Dr. Oz and Cholesterol
 

Did anyone happen to watch Dr. Oz last night when he had the two doctors who wrote the book "The Great Cholesterol Myth: Why Lowering Your Cholesterol Won't Prevent Heart Disease-and the Statin-Free Plan That Will"?

This could rock the stock market when thousands of people take themselves off statins; and how many doctor's offices are being inundated with calls today!

I think the book is called The Great Cholesterol Con by Anthony Colpo.

Here is the summary line

(p254): "There is every reason in the world to encourage people to exercise frequently, stop smoking, eat minimally processed foods, and find ways to get a handle on the stresses of modern life. The evidence for low-fat diets, on the other hand, is based on a mixture of erroneous assumptions, half-truths and downright lies."


Seems a bit controversial.

and then there are the unlucky one who like my son is a no processed foods, no face, vegi eating guy who weights 118 and cholesterol is uncontrolled, so go figure

I did see the program and was intensely interested. I am 5'5" and 125 and have very high cholestoral. I have refused the statins because I am a just a cranky Yankee who hates to take pills unless I absolutely must. Also, I had had a doctor about 10 years ago who basically said the same thing. You don't die from high cholestoral and he was pretty much against the statins. In mid July cholestoral was 270. In a final attempt to get this under control, I gave up my beloved routine dinner of wine and cheese. Perfect dinner with no cooking :) Still take the red wine ..health reasons :) but not a slice of cheese. Yesterday I went to get the cholestoral checked and it actually went down 34 points..unfortunately so did the "good". So now I am adding fish oil to see if I can get the good to go up. Meanwhile, I was online yesterday about all the cholestoral info and came across an article which, if I can find again, I will post. It totally supported the doctors on the show yesterday and the premise that all LDL is not bad. Not the "larger and fluffier" type. It is the other smaller type that is really bad. I didn't know there was a test I could take but I will be asking for that in a heart beat. (haha heartbeat) I think they called it on the show the small particle test for cholestoral.

What luck to have flipped to that channel last night!

Mine is 127, no statins.

Helene's had climbed to above 200 and after consulting the cardiac specialists in Boston and Cincinnati who know a lot about Williams Syndrome she began statins this summer.

Henry has normal cholesterol but was born with only one coronary artery (Pete Marivich Syndrome) and Dr. Dean Keriakis who was his doctor in Cincinnati and who was pivotal in the discovery and use of TPA for first defense against a heart attack happening said it would be wise to keep the only coronary artery you have unclogged.

I don't think it is wise to dismiss statins summarily.

There are some (albeit a very small percentage) that are vegans that still have high numbers (high being +150).

But all others have seen their numbers drop like a rock, and get off all the satins (no drugs) with their related side effects. :coolsmiley:

Gracie: Wow. You get the prize!

Medical care advances by the performance of well designed preferably placebo controlled studies. Prospective is better than retrospective. Meta analysis will help to discern benefits and risks that may not be apparent in studies with smaller numbers of participants. Medical journals welcome submissions from contrarians and those who wish to challenge orthodoxy. That is why you hear all the time about a new study or a new recommendation that differs from what you have heard in the past. So if you can't write an article that is well enough researched to be accepted in a medical journal, well you can always write a book and go on TV. You can promote bioenergetic therapy where "Sexuality and self-respect are the key avenues for exploration in bioenergetic analysis" (Mass. Society of Bioenergetic Analysis) and be member of the American Board of anti-aging Medicine.. which is not a recognized Board

American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

These two organizations are prominently featured on Dr. Sinatra's website, which is devoted to selling his line of vitamins from his company. Hey you too can make money from his schemes, as explained on his website:
Start Making Money Today!
If you have a web site, you can make money by becoming a Healthy Directions affiliate. The affiliate program is designed for marketers who place approved advertising links on their web site. Healthy Directions’ affiliates are compensated each time one of their site visitors completes an action (for example: purchase a product or lead form).


Then we have Dr. Sinatra's co-author, Jonny Bowden who is the owner of Rockwell, another company that sells online vitamins and supplements Welcome to RockwellNutrition.com-Designs For Health, Genestra, BioGenesis, Pharmax, Allergy Research Supplements

Searching on pubmed which is the source for all the publications in medical, including many non-traditional, journals for articles by Jonny Bowden. zero
For Dr. Steven Sinatra. zero

You do know that your traditional MD is also recommending life-style changes, better diet, more exercise etc. And when she adds a statin she makes no money from writing that script.
Could these men be correct? Sure, but the burden is on them to produce real properly obtained data and publish that data so that it can be subject to the peer review analysis that is needed. If you don't do that you can be regarded as either a lonely truth teller fighting against the machine, or a self-promoting charlatan. I wonder when they are heavily pushing vitamins in the companies they own rather than information, which category they inhabit.

Aside from Sinatra:
The Real Cause of Heart Disease

Instead of looking just at the cholesterol numbers, we need to look at the cholesterol particle size. The real question is: Do you have small or large HDL or LDL particles. Small, dense particles are more atherogenic (more likely to cause the plaque in the arteries that leads to heart attacks), than large buoyant, fluffy cholesterol particles. Small particles are associated with pre-diabetes (or metabolic syndrome) and diabetes and are caused by insulin resistance. Recent research (see my "Do Statins Cause Diabetes and Heart Disease" blog) indicates that statins may actually increase diabetes.

