Archive for the ‘statins’ Category
Saturday, November 15th, 2008
Nearly every day is bringing new evidence that if you want to protect your heart, you may have to pay a lot more attention to your teeth, your stomach, and lots of other areas that on first thought you wouldn’t have associated with damage to your heart.
Why? Because “inflammation” is fast joining high cholesterol levels as a major threat to your cardiovascular system. You see, it’s long been known that half of all heart attacks occur in people with seemingly normal cholesterol levels. That means either that so-called “normal” cholesterol levels may actually be too high (and there is evidence that some people - those with extra cardiac risk factors - really should aim for the lowest possible cholesterol levels, not just those that are at the higher range of “normal”), or that there is more to why your blood vessels plug up than simply the fat content of your bloodstream. That “something” is probably inflammation.
Most experts now accept that a major cause of why your heart gets damaged is through inflammation of the endothelium, the lining of the arterial wall, and when those endothelial cells become damaged, they are more prone to developing those fatty plaques that are the cornerstone by which we diagnose atherosclerostic damage to vessel walls. There’s also this: inflammation of the endothelial cells probably has its source in other locations in the body: gum disease, for example, or the stomach bugs that cause ulcers but which many people carry “silently.”
So what is the evidence for this theory, you wonder. As a start, several studies have shown that people with higher levels of a chemical called c-reactive protein (CRP) in their blood have higher risks of heart disease and stroke, and the higher the CRP levels, the worse that risk. CRP is a marker for inflammation.
In another study, a researcher took a group of people who had suffered heart attacks and randomly assigned some to get antibiotics, and some to get placebo. At the end of a year, the group on antibiotics had fewer second heart attacks and fewer episodes of chest pain requiring urgent intervention. Antibiotics, of course, counteract infection, which is a type of inflammation (more on this below).
There’s more evidence from a practical perspective. It is now thought that part of the reason the group of medications known as statins (Lipitor®, Zocor®, Pravachol®, etc.) are so effective at lowering the rate of heart attack is not just because they lower cholesterol levels (which they do), but also because they exert an anti-inflammatory effect as well (they lower levels of CRP). So when you take a statin, you are getting a double dose of heart protection.
So now for the good news (sort of): you can lower your risks of heart attack by lowering your levels of CRP, that is, by lessening the inflammation in your body, but it’s the same-old, same-old, I’m afraid (I did say “sort of good news”). CRP levels have been shown to go down with weight loss (in the overweight) and exercise. Inflammation also goes down, of course, with the regular use of ASA, although ASA is a powerful medication with several potential side effects, particularly on bleeding tendencies, so discuss it with your doctor first before starting on ASA for this reason.
And as previously stated, of course, statin medications have also been shown to lower CRP levels.
But what about antibiotics? Why doesn’t everyone just take a week’s worth of antibiotics once a year to protect their heart? First, because we still have no idea why antibiotics might work for this problem (in the study I noted earlier in which antibiotics did work, even the researcher who headed the investigation says he doesn’t know why that happened) and second, because, the potential side effects of such an approach - especially the potential for bacterial resistance to those medications - is far too great.
For now, why not just work out, eh?
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Sunday, September 14th, 2008
In my previous posts I talked about drugs currently available for the treatment of high cholesterol. I will talk about the statins in this post. Mevacor (lovastatin - 50 cents/pill), Pravachol (pravastatin - 39 cents/pill), Lescol (fluvastatin - 2.45 / pill), Zocor (simvastatin - 19 cents / pill), Lipitor (atorvastatin 3.80 / pill), Crestor (rosuvastatin - 3.20 / pill) are the statin drugs currently available in the United States. Lovastatin, pravastatin, and simvastatin are available in generic form and are cheaper (all prices are from Costco for roughly equivalent doses).
The statin drugs are the only drug class with data in both primary and secondary prevention of heart attack and stroke. Primary prevention refers to preventing heart attack and stroke in people who have not had a heart attack or stroke. Secondary prevention refers to preventing another heart attack or stroke in people who have had a heart attack or stroke. Statin drugs also have good data for mortality.
They are appropriate first-line treatment for all patients who can tolerate them who have cholesterol problems. Statins have effects on heart disease and stroke that exceed their ability to lower cholesterol. In other words, you can get to the same LDL and HDL levels with other drugs, but you will do better on a statin all things being equal. This is because they seem to do something very important besides lower cholesterol Ð they make cholesterol plaques less likely to rupture and therefore less likely to harm you.
