Posted on 10/30/2007 8:07:22 AM PDT by qam1
Use of cholesterol and blood pressure medicines by young adults appears to be rising rapidly at a faster pace than among senior citizens, according to an industry report being released Tuesday.
Experts point to higher rates of obesity, high blood pressure and high cholesterol problems among young people. Also, doctors are getting more aggressive with preventive treatments.
"This is good news, that more people in this age range are taking these medicines," said Dr. Daniel W. Jones, president of the American Heart Association.
Still, he said many more people should be on the drugs that lower cholesterol or blood pressure and which have been shown to reduce risks for heart attack and stroke.
The new data, from prescription benefit manager Medco Health Solutions Inc., indicate use of cholesterol-lowering drugs among people aged 20 to 44, while still low, jumped 68 percent over a six-year period.
The rate rose from 2.5 percent in 2001 to just over 4 percent in 2006 among Medco customers. That means roughly 4.2 million Americans in that age group are now taking cholesterol medicines.
Meanwhile, use of blood pressure medicines increased 21 percent, from about 7 percent of 20- to 44-year-olds in 2001 to over 8 percent in 2006. That translates into about 8.5 million Americans in that age group taking drugs to lower their blood pressure.
"It was a surprise to us," said Dr. Robert Epstein, chief medical officer at Franklin Lakes, N.J.-based Medco. "Maybe the fact that we're seeing more young people with high cholesterol and blood pressure is indicative of the epidemic of obesity and overweight that we're seeing in this country."....
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Artificial heart What came to be known as the Jarvik-7 was in fact the final product of the collaboration of many researchers who came before him, and their contributions to this project. Paul Winchell, ventriloquist and much-loved voice and television series character actor, invented the original artificial heart. With the help and advice of Dr. Henry Heimlich, Winchell designed an artificial heart and built a prototype. He filed for a patent in 1956, which he received in 1963. Winchell donated his patent to the institution and Jarvik, using many of Winchells basic principles, took the device further, culminating with the Jarvik-7
Jarvic has since given no credit to Winchell....or as he is often known, Mr Winkle
PaMom
I'm not a doctor, but I've read what some doctors who haven't drunk the statin cool-aid claim total cholesterol under 300 shouldn't be treated with drugs, or anything for that matter. It simply isn't a problem. In any case, krill oil, flax oil, oatmeal, exercise seem to have a good track record for lowering cholesterol. Magnesium, exercise, garlic and sunshine can help with high blood pressure. Best wishes for your husband's health.
Cholesterol schlmesterol.
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I am with you all the way! The doctors try to get me to take statins but I steadfastly refuse. I am 63 years old, 6 feet and 4 inches tall and weigh between 265 and 270. I am stronger than I have ever been in my life before, work out with weights three times a week, ride a bicycle when I get the chance and do whatever heavy physical work I want to do, including moving concrete blocks by hand, swinging a nine pound maul and digging with a shovel (all within the past week) the same as I did thirty years ago. My resting heart rate is usually around 65 and my blood pressure is lower than it was when I was in my twenties. I take Dr. Whitaker’s vitamin formula and Dr. Jarvis’s Vermont folk medicines, vinegar, honey and cinnamon. The doctors who want me to take statins couldn’t keep up with me for ten minutes despite being younger than I am. I don’t know why God has blessed me so generously but I am certainly grateful.
My stepdaughter just told me that her cholesterol is down to 174 and the doctor wants it down to AT MOST 150! What will it take to end this madness! She won’t listen to me, I have tried to warn her but she thinks the doctor knows something.
Everybody is sick. Who benefits?
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The doctors who keep racking up charges for office visits and the drug companies. The project is to eventually have everyone in the country on some form of “chronic” medication. I am convinced this is the real goal.
My son was about 6 when the pediatrician noticed his cholesterol rate was on the rise. She recommended oat bran and I started adding it to a lot of stuff I was making. His cholesterol was back to normal next check up.
My kind of woman. May she Rest In Peace. :)
I work with a woman who is in her late 70’s. She can run circles around me, and I’m pretty nuts, LOL! She, too, hasn’t been to a doctor in ages. She just says they’re only going to tell her what’s “wrong” with her and that she can fix her minor ailments related to AGING on her own, anyway. :)
God Bless women like that. Wish there were more of us on this planet. Then we wouldn’t be in the health care fix that the Socialists exploit for political gain. *Rolleyes*
“watch out for Statin Drugs.....they can cause more harm than good.”
Use Red Yeast Rice instead.
Champion advertised itself as the #1 selling-sparkplug in the world; they never said they were the best and the rest were inferior.
I think the focus on Jarvik’s participation ought be one of ethics, is it proper for a doctor to take an oath of practice to heal and do no harm to then turn to the easier and more rewarding profession usually performed by late-night hustlers?
What’s next, Morton’s as a heart-friendly salt?
Sorry for your loss of that wonderful lady. She sounds like some of my ancestors in rural Kentucky.
Let me put it this way. For years, my doctor handed me a prescription for Lipitor every time I saw him, which I never bothered to fill. And for years, I smoked, was diabetic, but successfully controlled my blood sugar by diet and riding my bike 20 miles every day. This past June, I had to stop riding my bike and call a friend for a ride home because the pain in my chest, while riding, was too great to even consider turning around and riding home.
An EKG, stress test, cardiac catheterization, angioplasty, and two stents later, the side effects of NOT taking a statin trump all to hell all of the thus-far nonexistent side effects you're trying to scare me with of taking a statin.
Furthermore, I've been through cardiac rehab. I know what the survivors of heart attacks and bypass surgeries look like. That is a fate to be avoided.
Rail all you want on the evils of statins - that is your right - I have no doubt that the side effects hit some people in very significant ways. However, if you deter even one person from taking medicine which would have headed off a future heart attack, well, consider that side effect.
I took Lipitor for 3 months 8 years ago and came down with Peripheral Neuropathy which has all but ruined my life since that time.
there are alternatives to Statins.
Niaspan worked for me. HDL's up, LDLs down, TG down, all in current "Optimum" ranges now. Cannot/Will no longer take Statins.
It's a Rx timed-release Niacin. The downside is the usual flushing one gets from niacin, but moderated. Taking it with beer and curry is a BAD idea...impressive flushing for twenty minutes.
That said, it's the only thing that has worked for me. High cholesterol is genetic in my case..I have a sister with high cholesterol who is a gym rat/health nut who eats lettuce, and that's about it. But no adverse CV history in the family.
I remain unconvinced about the new "Optimium" numbers, such as 100mg/dL, because people who do studies get no followon funding if they say the wrong thing. Studies funded by Merck, Pfizer, etc., I strongly dispute. Of Course. For hundreds of millenia we were cholesterol-gobbling hunters, but now, for the duration of the statin patents, suddenly the maximum total cholesterol has been halved, as though by a magic wand.
Sure.
Thank you. I’m going to check out some of the things you mentioned. I’m getting frustrated seeing him barely able to move at times. There has to be a better way.
I think you are right. Half of all heart attack victims have high cholesterol levels and half have normal levels.
I’m happy for the people who haven’t had these side effects from the statins. But they seem to be poison for others. I’ve seen enough to know I will NEVER take them. I intend to do everything I can to find an alternative for my husband.
It's good news if you're selling them. And the threshold for what's "normal" keeps dropping, too.
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