While measuring cholesterol particle size is a simple blood test that can be done at Labcorp, most doctors do not look at it, even though it is the only meaningful way to evaluate cholesterol numbers. You can have a LDL cholesterol that looks normal, like Jim did at 101, but you may have over 1000 small LDL particles which are very dangerous. On the other hand, you can have the same LDL number of 101, and it may be made up of only 400 large particles which cause no real health risk. Your health risk has less to do with your cholesterol numbers than it does the quantity and size of your cholesterol particles.



Let me reiterate: These are measurements and tests that can be done in any doctor's office, but are rarely done. These are not esoteric or expensive labs that can only be done at specialty clinics.

I HAVE EDITED THE PART ON METABOLIC SYNDROME TO KEEP THIS FOCUSED ON THE CHOLESTORAL THREAD

Seven Tips to Fix Your Cholesterol (and Reverse Metabolic Syndrome Without Medication)

Luckily, this doesn't mean you are doomed, even if you are already suffering from metabolic syndrome and heart problems. High cholesterol and pre-diabetes or metabolic syndrome can be successfully diagnosed and treated. I have reviewed this in previous blogs, but here are seven tips to help you get big large fluffy cholesterol particles and reverse metabolic syndrome.

1. Get the right cholesterol tests. Check NMR particle sizes for cholesterol by asking your doctor for this test at Labcorp or LipoScience. You want to know if you have safe light and fluffy cholesterol particles, or small dense, artery damaging cholesterol particles. A regular cholesterol test won't tell you this.

2. Check for Metabolic Syndrome.
• Do you have a fat belly? Measure you waist at the belly button and your hips at the widest point -- if your waist/hip is greater than 0.8 if you are a woman or 0.9 if you are man, then you have a problem
• If you have small LDL and HDL particles, you have metabolic syndrome.
• If your triglycerides are greater than 100 and your HDL is less than 50, or the ratio of triglycerides to HDL is greater than four, then you have metabolic syndrome.
• Do a glucose insulin challenge test. This is very important and most physicians do not test for insulin and glucose. To read more about how to do the right type of testing for metabolic syndrome or pre-diabetes please see www.drhyman.com for my information.
• Check your hemoglobin A1c, which measures blood sugar over the last six weeks. If it is greater than 5.5, you may have metabolic syndrome

3. Eat a Healthy Diet. Eat a diet with a low glycemic load, high in fiber, and phytonutrient and omega-3 rich. It should be plant based, and you should consume plenty of good quality protein such as beans, nuts, seeds, and lean animal protein (ideally organic or grass fed). I have described specific diets that abide by these parameters in my books "UltraMetabolism" and "The Diabesity Prescription."

4. Exercise. Enough Said.

5. Get Good Quality Sleep. Sleep is essential for healing your body, maintaining balanced blood sugar, and your overall health.

6. Use Supplements to Support Healthy Cholesterol Particle Size. These include:
• A multivitamin including at least 500 mcg of chromium, 2 mg of biotin and 400 mg of lipoic acid. For most you will take three capsules twice a day.
• 1000 mg of omega-3 fats (EPA/DHA) twice a day.
• 2000 IU of vitamin D3 a day at maximum. (Some people recommend less -- consult your doctor.)
• 1200 mg of red rice yeast twice a day.
• 2-4 capsules of glucomannan 15 minutes before meals with a glass of water.
• Broad-range, balanced concentration of plant sterols. You will usually take one capsule with each meal.

7. Consider Using High Dose Niacin or Vitamin B3. This can only be done with a doctor's prescription. It is useful to help raise HDL cholesterol, lower LDL cholesterol and triglycerides, and increase particle size.

8. Use Low-Dose Statins ONLY If You Have Had Heart Disease or are a male with multiple risk factors, while carefully monitoring for muscle and liver damage.

For the vast majority of people this approach is better than simply taking a cholesterol medication. To reduce your risk of heart disease you need to address metabolic syndrome, and that can ONLY be done effectively with a comprehensive diet and lifestyle approach like the one outlined above.

For more information on metabolic syndrome, heart disease, cholesterol, and other essential health topics, please visit www.drhyman.com.

Now I'd like to hear from you ...

Have you taken statins, what has been the effect and do you have muscle pain or any neurologic side effects?

Do you think metabolic syndrome is an important factor to address to reduce the risk of heart disease? Why or why not? Has your doctor ever said, your sugar is a little high and we will watch it? What for what -- until it is so bad you are eligible to take diabetes medication?

What do you think of conventional medicine's tendency to prescribe medications over dietary and lifestyle change for chronic health conditions?

I would love to hear your thoughts. Share them by leaving a comment below.

To your good health,

Mark Hyman, MD

References

(i) Cannon, C.P., Shah, S., Dansky, H.M. et al. 2010. Safety of anacetrapib in patients with or at high risk for voronary heart disease. N Engl J Med. 363(25): 2406-2415.