This is the key point in treating cholesterol. High cholesterol is a problem because it causes plaques in the arteries that eventually cause blocked arteries that then cause heart attack or stroke. If a drug lowers cholesterol but doesn’t affect the plaques, it may not do you any good.
Before I am accused of being paid off by the pharmaceutical manufacturers, let me point out that I receive no compensation from any drug company and do not knowingly hold any stock in any of them. I have pointed out in prior columns that I do not recommend certain prescription drugs based on a lack of data. I would recommend initiation of statin therapy with a generic drug to save money if at all possible.
Statins have acquired an undeserved reputation in my mind among many laypersons. Statins have fewer side effects than any of the drugs listed above with the exception of Zetia. Statins are far safer than any of the drugs above with the exception of Zetia. As a class, statins are the most powerful drugs for lowering your risk of dying of a heart attack due to elevated cholesterol.
Of course statins do have their problems, beginning with muscle soreness. Some people get mild soreness, and some are unable to move out of bed. If this happens, stop the drug, and the problem goes away. Muscle soreness seems to be less with fluvastatin or pravastatin, and can be safely tried even in folks who have not tolerated other statins.
This muscle soreness issue is to my mind a little overblown. If it happens, stop the drug, lower the dose, switch statins, or decide you cannot tolerate them. There’s no permanent harm - unless you keep taking them despite severe pain and fail to tell your doctor.
One statin in particular (Baycol) has caused muscle damage to the point that it caused renal failure, but that drug is off the market and for the rest to cause that severe a reaction in general means that severe muscle pain was ignored either by the patient or their doctor for a prolonged period of time.
Liver toxicity is also not as common as people think. Periodic monitoring may be necessary, but this is not a firm recommendation as with niacin. Stopping the drug stops the problem.
Memory loss has been seen very rarely with simvastatin and atorvastatin and less so with the other statins. Stopping the drug also seems to stop the problem.
A little known fact about statins is that they should be taken at bedtime for maximum effectiveness.
There are possibly several secondary benefits to statin therapy, all of which do not have randomized data behind them but are probably worth mentioning. Statins may help prevent diabetes and osteoporosis, may lower blood pressure, may improve outcomes in patients with heart failure, may prevent dementia, and may certain cancers (though this particular data is quite weak in my mind), may preserve kidney function, and may prevent sepsis. None of these have been proven in a randomized fashion and would not be reasons to take this class of drugs without further data.
Overall I think there is a negative buzz about statins only because so many people are on them. One rarely hears about problems with the other classes of drugs because relatively few people are on them compared with statins and so the volume of complaints is low. Statins are actually quite a safe class of medications to take and have a lot of data behind them. If you ask physicians what they themselves are taking, many take statins as a preventative.
One final thing about statins - it is not a good idea to discontinue them abruptly, especially when hospitalized! Discontinuation of statin therapy has been linked with heart attack and one should try to wean if at all possible. Talk with your doctor before abrupt discontinuation.
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Saturday, August 30th, 2008
Lipitor is a cholesterol-lowering medication that blocks the production of cholesterol (a type of fat) in the body.
Lipitor reduces low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterin and summate cholesterol in the blood. Lowering your cholesterol bathroom help prevent heart disease and hardening of the arteries, conditions that can lead to heart attack, stroke, and vascular disease.
Lipitor is used to treat high cholesterol. Lipitor is too used to lower the risk of stroke, heart attack, or other center complications in people with coronary bosom disease or type 2 diabetes.
Lipitor may too be used for other purposes not listed in this medication guide.
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Monday, August 25th, 2008
At present there are many people suffering from high cholesterol or low cholesterol problems. Lipitor is basically a HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor that is also called as statin. Lipitor reduces the making of oily substances your body. People having any type of cholesterol problems are recommended to use Lipitor. But many people don’t know from where to buy Lipitor easily. They are available in all medical stores. Nowadays you can buy Lipitor online that means you don’t have to go to the market. Moreover Lipitor cost is affordable to all.
Never take overdose of Lipitor as it can be dangerous to health; people often do this to recover soon. Always order Lipitor online that needs no prescription or doctor’s permission, saving your time. An effective cholesterol reducing medicine is Atorlip Generic Lipitor. You must buy Generic Lipitor as it is harmless and approved by the FDA. Pravachol Lipitor is also a cholesterol managing drug. To buy these drugs you don’t have to go anywhere just order them online.
People having high blood cholesterol problems must use Lipitor Zetia. This is a very fast and effective medicine that reduces high blood cholesterol problems.
