and cheerios for yogurt, hard boiled eggs, and a handful or almonds.
When you’re on the run, try combining your healthy snack foods to enjoy vital omega 3s and antioxidants in one go. A grab-bag of walnuts, blueberries, and grapes packs a powerful punch. A don’t forget to wash it down with some antioxidant-rich green tea.
You can’t beat broccoli and grass-fed beef for dinner… or spinach and wild salmon… for a powerful combination of health benefits. And you can help yourself to a glass of red wine (loaded with youth-preserving resveratrol) and a square or two of dark chocolate.
Nov 05, 2010 03:20PM - 11 comments - (Public)
Slash Heart Disease Risk by 81 Percent
For millions or people, statin drugs are the number one doctor-prescribed defense against heart disease. In fact, so many people take them that we spent $12.5 billion on Lipitor in 2006 alone. But brand new research reveals that they may seriously damage your health. That’s because statins significantly increase your risk of diabetes.
That means millions of people taking the drugs now have to decide which is worse… heart disease or diabetes.
An epic study shows that specific dietary changes can reduce your risk of heart disease by 81 percent – without resorting to statin drugs. And leading doctors agree that combatting heart disease through diet isn’t just safer… it’s far more effective too.
Dangers of Statin Drugs
Plenty of reports say statin drugs cause severe pain and can actually make muscles atrophy. Worse, they may actually increase your risk of stroke.
Now, a brand new study, published in The Lancet, confirms that statins do cause diabetes. Researchers reviewed the case files of over 91,000 people from 1994 through 2009. They found a direct link between people taking statins and developing diabetes.
Why use a [drug] with significant risks when other treatments [are] more effective for reducing heart disease? asks Dr. Mark Hyman, a Massachusetts physician who serves on the Board of Advisors at Georgetown University. He says he’s helped hundreds of patients combat heart disease without using statin drugs.
Another study – put out several years earlier by the American Medical Association – also found that statins increase diabetes risk. The paper showed that while statins lowered cholesterol, they raised insulin levels. And that’s a precursor for diabetes.
What’s worse, raised insulin leads to extra body fat… higher blood pressure… and increased inflammation. All of which contribute to heart disease.
“In other words, lowering cholesterol with statins actually increases the risk of heart disease,” says Dr. Hyman.
But statin drugs are huge business. They generate over $12.5 billion in sales each year for Lipitor alone. And many doctors are pushed to prescribe them.
These drugs are the conventional response to high cholesterol. So drug companies have worked to make sure more people take them.
“When I was at medical school, the ‘normal’ cholesterol was 250,” says Dr. Carolyn Dean, MD. “The new ‘normal’ promoted by drug companies is 180. Hammering cholesterol down with statin drugs is the wrong approach.”
Causes of Heart Disease
The Archives of Internal Medicine has just published the results if its “EPIC” study. Researchers took 23,000 people and studied their risk factors for heart disease. They found that changes in diet reduced heart attack risk by 81 percent.
How could such simple changes deliver such amazing results? By lowering blood pressure and reducing inflammation.
This comes as no surprise to NHD panel member Dr. Dwight Lundell. He was a heart surgeon for 25 years and performed over 5,000 open-heart surgeries. During his career he’s pioneered several innovative advances in coronary medicine.
He says four things cause inflammation and lead to heart disease.
1) Simple carbs and grains are the single biggest threat to heart health. They raise blood sugar which releases insulin into your system. Insulin stores and builds fat – especially around the waist.
“Every time we raise our blood sugar we injure the delicate lining of our blood vessels,” says Dr. Lundell.
And that leads to inflammation and heart disease.
2) Vegetable oils are deadly for our coronary system. They contain an unhealthy amount of omega 6 fatty acids.
Our bodies change these fatty acids into chemicals that cause chronic inflammation.
“We do need omega 6,” says Dr. Lundell. “But we’re getting 20-25 times more in our diets.”
3) Deficiency in omega 3 fatty acids hurts heart health.
“Omega 3 is a powerful natural anti-inflammatory,” he says.
There’s plenty of research which shows omega 3 boosts heart health. Those studies say it’s your best option for cooling inflammation.
4) Oxidative stress damages your heart. Free radical damage causes inflammation and increases stroke risk.
“Oxidative stress is detrimental to health and is definitely [linked] with heart disease,” says Dr. Lundell.
