High Cholesterol

Ted_Hutchinson

moneysaving_pharmacist wrote: »

Ted, lets assume you are a male, aged 60 who smokes, had type 2 diabetes diagnosed 5 years ago and your father died of a heart attack aged 49. Would you take a statin?

To suggest anyone with Diabetes takes a drug that may halve their already limited ability to make insulin seems thoroughly irresponsible to me, particularly when we know that achieving current LDL targets may lead to increased Parkinson's incidence.

That is why it is important for everyone to read and try to understand what Chris Masterjohn explains here

There are more ways of reducing heart disease risk than only using statins. Heartscanblog and Animal Pharm explain the basics. here is an example

There are exceptional cases where Dr Davis does use statins but these are the exception and not the rule.

It is indeed arguable that Statins work mainly by increasing 25(OH)D levels
However there are cheaper and safer ways of raising 25(OH)D status to over 50ng 125nmol/l with 5000~6000iu/daily D3 that will impact on your overall wellbeing and ability to fend off many other chronic conditions.

So if this were a MEDICAL advice forum and not a moneysaving one I would suggest to the 60yr old smoker to stop smoking first (that is moneysaving advice surely)
then I'd suggest controlling Type 2 diabetes through diet, as it now being done in successfully in Sweden use Google Translate to convert to English.

In the same way the malpractice in the banking industry has led to it's downfall so the same malpractice in the Pharmaceutical industry will lead to the same end result.

In Sweden that backlash is already under way. 80% of the population no longer trust the advice given by their Food Standards Agency as it has been shown it is influenced more by the needs of the food industry than the health needs of the Swedish population. They have had to remove from their advisory committees everyone with links to the food manufacturing industry and are now reconsidering previous advice so that everything they say in future stands up to logical scrutiny.

You may think you can ignore Gary Taubes work but others will take that information and lampoon you and your colleagues for putting your own financial interests before the best interests of patients.

FAT HEAD Watch the clips here and you'll see what I mean. But focus on what is being said in the Big Fat Lies clip first.

then look at those bankrolling the latest Heart awareness campaign. and you will see corruption in action.

Mercy

Nice to see eggs are now suddenly no longer related to increase in cholesterol.

HOW MANY LIES HAVE WE BEEN TOLD?

And how can we ever trust what Government spokespeople on food say, ever again?

M

noonesperfect

I was advised to lose a little weight to lower my cholesterol. My other risk factors were low (ie age/blood pressure/no diabetes/non smoker were on my side).
Though my father was told his cholesterol was high at 50 he lived to be nearly 77 and never took anything but anaticoagulants till the last year or two of his life (I don't think statins were around in the 70's!!!!)- but my Mother was careful what she gave him to eat and he walked when he could.

I loosely followed a low GI diet and that helped me to lose some weight, which in turn lowered my cholesterol a bit. It's a healthy way of eating without being overly restrictive!;) The principles of it also made for a healthy HDL:LDL ratio of 3:1 in my case even though the reading was still higher than ideal (ie above 6)

Pennylane

I am delighted to see that at long last SOME GPs are actually thinking for themselves and listening to what people like Dr Malcolm Kendrick have been saying for years. (Google his name and the Great Cholesterol Con). :j

Until very recently GPs were almost ramming statins down peoples throats. I know I've been there!! If you asked any questions they looked at you as though you were mad. They gave you diet sheets telling you what to avoid and near the top of the list was EGGS!:rotfl: I was told I was very foolish for not taking statins.

I did a lot of research on statins, talked to loads of people on them and decided they were not for me. I stopped smoking, I changed my diet and I took more exercise. My blood pressure is always normal and I had no other health worries. I am seldom poorly.

I've spoken to a few people recently who have said that their cholesterol was raised and their GP has told them they NOW look at the broader picture rather than just chol. level alone before they suggest statins. So if you smoke, they ask you to stop, if you have high blood pressure, if you're obese etc they take that all into account.

GPs are currently calling in as many people as they can to have cholesterol checks (my friend's Mum is 83 and she was called in last week) because there are financial benefits for them, but lets hope that those who are found to have high cholesterol are not immediately put onto statins.

moneysaving_pharmacist

Ted, why are you talking about CV risk reduction, but ignoring the biggest piece of evidence that exists - HPS was a huge study and cannot just be ignored. I also note that again you are accusing me of putting my financial interests before patient interests. I am an employee pharmacist - my financial position would be the same if no one was on statins. You should also remember that simvastatin, the most widely used statin and the one with the best evidence base, is also the cheapest - it costs about £1 per month.

Pennylane, GPs get points for having records of cholesterol levels for patients with heart disease or diabetes, but not for random patients. And yes, points make prizes.

Ted_Hutchinson

moneysaving_pharmacist wrote: »

Ted, why are you talking about CV risk reduction, but ignoring the biggest piece of evidence that exists - HPS was a huge study and cannot just be ignored.

There is just so much evidence that you are not considering that is simply absurd that you accuse me of not accepting the evidence you provide.
Just look at what Spacedoc has set out

I also note that again you are accusing me of putting my financial interests before patient interests. I am an employee pharmacist - my financial position would be the same if no one was on statins. You should also remember that simvastatin, the most widely used statin and the one with the best evidence base, is also the cheapest - it costs about £1 per month.

But you are a product of big pharma's training and brainwashing. You know full well the lower efficiency of the prescribed form of Vitamin d compared to the non prescription D3 over the counter form. Yet I bet you only provide the least effective form. Similarly we know the body uses 3000~5000iu daily but I doubt you make an effective quantity of D3 available to those who are Vitamin d insufficient (ie have less than 50ng 125nmol/l 25(OH)D.
Consider the following.

Whats a Vitamin D Deficiency?

Vitamin D and Cancer Prevention

Why do you think the public can trust pharmacists when it is clear you are preventing people having access to effective means of preventing cancer, heart disease, diabetes etc.

I will continue to say you put the best interests of big pharma before the best interests of sick people while you continue to behave this way.

You know the extent of statin side effects yet you continue to push them when you must realise for the most part there are better safer alternative therapies.

Francesanne

mazza111 wrote: »

Got my cholesterol test back today, and it was on the high side of normal (from what the doctor said), but as I didn't know I was having it tested, I hadn't fasted for it. So from what she said, it would probably be ok, as i had eaten a couple of slices of toast with my lurpak on it . All doctor recommended was to grill things instead of frying and try to stick to a low fat diet. But don't they always say that

I have to have mine checked once a year and I'm always told to fast for at least 10 hours beforehand. Only water allowed. You won't get an accurate reading if you haven't done the fast.

Ted_Hutchinson

Francesanne wrote: »

I have to have mine checked once a year and I'm always told to fast for at least 10 hours beforehand. Only water allowed. You won't get an accurate reading if you haven't done the fast.

Still as it's the case that those with the highest cholesterol live longest we know where the smart folks aim for.

The Cholesterol Primer

lee26g

red yeast rice

Ted_Hutchinson

lee26g wrote: »

red yeast rice

Red Yeast Rice Alert