Avoid using Lipitor if
* You are undergoing with liver problems
* Woman who are expecting or breast-feeding
* Or if you are using a HIV protease-inhibitor
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Saturday, August 23rd, 2008
Q: I’m working on my diet and starting an exercise program to lower my cholesterol. If that doesn’t work, my doctor said she will prescribe statins. If these drugs can really help, shouldn’t I start taking them now?
A: There is virtually no downside to lowering your total cholesterol and LDL (”bad”) cholesterol with a healthy diet, regular exercise and weight control. And the potential benefits reach well beyond great blood-test results.
Selecting foods low in saturated fat and trans fat, boosting your consumption of fruits and vegetables and ramping up physical activity can lead to better weight management and reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes and some cancers. It can even improve your mood.
On the other hand, using medication to lower cholesterol can have some unwanted consequences.
In general, statins are quite safe, but they can make some people drowsy, constipated or nauseated. In rare cases, they can cause liver and muscle damage.
Other types of cholesterol-lowering drugs have side effects, too. That’s why your doctor wants you to make lifestyle changes first. If diet and exercise do the trick, you can avoid taking medication.
However, if lifestyle changes don’t lower cholesterol enough, adding a statin can help. Statins are the most commonly prescribed cholesterol-lowering drugs. They block a liver enzyme involved in cholesterol production. This decreases the amount of cholesterol the liver pumps into the bloodstream. Statins also increase the amount of LDL cholesterol the liver removes from the blood.
Statins work well. Studies have shown that they can lower LDL by 20 percent to 60 percent and might raise HDL, the “good” cholesterol, by 2 percent to 10 percent.
The result: Your risk of having or dying from a major cardiovascular event drops by 20 percent to 30 percent.
There are six statins on the market: atorvastatin (Lipitor), fluvastatin (Lescol), lovastatin (Mevacor), pravastatin (Pravachol), rosuvastatin (Crestor) and simvastatin (Zocor). Most experts agree that they all work well.
However, potency and side effects can vary from person to person and from one drug or dosage to the next.
Statins do not seem to interfere with most of the other drugs that a person with heart disease might take. An added plus is that you need to take them only once a day.
The drawback is their expense - about $35 to $120 a month, depending on the type and dose. Generic statins (lovastatin, pravastatin and simvastatin) cost less.
Experts agree that statins are the best cholesterol-lowering medications. But if you can’t take them, find that they aren’t as effective as hoped or have other risk factors, your doctor may prescribe one of these cholesterol-lowering drugs instead:
Ezetimibe
Ezetimibe (Zetia) lowers LDL by interfering with the body’s ability to absorb cholesterol from food.
A recent trial of Vytorin, which combines ezetimibe and simvastatin, found that although the combination lowered cholesterol better than the statin alone, it was no better at reducing arterial blockages. Until we know more about the long-term effects of Zetia and Vytorin, these drugs should be reserved for people who can’t take statins or who need a bigger cholesterol-lowering push.
Fibrates
These drugs block the production and activity of proteins that carry cholesterol in the blood. The two most common are gemfibrozil (Lopid) and fenofibrate (TriCor). They are prescribed mainly for people with high triglyceride levels.
Because fibrates can cause some rare but serious side effects, you should have liver-function and blood count tests before and during treatment. Fibrates and statins should be used together only with great care, if at all.
Niacin
In high doses, this B vitamin acts like a drug to lower LDL and triglycerides. It also can raise HDL levels. Although niacin is inexpensive and generally safe, some types cause facial flushing, rashes, itching, headaches, nausea and other side effects. Niacin is available over the counter, but you should not use it to lower cholesterol without your doctor’s supervision. Prescription preparations may have fewer side effects.
Bile acid binders
These resins bind with cholesterol-rich bile acids in the intestine, preventing their absorption. The body draws upon its store of cholesterol instead, lowering cholesterol levels in the blood. These medications have no effect on triglycerides. They are safe, but the older preparations have unpleasant intestinal side effects.
Other substances
A number of foods and supplements have been touted as sure-fire ways to lower cholesterol. Some show promise; others don’t. But none takes the place of an overall effort to lower fat and cholesterol in your diet.
Medication doesn’t give you license to make daily trips to the ice cream store or forgo physical activity; you’ll still need to stick with a healthy diet and exercise if you take cholesterol-lowering drugs.
The people who reduce their risk of heart disease the most adopt a heart-healthy lifestyle in addition to taking medication.