The good news is that all of these heart risks are easy to fix without statin drugs. Small, simple changes in diet can improve heart health.
Boost Heart Health through Diet
You can take a few key steps to improve your diet and heart health. In a nutshell, you need to eat more omega 3s and cut back on omega 6s. Slash your carbs and go for healthy fats and protein. And look to boost your intake of antioxidants.
Here’s a step-by-step guide to what you need to do:
Make omega 3 fatty acids part of your daily diet. So much scientific evidence shows that omega 3s are vital to heart health. And there are plenty of good sources to choose from. There’s no good reason not to enjoy omega 3s.
Your best sources for these fatty acids include:
Sardines, Tuna, Wild salmon, Grass-fed beef, Milk, Cage-free eggs,
Be sure when choosing fish that you avoid the farm-raised variety. It’s better to go for cold-water wild fish. That’s because they have a proper ratio of omega 3 to omega 6.
Dr. Lundell says you need to eat at least two to three servings of fresh fish each week.
Another easy option for getting omega 3 into your diet is a simple fish oil supplement.
“Supplement your diet with at least 3 grams of high quality pure fish oil,” says Dr. Lundell.
Cut out omega 6 from your diet. Too much of this fatty acid will do serious harm. So try to keep your omega 3s high and your omega 6s low. It’s pretty easy to do with a little effort and well worth it. Just make sure you avoid the worst foods. These include:
Grain-fed beef, Grain-fed chicken, Processed foods, Fried foods, Vegetable oils
Try to get more saturated fats into your diet. These can really help to reduce inflammation.
Great sources include:
Olive oil, Walnuts, pecans, and almonds, Avocados
Slash sugary and starchy carbs from your diet. These are the worst offenders for raising blood sugar and insulin. That process wreaks havoc on long-term heart health. Worst offenders include:
Bread, Pasta, Rice
Look to enrich your diet with antioxidants.There are so many to choose from. Even foods like dark chocolate and red wine are loaded with them. Some of the best antioxidants include:
Berries, Broccoli, Grapes, Spinach
You can easily combine all of these suggestions into simple meal plans. For breakfast, switch out bagels and cheerios for yogurt, hard boiled eggs, and a handful or almonds.
When you’re on the run, try combining your healthy snack foods to enjoy vital omega 3s and antioxidants in one go. A grab-bag of walnuts, blueberries, and grapes packs a powerful punch. A don’t forget to wash it down with some antioxidant-rich green tea.
You can’t beat broccoli and grass-fed beef for dinner… or spinach and wild salmon… for a powerful combination of health benefits. And you can help yourself to a glass of red wine (loaded with youth-preserving resveratrol) and a square or two of dark chocolate.
Skip The Statins
Nov 07, 2010 03:44PM - 3 comments - (Public)
Skip The Statins
As popular as statins drugs are, the doctors who prescribe them are finding one unexpected problem: Up to 40 percent of their patients either stop taking them or they refuse to take them in the first place!
I’m not surprised. Statins carry a host of side effects, including gastrointestinal problems, headache, dizziness, fatigue, rash and sleep disturbances. More serious side effects include muscle weakness, myopathy, nerve damage, liver damage and rhabdomyolysis – the breakdown of muscle tissue that can lead to potentially fatal kidney failure.
Unfortunately, most doctors don’t know that there are natural alternative to statin drugs that are far safer and just as effective. So they take a different approach to this phenomenon. When scientists at the University of California, San Diego, investigated how doctors respond to patient reports of statin-related side effects, they found that most didn’t bother reporting these adverse events to the FDA. Instead, they denied that the drugs could cause undesirable symptoms, seemed not to care, told their patients they were imagining the pain, mistakenly attributed symptoms to aging or simply refused to believe their patients’ complaints!
But, as I said, there are alternatives. One of the best is red yeast rice. Red yeast rice is produced when a certain type of yeast, Monascus purpureus, is fermented over red rice. It has been used in Asian countries for more than a thousand years as both food and medicine. Recently, however, natural health practitioners in the U.S. and Europe have discovered its powerful cholesterol-lowering properties.
One recent clinical trial by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine gave 43 adults with high cholesterol either 2,400 mg. of red yeast rice or 20 mg. of Pravacol. After 12 weeks, they found that that red yeast rice was not only slightly more effective, it was also better tolerated than the statin drug.