(ii) Barter, P.J., Caulfield, M., Eriksson, M. et al. 2007. Effects of torcetrapib in patients at high risk for coronary events. N Engl J Med. 357(21):2109-2122.

Mark Hyman, M.D. is a practicing physician, founder of The UltraWellness Center, a four-time New York Times bestselling author, and an international leader in the field of Functional Medicine. You can follow him on Twitter, connect with him on LinkedIn, watch his videos on YouTube, become a fan on Facebook, and subscribe to his newsletter.

,,.

I'm not sure what the above message really means but I I assume it means to take everything with a grain of salt because you don't know which is the plumber and which is the PLUMBER?
My post is really about the different information that is coming to light. It used to be statins were the God send but in fact there are side effects which are coming to light that simply were not known about initially. Now there is a whole new line of thinking about LDL. Medical advances come all the time and we should be open to new information. Admittedly there are charlatans. But I also know "charlatans" can be viewed as such when they go outside conventional thinking like the doctor who treated my daughter for Lyme. At the time, other doctors were orthodox about treating for 2 weeks with antibiotics and he attacked it head on with TWO antibtiotics for a much longer time. Unlike my daughter, a lot of children that had gotten lyme...if they were even diagnosed!!! properly ended up with severe long term issues. He was essentially blackballed by the mainstream. I am always interested in hearing new information which I do try to substantiate. But even if it isn't initially popular or considered credible, sometimes it turns out to be valid.

This is not so new and not so controversial. There are many cardiologist who maintain that excess sugar in one's diet is more responsible than excess fat. By sugar we are talking about food, especially carbohydrates, that are converted into sugar by your body. Excess sugar that cannot be used immediately for energy is gathered up by insulin, brought to cells where it is converted into fat and stored under the skin and in the liver. This excess fat produces cholesterol.

Then there are cardiologists who say that eliminating most fats from your diet will cure your cholesterol problems. The problem is that many people who have adopted a vegan lifestyle still gain weight and have high cholesterol. This, according to other cardiologist is due to the the high consumption of carbohydrates in a vegan diet.

Whole grain are supposed to be absorbed into the body more slowly than processed grains so that your blood sugar doesn't spike, but we still see people who eat a lot of whole grains suffering from obesity and high cholesterol.

Each side of this debate points to people who have subsisted primarily on certain types of foods over long periods of time and are healthy. The vegans look at Asian peoples who have lived primarily on rice. Is this conclusive proof that a rice based diet is best? I don't know, but the fact that rice contains no gluten is now brought into the discussion. Gluten is a protein found in many grains and may be absorbed and converted to fat. I haven't seen much research on this so I don't know what to think.

The low/no carb proponents will point to the mediterranean diet and and hold that up for proof that you can live healthily while eating fats.

The other issue that that the animal rights people have influenced this debate and advocate for the plant based lifestyle. If you read vegan literature you will see things that tell you that you will be much more serene guilt free knowing that you have not caused the death of another sentient being.

Some people just feel that it seems logical that if you eat only plants you will be healthier. Many people, including world renown cardiologist disagree.

So what are we to believe? I wish I had the answer.

I do know this. Many years ago I followed a diet by famed sports nutritionist, Dr. Robert Haas. Haas was one of the first proponents, along with Dr Pritikin of the carb based diets. I didn't feel any better. I gained weight by eating tons of pasta, bread, oatmeal and other whole grains.

I tried the Atkins diet for about a year. Atkins wants you to eliminate as much carbohydrate in your diet as possible. I lost weight and my cholesterol dropped but on by a very small amount. My HDL did rise a bit however.

Then I found the South Beach diet which is a modified version of the Atkins model. Not only does Dr Agatson advocate minimizing carbs but he also wants you to eat very low fat proteins. I had about the same results as the Atkins diet.

Many people have had success with both of these philosophies so I can come to no conclusions. But, I am beginning wonder if one way of eating works better for some people based on their particular chemistry make up and the other works better for others. And, possibly something in between works for another segment of the population.

I'm sure that this is not helpful to many people in trying to make these kinds of decisions, but I did want to at least frame the debate and let you know that this is not really anything new.

What all sides seem to agree on is that exercising and eliminating stress are valuable.

Thank you for posting this very comprehensive information. I find Villagers in general are very interested in focusing on health, exercise and well being in our golden years. However, as a society, a lot of us are unwilling to make extensive lifestyle changes which require hard work and self displine, and perhaps sacrificing favorite treats like happy hour or deserts after dinner. And I believe that some people are genetically programmed to have high cholesterol regardless of lifestype choices. It's important that we take a comprehensive approach and not just focus in on Point 8 and disregard the rest!

I've read articles about particle size and it seems to be important. But when I asked my doc a few years back, he didn't know anything about it and thought is was a bunch of hokum. It's is also difficult to get an insurance company to pay for that test. At least it was a few years ago.

True, but if you have already been diagnosed with blockages or coronary artery disease you can pretty much know that you have the smaller dense type of particles.