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Saturday, August 9th, 2008
Pfizer Inc announced that Lipitor (atorvastatin calcium) 80 mg reduced the risk of heart attack and stroke by 32 percent in patients who have heart disease and chronic kidney disease compared with patients taking the 10 mg dose of Lipitor. This analysis, designed and completed following the closure of the five-year Treating to New Targets (TNT) study, was published in the “Journal of the American College of Cardiology.”
“People with chronic kidney disease are more likely to die from heart disease than to develop kidney failure,” said Dr. James Shepherd, a member of the TNT steering committee and clinical academic consultant, department of pathological biochemistry, University of Glasgow Medical School. “It is critical for us to find new ways to reduce cardiovascular burden in these patients. Intensive statin therapy seems to be at least part of the solution.”
The primary endpoint of the TNT study was the reduction of major cardiovascular events, including death from heart disease, non-fatal heart attacks, resuscitated cardiac arrest, and fatal or non-fatal strokes. This sub-analysis studied 3,107 patients with moderate to severe chronic kidney disease, as defined using a standard measure of kidney function. The efficacy results in this analysis were primarily driven by reductions in heart attack and stroke. Both doses of Lipitor (80 mg and 10 mg) were well tolerated. Lipitor 80 mg is not a starting dose. The safety of Lipitor 80 mg in patients with chronic kidney disease was similar to that reported for the overall TNT population, with no unexpected safety concerns identified.
“The results of this analysis complement the large body of evidence from multiple clinical trials demonstrating the cardiovascular benefits of Lipitor,” said Halit Bander, Ph.D. senior director of Pfizer’s global cardiovascular metabolic medical team.
About Chronic Kidney Disease
An estimated 26 million Americans and 50 million people worldwide have chronic kidney disease, or permanent kidney damage due to injury or disease. Patients with chronic kidney disease do not effectively filter toxins from the blood. When chronic kidney disease progresses to kidney failure, either dialysis or a kidney transplant is needed. Chronic kidney disease recently has been recognized as an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death and illness in patients with kidney disease.
About the TNT Study
The TNT study was a landmark investigator-led trial coordinated by an independent steering committee and funded by Pfizer. It was the largest study to date evaluating the efficacy and safety of Lipitor 80 mg. The study enrolled 10,001 men and women with coronary heart disease aged 35 years to 75 years in 14 countries and followed them for an average of five years. The safety of Lipitor 80 mg in patients with chronic kidney disease was similar to that reported for the overall TNT population, with no unexpected safety concerns identified.
About Lipitor
Lipitor is the only statin proven to provide a combination of impressive average LDL (”bad” cholesterol) lowering of 39 percent to 60 percent, significant and proven cardiovascular event reductions, and a well-established safety profile across a broad range of patients.
It is the most prescribed cholesterol-lowering therapy in the world, with nearly 151 million patient-years of experience. Lipitor is supported by an extensive clinical trial program involving more than 400 ongoing and completed trials with more than 80,000 patients.
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Monday, August 4th, 2008
Dr. Helen is having some cholesterol hell. She wants to keep her LDL cholesterol low and HDL cholesterol high, and having suffered a heart attack in the past this is of the utmost importance. The product she was using was Benecol Smart Chews, which, judging by the nutrition facts, don’t seem to have anything particularly wrong with them. It uses plant sterols, proven to lower LDL cholesterol in the human body. Yet her LDL cholesterol and triglycerides level went up. What gives?
Whatever the reason, cholesterol is something you should try to keep in check whether young or old. Sometimes, triglycerides and LDL cholesterol come from crazy places you wouldn’t even think of. Below are my tips for getting your cholesterol under control through the use of a good diet, exercise, and supplements.
Avoid Processed Foods and Artificial Sweeteners
This is so hard to do nowadays because almost everything is processed and almost everything has corn syrup in it (even the chews!). Processed foods like corn syrup — and even white bread and white pasta — are turned into glucose (sugar) rapidly by the body. Excess sugar that your body doesn’t use fast enough will be turned into fat. In this case, most often these foods will be turned into triglycerides, a kind of fat that is easy to burn off but is detrimental to your health.
Buy truly whole grain products whenever possible to avoid this affect on the body.
Limit Your Alcohol Consumption
Certain alcohol beverages, such as beer and especially wine, have been shown to have incredible health benefits in moderation. A couple glasses of wine a day is no problem. However, when you drink alcohol, the liver prioritizes the metabolism of alcohol over other substances such as glucose. This results in even more glucose than usual being converted into triglycerides. This will happen especially when drinking cocktails that involve fruit juices and syrups. This is especially a warning to all the college students out there!