Other studies have found that red yeast rice can lower both total and LDL (bad) cholesterol. However, my conventional counterparts might be unfamiliar with this research. Here’s a quick run-down:
An eight-week study at the University of California, Los Angeles, compared red yeast rice with a placebo in 83 people with high cholesterol. The results, which were published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, showed that the supplement significantly reduced total and LDL cholesterol.
In another study, which appeared in the Annals of Internal Medicine, a group of physicians verified the significant cholesterol-lowering effect of red yeast rice in people who couldn’t tolerate statin drugs. The study included 62 people who stopped taking statins because of side effects. All of them followed a lifestyle change program that included learning about nutrition, exercise and relaxation techniques. Half also took 1,800 mg. of red yeast rice twice a day, while the others took a dummy pill. The group taking red yeast rice experienced an average drop in cholesterol of 43 points in a mere 12 weeks compared to just 11 points in the placebo group.
Other research in China, which has been published in the American Journal of Cardiology and other scientific journals, has found that red yeast rice significantly reduces rates of heart attacks and deaths from heart disease.
The reason red yeast rice works so well is because it contains a small amount of a natural statin called lovastatin. Lovastatin is the same compound found in the prescription drug, Mevacor. But unlike Mevacor, red yeast rice also contains other compounds like plant sterols that might have a positive impact on blocking cholesterol absorption. Researchers have also determined that another ingredient in red yeast rice called monacolin K inhibits the production of cholesterol by interfering with HMG-CoA reductase, a key enzyme in the liver responsible for manufacturing cholesterol.
But, even though red yeast rice is a natural product, because it acts like a statin, it can still impact the liver to some degree. That’s why it’s important to have your liver function checked periodically.
And like statins, red yeast rice may also inhibit the natural synthesis of coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), which is needed for optimum heart health. Take 100 to 200 mg of CoQ10 daily when taking red yeast rice—or use a formula that combines red yeast rice and CoQ10.
References:
Becker DJ. Red Yeast Rice for Dyslipidemia in Statin-Intolerant Patients: A Randomized Trial. Annals of Internal Medicine. 2009; 150: 830-839.
Halbert SC. Tolerability of red yeast rice (2,400 mg twice daily) versus pravastatin (20 mg twice daily) in patients with previous statin intolerance. American Journal of Cardiology. 2010;105:198-204.
Yang HT. Acute administration of red yeast rice (Monascus purpureus) depletes tissue coenzyme Q(10) levels in ICR mice. British Journal of Nutrition. 2005;93:131-135.
Nov 07, 2010 03:44PM - 3 comments - (Public)
Skip The Statins
As popular as statins drugs are, the doctors who prescribe them are finding one unexpected problem: Up to 40 percent of their patients either stop taking them or they refuse to take them in the first place!
I’m not surprised. Statins carry a host of side effects, including gastrointestinal problems, headache, dizziness, fatigue, rash and sleep disturbances. More serious side effects include muscle weakness, myopathy, nerve damage, liver damage and rhabdomyolysis – the breakdown of muscle tissue that can lead to potentially fatal kidney failure.
Unfortunately, most doctors don’t know that there are natural alternative to statin drugs that are far safer and just as effective. So they take a different approach to this phenomenon. When scientists at the University of California, San Diego, investigated how doctors respond to patient reports of statin-related side effects, they found that most didn’t bother reporting these adverse events to the FDA. Instead, they denied that the drugs could cause undesirable symptoms, seemed not to care, told their patients they were imagining the pain, mistakenly attributed symptoms to aging or simply refused to believe their patients’ complaints!
But, as I said, there are alternatives. One of the best is red yeast rice. Red yeast rice is produced when a certain type of yeast, Monascus purpureus, is fermented over red rice. It has been used in Asian countries for more than a thousand years as both food and medicine. Recently, however, natural health practitioners in the U.S. and Europe have discovered its powerful cholesterol-lowering properties.
One recent clinical trial by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine gave 43 adults with high cholesterol either 2,400 mg. of red yeast rice or 20 mg. of Pravacol. After 12 weeks, they found that that red yeast rice was not only slightly more effective, it was also better tolerated than the statin drug.
