subject: Cholesterol Lowering Drugs To Prevent Heart Disease? Think Again. [print this page] Statin drugs are being prescribed like candy for tens of millions of Americans, but you need to seriously consider statin therapy before deciding to take your doctor up on this prescription, as their use has serious and significant consequential side affects and risks, and, their use is clearly not acceptable for everyone.
The majority of people using statin cholesterol-lowering drugs do so as they believe that lowering their cholesterol will prevent heart attacks and strokes. How many of these individuals do you think would continue to take these drugs if they knew that their drugs have been associated with increased risk of heart attack and increased risk of stroke? Probably no one!
Until recently, therapy has been generally accepted based on studies which were put together by the drug company selling the drugs. However, recently these drugs are falling under increased scrutiny. A recent study in Clinical Cardiology found that heart muscle function was "significantly better" in the control group than in those taking statin drugs. Weakened heart muscle function is asscoatied with heart failure.
Statin therapy is ideal at lowering total cholesterol numbers rather efficiently. The real question however is why would you want to do this? Lowering cholesterol, the "hype" of the millennium, makes it appear as though you are benefiting from the drug therapy and thus improving your overall health. Further, as your health deteriorates from the drugs, other problems which show up later in life are often misinterpreted as being separate and distinct disorders brought on for alternative reasons rather that affiliated with the statin therapy which was truly responsible.
It is and has been my medical opinion that for select individuals who have elevated risk factors for heart disease, and/or have familial hypercholesterolemia, (about 1 in 500), statin drugs may be useful. Unfortunately, the vast majority of statin users do not fit this category and are taking them merely to lower cholesterol. This equation requires serious rethinking. More information on healthy eating and lowering cholesterol though diet is available on my website, linked below. Click on the healthy eating page.
So is sugar toxic? Well in a word, YES! There is increasing belief that sugar is the primary factor causing not just obesity, but also chronic and lethal disease. There is also no longer any doubt that sugar is indeed toxic, and just a matter of time before it is accepted as causative of most cancer, in the same way that we know smoking and alcohol abuse is a direct cause of lung cancer and liver cirrhosis.
Fructose is the primary source of calories in the US. The issue is that fructose is so inexpensive it is used in virtually all processed foods. It's important to note that sugars include other types of sweeteners as well, such as corn-based sweeteners like high fructose corn syrup, honey, agave and fruit. So in counting, you can't just count table sugar. It is recommended to limit total grams of fructose to below twenty-five per day, then it would not be an issue. (Note that this is substantially below average intake). Sugars are hidden everywhere. It is in your soft drinks, fruit juices, sports drinks, most processed foods, even most infant formulas contain the sugar equivalent of one can of Cola! Drastically reducing your sugar intake is the "miracle cure" everyone is looking for! Cutting out a few desserts will barely make a difference however if you're eating a "standard American diet".
Fructose elevates uric acid, reduces nitric oxide, increases angiotensin, and causes smooth muscle constriction, thus raising blood pressure and damaging your kidneys. Increased uric acid also leads to chronic, low-level inflammation, which can lead to obesity, heart disease, hypertension, stroke, kidney disease, gout and cancers, as well as being a major cause of dizziness, which as you are by now no doubt aware, is my specialty. Uric acid levels have been demonstrated to almost triple in this county over the last century. It remains my opinion as well as others, that this process is indeed correlative with coronary artery disease rather than the commonly accused culprit cholesterol, for which most Americans now take prophylactic daily doses of highly profitable drugs. It has been estimated that simply preventing these diseases by decreasing sugar intake could save the US health care system an estimated one trillion dollars per year! Imagine the effect this would have on our deficit. Although not without flaw, a good start to improving your diet, is the Mediterranean diet. A good resource for this is through a website run by a patient of mine; www.italialiving.com. Rather than yoyo dieting, this method of eating will teach you how and what to eat to preserve your health.
