Posted on 10/16/2006 9:15:45 PM PDT by neverdem
A provocative review paper published this month has raised questions about the aggressive cholesterol-lowering recommendations made two years ago by a government panel.
The panel, the National Cholesterol Education Program, urged patients at risk for heart disease to reduce sharply their harmful LDL cholesterol and to try to reach specific, very low levels.
Though the authors of the new paper, published in the Oct. 3 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine, endorse the use of cholesterol-lowering statins, they say there is not enough solid scientific evidence to support the target numbers for LDL cholesterol set forth by the government panel.
The authors’ argument challenges mainstream medical thinking and the consensus among most cardiologists that the lower the cholesterol is, the better.
Until 2004, an LDL cholesterol level of less than 130 milligrams a deciliter was considered low enough. But the updated guidelines recommend that high-risk patients reduce their level even more — to less than 100 — while patients at very high risk are given “the option” of reducing LDL cholesterol to less than 70. Patients often have to take more than one cholesterol-lowering drug to achieve those targets.
“This paper is not arguing that there is strong evidence against the LDL targets, but rather that there’s no evidence for them,” said Dr. Rodney A. Hayward, a study author, adding that this was largely because of the way clinical trials had been devised and carried out.
“If you’re going to say, ‘Take two or three drugs to get to these levels,’ you need to know you’re doing more benefit than harm,” said Dr. Hayward, who is director of the Veterans Affairs Center for Health Services Research and Development and a professor at the University of Michigan Medical School. He said he was particularly concerned because there was little long-term safety...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I found the following very interesting .... vitamin C!!
"The continual recycling of cholesterol happens naturally when you have sufficient ascorbate, another name for vitamin C. Excess cholesterol is naturally converted to bile acid and then excreted. But if you don't consume enough vitamin C (about 2000-3000 milligrams per day for an adult), cholesterol builds up in your bloodstream. It is here that doctors make a critical error: instead of telling you to take more vitamin C to recycle cholesterol naturally, they prescribe Lipitor, which may create a deficiency of new cholesterol".
As boring as it can be or some people think it is,...."moderate" exercise is probably the best thing for you. Good for the psychology also.
Actually, if Mother Nature decides to punch your ticket, I don't know if there's much you can do.
I think a glass of wine (not the whole bottle) can be healthy for you. And then sex and sleep.
I'd pay to get some decent guilt free sleep.
I'd pay to get some decent guilt free sleep.
I'd pay to get some decent guilt free.....wine.
Why the folic acid? My boyfriend is on Lipitor and Niacian (to raise his good cholesterol). Dimmetap gives me wierd dreams, and codeine based pain meds make me puke for hours after taking one.
INFLAMMATION.....at least for Type 2's......
NO...I'm paranoid about having doctors just throw drugs at problems......been there...done that....doesn't always solve the problem.....
"Why the folic acid? My boyfriend is on Lipitor and Niacian (to raise his good cholesterol). Dimmetap gives me wierd dreams, and codeine based pain meds make me puke for hours after taking one."
Homocysteine. (See below)
http://www.homocysteine.net/
"My doctor prescribed a statin for me six months ago.
I looked it up on the web and did some studying on it.
I ended up throwing out the entire bottle, never opened, of the prescription, and changing my diet radically."
There are a lot of charlatans bashing statins. I'd be a little wary of taking the word of these people. I'd get a second opinion. I've been on statins for perhaps 6-7 years and except for the weird dreams there have been no particular side effects that I am aware of.
Thanks. This makes a good deal of sense. Do you have a medical background by chance? My wife also, on a lose dose has reported the same phenomenom.
"Cholesterol is produced by the body and is used for, among other things, the manufacture and maintanence of cell membranes. However, cholesterol (whether from diet or body manufacture) is too large to pass the blood brain barrier, and as a result, the brain also produces its own supply.
The problem with the statins, such as Lipitor, is: that the drug CAN pass through the blood brain barrier, thereby lowering the cholesterol levels in the brain. This has been reported by a number of people who have had memory and other cognative problems that manifested after starting on the drug. You might be experiencing some sort of affect from the statins and it a playing around with your dream state.
You might want to fire up google and look around for info on statins, Lipitor, and others. I know there is a web site by a former astronaut & AF Flight Surgeon (can't recall the name off hand), who has discussed the side affects he's had (loss of memory) after starting on Lipitor. I think it will also point you to other sites with forums where people have been discussing such matters."
Thanks. It sounds as though you know whereof you speak. Makes perfect sense to me. Thanks again.
I take 500Mg of pure Niacin daily.
It lowers my cholesterol by 100 points.
Supposed to be tough on the liver though.
That's the same amount that I take in addition to the Zocor. Thus far I have had no problems and I have a blood workup every six months or so. Everything is within the normal limits. I'd suggest you do the same to be sure.
"Why not focus more tightly on C-reactive protein?"
I think it should.
"Higher CRP levels tend to be found in smokers and in people who are sedentary, overweight or who have high blood pressure. Lean, athletic individuals tend to have lower CRP levels."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C-reactive_protein
This is why smoking is dangerous and smokers die so much earlier than smokers. I have a brother who had to have bypass surgery in his calves at age 53 from smoking. And an uncle who had two amputations of his lower legs from smoking. I quit 34 years ago and am 63 and no such problems.
The doc wanted me to take Lipitor too, and I flat out refused after witnessing what it did to my dad, and reading some of things things I've read. Such as: Lipitor® Thief of Memory by: Duane Graveline M.D., the former astronaut I was refering to.
Google is our friend.
Disclaimer: Always discuss things with the doc. Bring up issues you have researched. If they're good doctors, they do listen.
Ultimately, your phrase "get a second opinion" says alot. I don't put my life, nor my liberty, in the hands of -any- opinion of someone else.
Of course, in the event of a legitimate emergency, my life is in the hands of emergency medical personnel, or firemen and policemen. And guarding my liberty is partly in the hands of our military. Hell, they may get it wrong, and cost me my life, limb and liberty. So could I, on my own. But they have training, equipment and experience that beats anything I could personally bring to bear.
But once we get past the immediate and into the larger issues, the final call is mine, not some charlatan, whether he has a fancy Doctors office, or an out of the way Web site.
I've just looked through that site. It is disturbing to put it mildly. I suppose I need to raise this with my doctor who I believe to be very capable.
What I do know for a fact is that these weird dreams (and I do mean weird dreams) have to be from something. And my wife reports them as does her brother who also went on them not too long ago.
The bizarreness of these dreams would have to be experienced to be believed. They are not nightmares; just intensely weird. And there is nothing that I can point to my my own personal life that would explain them. I'm not depressed; do not have a hard life, or poor health or anything like that. But these crazy dreams are literally out of this world. Something has to be causing that.
I have seen that happen also. What else is new. Democrats are unsavory.
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