Free Republic

Americans nibble their way through more than 3 million tons of chocolate each year, savoring the aromatic bitterness that only the seeds of the cacao plant can deliver. To make the signature flavor palatable as a sweet treat, chocolate manufacturers combine a paste made from cacao seeds with sugar. Lots and lots of sugar – often enough to rival all the other ingredients combined, in fact. Together with significant amounts of saturated fatty acids, provided by the addition of cocoa butter from the fruit, the few health benefits provided by the chocolate bean are swamped by ingredients that increase the...

NATIONAL GERMAN CHOCOLATE CAKE DAY On June 11 we celebrate the delicious food holiday known as National German Chocolate Cake Day! We can't think of a better way to learn about a cake with American roots and get our chocolate fix for the day at the same time! #GermanChocolateCakeDay Although the name may sound like the cake originated in Germany, German chocolate cake did not. In fact, the cake's roots can be traced back to 1852 when American Sam German made a type of dark baking chocolate for the American Baker’s Chocolate Company. Baker’s German Sweet Chocolate’s brand was named...

Pfizer’s cholesterol-lowering statin drug Lipitor is one of the most profitable medications of all time. Globally, the lucrative statin market is projected to reach $32 billion by 2032. Yet, for years, there have been published studies reporting that statin drugs lead to profound memory loss and diabetes, and, overall, are entirely worthless. As such, the studies have supplied the basis for reevaluating the guidelines for prescribing statins and theories on cholesterol in general. After all, cholesterol is essential to the human body—if you had none, you would be dead. The studies have likewise questioned why more focus isn’t put on...

The Japanese scientist whose pioneering work led to the creation of statins, the life-saving drugs used by millions, has died at the age of 90. Akira Endo's pivotal work has been likened to the discovery of penicillin. The biochemist is said to have been inspired by Alexander Fleming's discovery of penicillin, prompting him to study mould, or fungi, in his quest to find new medicines. In 1973, Prof Endo found the first cholesterol-lowering compound able to reduce the risk of heart disease and strokes.

Hard-to-detect colorectal pre-cancerous lesions known as serrated polyps, and tumors that develop from them, depend heavily on tramped-up production of cholesterol, according to a preclinical study. The finding points to the possibility of using cholesterol-lowering drugs to prevent or treat such tumors. The researchers analyzed mice that develop serrated polyps and tumors. They confirmed their findings in analyses of human serrated polyps and tumors and showed in mouse models that replicate the human cancer that blocking cholesterol production prevented the progression of these types of intestinal tumors. Cholesterol is considered a pro-growth molecule. "Trials of statins to prevent colorectal cancer...

Cholesterol-lowering statins might protect patients with ulcerative colitis from developing and dying from colorectal cancer. Statin treatment was also associated with a lower risk of death regardless of cause in patients with ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease. This is according to a study. "Our study suggests that statins can prevent colorectal cancer in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which is a high-risk group for this kind of cancer," says Jiangwei Sun. The observational study compared more than 10,500 IBD patients from around the country, of whom half were statin users; the other half of the group, who were matched...

Using new genetic tools to study statins in human cells and mice, researchers have uncovered how the cholesterol-lowering drugs protect the cells that line blood vessels. The findings provide new insight into statins' curiously wide-ranging benefits, for conditions ranging from arteriosclerosis to diabetes, that have long been observed in the clinic. Liu tested simvastatin on lab-grown human endothelial cells. Endothelial cells make up the lining of blood vessels, but in many diseases they transform into a different cell type, known as mesenchymal cells. "Mesenchymal cells are less functional and make tissues stiffer so they cannot relax or contract correctly," Liu...

We've all recently gotten a crash-course in drug repurposing, thanks to near-daily news reports about efforts to identify existing medicines that could help treat COVID-19 in the early phase of the pandemic. A team of scientists jumped into the fray in the spring of 2020, applying novel computational drug repurposing approaches to confront the COVID-19 challenge. In the flurry of clinical studies being published by other scientists studying COVID-19, some found that statins seemed to reduce mortality in COVID-19 patients, while others found no effect—but these studies did not discriminate between different types of statin drugs. Now, the team have...

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...

New evidence released today from a study of 31,245 patients already taking statin therapy indicates that inflammation may be a more powerful predictor of risk of future cardiovascular events—such as heart attack and stroke—than "bad" cholesterol. Treatments that aggressively lower vascular inflammation need to be incorporated into daily practice if doctors are to maximize patient outcomes, according to the study's corresponding author, Paul Ridker, MD. Said Ridker: "In our study of patients already taking a statin, hsCRP—a measure of residual inflammatory risk—was a more powerful determinant of having a future heart attack or dying from cardiovascular disease than was LDL-cholesterol—a...

