by Sayer Ji
GreenMedInfo.com
Have the nerve-damaging properties of statin drugs now been confirmed? There are over 300 adverse health effects associated with the use of this chemical class of cholesterol-lowering medications known as statins, with myotoxicity (muscle-damaging) and neurotoxicity (nerve-damaging) top on the list. When will the FDA step in and warn the public, as proof […]
by Dr. John Briffa
I was reading here that there’s a new cholesterol-lowering drug in the pipeline. The Food and Drugs Administration in the US has approved the injectable agent mipomersen for the treatment of ‘homozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia – a genetic cause of raised cholesterol levels associated with cardiovascular disease developing early in life. Mipomersen has been […]
by Dr. Briffa
While raised cholesterol levels are often said to be bad news for the heart, I was interested to read a recently published piece of research which assessed the relationship between cholesterol levels and health outcomes in individuals suffering from heart failure. In this US-based study, about 2,500 people were assessed for an […]
By Dr. Mercola
Statins are the world’s most-prescribed class of medications. A staggering one in four Americans over the age of 45 now take cholesterol-lowering drugs such as Pravachol, Mevacor, Lipitor, Zocor, Crestor, and others. A majority of them are taking these drugs for primary prevention of heart attacks and strokes.
However, mounting research suggests this […]
by Sayer Ji
GreenMedInfo.com
A new study published in the journal Atherosclerosis found that statin use is associated with a 52% increased prevalence and extent of coronary artery plaques possessing calcium.[i] This study, published on August 24th, was preceded only three weeks earlier by one in the journal Diabetes Care, which found that coronary artery calcification “was significantly higher in more frequent statin users […]
by: Margie King, Health Coach
GreenMedInfo.com
You’ve heard it repeatedly: there are two kinds of cholesterol: the good high density lipoprotein (HDL) and the “bad” low density lipoprotein (LDL). Now a researcher at Texas A&M University has come to the defense of LDL and says that it may not be so bad after all. In fact, it helps […]
By Dr. John Briffa
The Cholesterol Truth
Excerpts:
While some doctors and researchers seem keen to downplay the potential hazards of statins, their use is linked with a range of unwanted effects including muscle weakness, muscle pain, liver damage and kidney damage. These are all well-recognised side-effects from this form of medication. However, there is also some […]
by Sayer Ji
GreenMedInfo.com
Newly published research reveals that more frequent statin drug use is associated with accelerated coronary artery and aortic artery calcification, both of which greatly contribute to cardiovascular and all-cause mortality.
Published Aug. 8th, 2012 in the journal Diabetes Care, researchers studied patients with type 2 diabetes and advanced atherosclerosis and found that coronary artery calcification […]
By Dr. Mercola
Recently, news headlines were ablaze with startling information that eggs are nearly as bad for your arteries as cigarettes. After surveying more than 1,200 seniors, the researchers concluded that eating egg yolks on a regular basis is approximately two-thirds as bad as smoking with regards to the build-up of arterial plaque.1
That’s an […]
By Dr. John Briffa
The Cholesterol Truth
Excerpts:
While the cholesterol theory of heart disease is overwhelmingly accepted by members of the medical and scientific communities, you’ll find dissenters too. Recently, the Journal of Lipid Nutrition published an account of a discussion held during a scientific meeting held in Japan last year, and it makes for interesting reading, […]
By Dr. John Briffa
The Cholesterol Truth
Excerpts:
The Cholesterol Treatment Trialists (CTT) is a UK-based collaboration of doctors and researchers who, on the whole, push for aggressive treatment of cholesterol to low levels. I don’t think it would misrepresent the CTT’s view to say that, as far as supposedly unhealthy ‘LDL-cholesterol’ levels are concerned, ‘the lower […]
By Sayer Ji
GreenMedInfo.com
New Research: Statins Increase Risk of Polymalgia Rheumatica 14-Fold
Few drugs are as toxic to the organ they are prescribed to “treat” as statins. There are already hundreds of studies indicating that statin drugs are muscle-damaging (myotoxic) and nerve-damaging (neurotoxic), and yet they are somehow still legally allowed to be sold to millions of […]
by Dr John Briffa
The Cholesterol Truth
Excerpts:
In many countries, adults are urged to have their cholesterol levels regularly checked, and then take appropriate action in the form of lifestyle changes and/or medication if their levels are found to be higher than set guidelines.
In recent times, recommendations regarding cholesterol screening have been extended to children too. […]
by Dr John Briffa
The Cholesterol Truth
Excerpts:
More than a decade ago, some British researchers put forward the idea of a ‘polypill’ – a combination medication designed with the prevention of cardiovascular problems, such as heart disease and stroke, in mind. The original ‘formulation’ combined blood pressure and cholesterol-lowering medications, along with aspirin and vitamin B12. From […]
by Dr John Briffa
The Cholesterol Truth
Excerpts:
Since cholesterol is believed to cause ‘cardiovascular’ diseases such as heart disease and stroke, and since statins reduce cholesterol, the general assumption is that statins reduce the risk of these conditions through their ability to reduce cholesterol. Actually, there is evidence that statins may not work, when they do, through […]
Dr. Eugene Arnold of the Ohio State University Medical Center is researching the cholesterol link to Autism. Realizing that our brains are made up of a significant amount of cholesterol, he starts with the assumption that those with Autism may not be suffering from too much cholesterol, but in fact may be suffering from […]
High cholesterol diet helps mice with Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease
BBC
A diet high in cholesterol may help people with a fatal genetic disease which damages the brain, according to early studies in mice.
Patients with Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease struggle to produce a fatty sheath around their nerves, which is essential for function.
A study, published in Nature Medicine, showed that […]
by Dr John Briffa
The Cholesterol Truth
Excerpts:
Many drugs have been developed which modify cholesterol levels in one way or another. Because there is a fervent belief within the research community that cholesterol causes heart disease, there is also slavish adherence to the belief that modifying cholesterol will translate into ‘clinical benefit’. But oh how often […]
by Dr John Briffa
The Cholesterol Truth
Excerpts:
Over the last few years increasing numbers of Swedes have been rejecting conventional nutritional advice to eat a low fat, high carbohydrate diet, and instead are opting for what is being termed a ‘lower-carbohydrate, high-fat (LCHF)’ diet. So significant has this shift been, that it’s estimated that about a […]
by Dr John Briffa
The Cholesterol Truth
Excerpts:
Relationship Between Cholesterol And Cardiovascular Disease Not Clear-Cut
Strokes are caused when blood supply to the brain is interrupted for a prolonged period of time and may leave sufferers with long lasting disability. Strokes are also a leading cause of death. The most common type of stroke in the UK […]
