Posted on 03/14/2023 8:41:19 PM PDT by ConservativeMind
A study suggests that cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins have the potential to reduce heart disease in people with obstructive sleep apnea, regardless of the use of CPAP machines during the night.
CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) therapy improves sleep quality in people with obstructive sleep apnea. But CPAP does not improve heart health.
Statins may be one such method, according to the study, by Sanja Jelic, MD.
The researchers found that statins, but not CPAP, protected blood vessels against dangerous inflammatory changes that occur in people with the condition.
The researchers looked specifically at the CD59 protein, which keeps inflammation in check when stabilized in the blood vessels. A previous study by Jelic's team showed that CD59, which protects cells against complement (a group of proteins that promote inflammation) activity, is more stable when cholesterol is low. Among study participants, CD59 was stabilized after four weeks of cholesterol-lowering statin therapy, but not with CPAP alone.
"The effect we found with statins is important," says Jelic. "Inflammation in the blood vessels is a key step in progression of cardiovascular disease, so anything that we can do to stabilize CD59 in these patients is likely to be beneficial."
The researchers also found that CPAP, surprisingly, increases levels of angiopoietin-2, another protein associated with inflammation and heart disease. Elevated angiopoetin-2 is commonly seen in patients on mechanical ventilation but had never been documented among people using CPAP.
"We still believe CPAP is very useful," Jelic says. "But CPAP also seems to have negative effects on the cardiovascular system. We need to investigate whether we should use more conservative airway pressures or other less-utilized treatments like oral appliances to treat patients with obstructive sleep apnea."
Currently, statins are prescribed for only 8% to 13% of patients with obstructive sleep apnea.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
Statins reverse one of the subsequent inflammatory markers, CD59, but not the angiopoetin-2.
and caúse a million other problems
Statins are poison.
Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Obesity: Implications for Public Health
Public awareness of the importance of weight loss by lifestyle modification or bariatric surgery to improve the quality of life is needed. These preventive actions, screening measures, and treatment strategies for obesity and OSA can significantly reduce the incidence of obesity, as well as OSA and the related comorbidities such as cardiovascular disease, atherosclerosis, and depression. Finally, health care costs will also be reduced.Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Cardiovascular Disease: A Review of the Literature and Proposed Multidisciplinary Clinical Management Strategy
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has been associated with many different forms of CVD including hypertension, stroke, HF, coronary artery disease, and atrial fibrillation (AF).1 Adults with OSA not only have an increased risk of developing comorbid CVD but also have worse outcomes related to CVD. OSA is highly prevalent, estimated to affect 34% of men and 17% of women in the general population2 and 40% to 60% of patients with CVD.3 Furthermore, the prevalence is increasing, with these figures representing a 30% increase over the previous 2 decades,2 likely related to the obesity epidemic as well as an aging population."
Best method to minimize heart attacks is regular mild aerobic exercise. No side effects and benefits galore.
1. Reduce heart attacks
2. Reduce joint pain issues
3. Better sleep experience
4. Keeps excess weight down
5. Improve blood pressure
6. Improve H1C blood sugar readings
7. Better sex performance
8. Attract more sex partners with better body
9. Improved lung function
10. Improve kidney function by moving more blood through
11. Delay onset of dementia
12. Very low cost
Apnea and snoring went away for me when I quit sugar and carbs. Losing weight and particularly inflammation does wonders for snoring. Now I require a lot less sleep too.
Sleep quality is one of the big three life improvements I found from going low carb/high fat. The other two the end of acid reflux and blood pressure normalized.
Too bad more people can’t figure out the sugar and carbs are making them miserable and killing them. Of course drug companies couldn’t sell statins if people figured that out.
The VA is pretty focused on Sleep Apnea because it is more present proportionally in veterans than the general population.
A marker for Sleep Apnea is a build up of red blood cell count. The lessened oxygen during sleep forces the body to create more red blood cells to transport oxygen. This does thicken the blood and predispose for clots.
This study is looking for effects on the vessels themselves rather than on blood.
So CPAP is about more than improving sleep. It’s also reducing red blood cell count.
Statins kill you dead.
They are working overtime to justify using statins - which cause more problems than they supposedly “solve”.
My cholesterol levels are perfect, but since I’m over 55, they wanted to put me on statins, “just because” - I told them where to put the statins...
I use the CPAP. It changed my life for the better by enabling me to get more oxygen to my brains while sleeping. I wake up in the morning more refreshed.
Crestor is the brand name for rosuvastatin, and Lipitor is the brand name for atorvastatin. I’ve seen big reliable studies that show the rosuvastatins like crestor reduce all cause mortality risk better than do the atorvastatins like lipitor. I switched from Lipitor to Crestor.
I’m not sure how this study factors that in.
No one should do statins, “just because.”
My primary “nurse practitioner” wanted to put me on statins after one cholesterol test showed higher, but I had just started Keto, too, and had told that to the nurse practitioner. I was told about the statins by her nurse, on the phonr.
I told her no doctor has credibility suggesting statins off of just one higher cholesterol test. Maybe off of two, over several months, but not one from a new dietary change. I said that every doctor should know that takes more than one test. She chuckled and said she understood and that she would pass that on to the nurse practitioner.
I never went back to her, but my wife later did, and the nurse practitioner was shocked she showed up, after what I had told the nurse.
Doctors and nurse practitioners mean well, but you have to constantly sanity check what they suggest. This is easier to do, for most people, by an expensive second opinion, but it’s cheaper when you go in knowing more about your likely condition and the wealth of options available.
Do note insurance companies limit some treatment options. I just wish doctors would tell patients why they settled on a bad, old practice, due to your insurance’s directives.
I’m wondering if those “reliable studies” were paid for by the drug companies.
Yep - my question to the doctor was, “What compelling reason do I have to put that crap in my body if there’s no current issues?” He couldn’t answer, which told me that Big Pharm is paying a lot for them to prescribe crap that isn’t needed.
I’m referring the famous 2011 Jupiter Study.
Cholesterol/CVD is the greatest medical fraud in human history.
If you are taking statins for cholesterol, you are victim to the greatest medical fraud ever.
Fwiw, this is my latest lipid panel, tested just out of curiosity:
And for what it’s worth again, Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) - characteristic of my family but applies to high cholesterol in general - is only hazardous to health in a state of systemic inflammation...a theory of mine rooted in my book.
Yep - and I have yet see where they assert that lowering cholesterol with their drugs has improved/lengthened lives...there’s a good chance it has done exactly the opposite.
I also eat low carb and have for a decade or more. My cholesterol is now around 100 and other lipid profile measure are equally good. My A1C dropped from 6.2 to 5.2 and has stayed there. After a decade of success, my doctor still admonishes me for not eating a low cholesterol diet. She can’t explain medically why, only that it is the policy of the Hospital. She quietly admits what I’m doing works and recommends low carb eating, but won’t do it officially.
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