Other studies have found that red yeast rice can lower both total and LDL (bad) cholesterol. However, my conventional counterparts might be unfamiliar with this research. Here’s a quick run-down:
An eight-week study at the University of California, Los Angeles, compared red yeast rice with a placebo in 83 people with high cholesterol. The results, which were published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, showed that the supplement significantly reduced total and LDL cholesterol.
In another study, which appeared in the Annals of Internal Medicine, a group of physicians verified the significant cholesterol-lowering effect of red yeast rice in people who couldn’t tolerate statin drugs. The study included 62 people who stopped taking statins because of side effects. All of them followed a lifestyle change program that included learning about nutrition, exercise and relaxation techniques. Half also took 1,800 mg. of red yeast rice twice a day, while the others took a dummy pill. The group taking red yeast rice experienced an average drop in cholesterol of 43 points in a mere 12 weeks compared to just 11 points in the placebo group.
Other research in China, which has been published in the American Journal of Cardiology and other scientific journals, has found that red yeast rice significantly reduces rates of heart attacks and deaths from heart disease.
The reason red yeast rice works so well is because it contains a small amount of a natural statin called lovastatin. Lovastatin is the same compound found in the prescription drug, Mevacor. But unlike Mevacor, red yeast rice also contains other compounds like plant sterols that might have a positive impact on blocking cholesterol absorption. Researchers have also determined that another ingredient in red yeast rice called monacolin K inhibits the production of cholesterol by interfering with HMG-CoA reductase, a key enzyme in the liver responsible for manufacturing cholesterol.
But, even though red yeast rice is a natural product, because it acts like a statin, it can still impact the liver to some degree. That’s why it’s important to have your liver function checked periodically.
And like statins, red yeast rice may also inhibit the natural synthesis of coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), which is needed for optimum heart health. Take 100 to 200 mg of CoQ10 daily when taking red yeast rice—or use a formula that combines red yeast rice and CoQ10.
References:
Becker DJ. Red Yeast Rice for Dyslipidemia in Statin-Intolerant Patients: A Randomized Trial. Annals of Internal Medicine. 2009; 150: 830-839.
Halbert SC. Tolerability of red yeast rice (2,400 mg twice daily) versus pravastatin (20 mg twice daily) in patients with previous statin intolerance. American Journal of Cardiology. 2010;105:198-204.
Yang HT. Acute administration of red yeast rice (Monascus purpureus) depletes tissue coenzyme Q(10) levels in ICR mice. British Journal of Nutrition. 2005;93:131-135.
I am NOT a physician, but a Registered Nurse. I can try to answer your question about cholesterol. There is NO way you have ANY control over heredity. The ONLY way to not pass a condition or problem for sure is to not have children. Your children may or may NOT inherit the problem. IF he (your son) has a problem with cholesterol now, then it should be addressed. Physicians DO NOT prescribe cholesterol lowing medications to prevent elevated cholesterol. Knowing elevated cholesterol runs in the family, there are things your other children can do to LOWER the chances of developing elevated cholesterol, i.e. diet and exercise. Being thin does NOT mean you will NOT have elevated cholesterol.
What do you mean by KEEP TRYING?
Should I keep posting the same question over again?
There is a limit in the expert forum in the way that only one question can be posted per day. But above questions are in the normal forum, not in Expert forum, and still they are not answered.
Secondly, I could not find any link to post the question in Expert forum. Earlier I have posted in Expert forum.
Thirdly, even to this question there is only one reply. Even though its a general question about the forum and lots of people could have helped with suggestions.
Should I keep posting the same question over again?
There is a limit in the expert forum in the way that only one question can be posted per day. But above questions are in the normal forum, not in Expert forum, and still they are not answered.
Secondly, I could not find any link to post the question in Expert forum. Earlier I have posted in Expert forum.
Thirdly, even to this question there is only one reply. Even though its a general question about the forum and lots of people could have helped with suggestions.
Have an Answer?
You are reading content posted in the General Health Community
Top General Health Answerers
Nelson, New Zealand
Queensland, Australia
AL
way off the beaten track!, BC
Discharge often isn't normal, and could mean an infection or an STD.
In this unique and fascinating report from Missouri Medicine, world-renowned expert Dr. Raymond Moody examines what really happens when we almost die.
Think a loved one may be experiencing hearing loss? Here are five warning signs to watch for.
When it comes to your health, timing is everything
We’ve got a crash course on metabolism basics.
Learn what you can do to avoid ski injury and other common winter sports injury.