Covid-19 patients with a history of cardiovascular disease are at an increased risk of developing severe illness and could benefit most from the Covid-19 treatment Paxlovid – but there’s a catch. Paxlovid can have dangerous interactions with some of the most common medications for cardiovascular disease, including certain statins and heart failure therapies, a new paper warns. The review paper, published Wednesday in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, lists dozens of cardiovascular medications and whether they are safe to give along with Paxlovid or whether they could have interactions. Some medications such as aspirin are safe to...

BLOOD clots are either dangerous or beneficial depending on how and where they form. According to a case study published in the Lancet, a woman almost lost her leg due to a dangerous blood clot after eating the same fruit daily - how much do you eat? =================================================================== Blood clots often form in response to injury. This is the body's way of stemming bleeding. However, blood clots that form in one or more of the deep veins in the body can spell trouble. This is known as deep vein thrombosis (DVT). According to a chilling case report published in the...

Statin use associated with type 2 diabetes progression -Doctors prescribe statins to lower cholesterol levels in a person’s blood. -This reduces their chance of developing cardiovascular disease. -Researchers have found associations between statins and decreased insulin sensitivity, which can lead to type 2 diabetes. -In the present study, the team found people with type 2 diabetes who took statins were more likely to have greater disease progression. In a new study, researchers found a link between statin use and an increased likelihood of type 2 diabetes disease progression. The research, which appears in the journal JAMA Internal MedicineTrusted Source, gives...

A combination therapy of aspirin, statins and at least two blood pressure medications given in fixed doses can slash the risk of fatal cardiovascular disease (CVD) by more than half, says an international study led by Hamilton researchers. The fixed-dose combination (FDC) therapies were examined both with and without aspirin versus control groups in a combined analysis of more than 18,000 patients without prior CVD from three large clinical trials. FDCs including aspirin cut the risk of heart attacks by 53 percent, stroke by 51 percent, and deaths from cardiovascular causes by 49 percent. The results were welcomed by international...

My Jewish father was an old country lawyer who believed deeply in fairness and justice for all living people, so I was curious what he thought about the Nazis. It was spring of 1977, and the American Nazi Party had announced their intention to hold a July 4th rally in the town of Skokie, a predominantly Jewish community in Illinois. Not surprisingly, the town of Skokie had sought an injunction to ban the rally, and the Nazis had, ironically, sought the help of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to fight the injunction. The subject at the family dinner table...

My Dr. put me on a statin even though my cholesterol was only 177. She said they have a new formula they use that uses your age, weight, and some other parameters that indicated I was at an elevated risk for a heart attack. I asked her what would happen If I lost 30 lbs, could I skip the statins, she seemed to indicate yes. I am 5'9''and 205. Is anyone familiar with this new formula?

The most common cholesterol-lowering drugs may improve hospitalized COVID-19 patients’ chances of survival and reduce their risks of progressing to more severe disease, a new study suggests. An analysis of more than 10,000 people admitted to more than a 140 hospitals across the nation found that a class of medications called statins, together with blood pressure drugs, reduced in-hospital COVID-19 death by 40% among those who took them prior to being admitted. The same held true of COVID-19 patients’ odds of severe disease: those only taking statins benefited from a 25% lower risk of developing severe disease and those taking...

Dr. Maryanne Demasi is a former medical scientist who completed her PhD in Medicine at the University of Adelaide. Her research focused on the pathology of Rheumatoid arthritis and potential therapies. Her innovative research has appeared in several internationally published medical journals. Leaving her lab coat behind, Maryanne accepted a position as a political advisor and speechwriter for the South Australian Minister for Science and Information technology portfolios. She advised on issues concerning Intellectual Property and commercialisation of research. Maryanne was headhunted by the ABC ‘s Catalyst program in 2006 and gained a reputation for reporting on relevant and sometimes...

I was taught in medical school that coronary artery disease (CAD), or the blockages that can choke off blood flow to the heart, progresses from minor “streaks” in youth, to visible plaques young adulthood, and on to complicated plaques and major problems later in life. During my training the arrow always pointed towards heart disease advancing and never reversing. This is just not true! Indeed, for nearly 3 decades it has been known that just as arteries can worsen with time, they can also improve rapidly. Some of the measures to achieve this are presented here. Statin Medication While reversal...

“Between 2002 and 2013 statin use in the US nearly doubled, cholesterol levels are falling, yet cardiovascular deaths appear to be on the rise.”