Eat Your Fiber
This can’t be stressed more. Fruits, vegetables, and legumes have so many different qualities that are amazing that they shouldn’t be passed up on. In terms of helping with your cholesterol, there are some benefits that your greens can give you that few foods can. The soluble fiber in fruits and legumes, as well as oatmeal, form gelatinous substances in the intestine and bind with cholesterol so that it is removed rather than absorbed. Eating just 15 grams of soluble fiber a day can reduce your LDL cholesterol by 10-15% over time.
Exercise and You Won’t Be Sorry
A regular regimen of exercise is extremely helpful in burning off triglycerides and reducing LDL cholesterol while boosting HDL cholesterol. There is no doubt that cardiovascular exercise as well as weight training reduces inflammation, excess fat, and LDL cholesterol. Truly, any amount of exercise is beneficial but those who do it regularly will see the most benefit. You need to remember though that the heart is also a muscle, and while it may seem strange, a whey protein shake after a jog is just what it needs to build itself stronger than ever before.
Get Acquainted with the Good Fats, Throw Out the Bad
A supplement with plant sterols alone is not going to do the trick — essential fatty acids have the most control over your cholesterol levels. Before I say anything, I just wanted everyone to know that I am extremely biased against low/no fat diets. I think they are ridiculous and led to a generation of people coming down with cardiovascular diseases. That’s because fat in your diet is so absolutely necessary that you can’t afford to cut it out. In terms of cholesterol, fat can save your life if you eat the right kinds. So what are they?
Monounsaturated fats are what you want the most of in terms of lowering LDL cholesterol. When eating a salad or some whole wheat pasta, feel free to drizzle a good helping of extra virgin olive oil. Salad dressings based on olive oil are also good. Seriously, olive oil is amazing and shouldn’t be passed up on.
You should also make sure to get a large amount of your essential oils from food sources. Fish have a lot of good fats in them, such as the polyunsaturated omega-3 and omega-6. Avocado is great. Some coconut oil, a medium-chain saturated fat, has been shown to be beneficial as well. You should also eat a decent amount of nuts, as they contain a great amount of oils that are beneficial to the body.
So what are the bad? Any kind of processed or refined oil. That giant, cheap gallon of vegetable oil should be thrown out immediately. There is no better way to raise your triglyceride and LDL cholesterol count than to cook everything in vegetable oil. When oils are heated they undergo a chemical transformation that makes them much less healthy for you. Basically, anything that says processed, hydrogenated, or partially hydrogenated should be thrown out especially if found in packaged food. These are generally trans fats — the biggest culprit in terms of bad cholesterol.
You will also want to trim as much fat off of red meat as possible as, unlike coconut oil which is a medium-chain saturated fat, these are long-chain saturated fats and do have a connection to higher LDL cholesterol. Replace some of your red meat meals with fowl and fish instead.
Some Supplements Do Wonders
There is a reason that bodybuilders and nutritionists are absolutely obsessed with certain supplement products. Their benefits are proven, visible, and effective in everyone.
Flax seeds and flax seed oil are one of nature’s best sources of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. Taken as a supplement or whole, these little guys do wonders for your cholesterol and heart. Cod liver oil is a good alternative, containing these fats along with vitamins A and D naturally.
Like I said, bodybuilders and nutritionists take these because they work. AI put a bit of flaxseed oil in every protein shake I make. While I’m sure the Benecol Smart Chews has had some kind of effect given the plant sterols, I don’t believe that it can have nearly the effect as supplementing with essential fatty acids.
Conclusion
There are many lifestyle changes that you can make in order to boost your cardiovascular health and tackle cholesterol problems. As a natural substance that your body needs, dietary cholesterol itself has very little impact on the cholesterol in your body. When you eat more cholesterol, your body simply makes less. The terms HDL and LDL actually refer to lipoproteins that surround the cholesterol the production of which has much more to do with dietary fat than dietary cholesterol. A good exercise regimen, but most of all a healthy diet full of unprocessed foods and essential unsaturated fatty acids, are essential to raising your HDL and LDL levels, thus preventing the kind of arterial plaque that can lead to so many cardiovascular diseases.
These tips worked for me, and I hope that by following my suggestions you can successfully achieve your goals. Good luck Dr. Helen and everyone else!
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Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008
Atherosclerosis is a common name for arteries thickening and hardering. It developes when a fatty plaque builds up in the inner walls of arteries. According to many scientists atherosclerosis can start when the endothelium, the innermost layer of the artery, becomes damaged. When the inner layer of the artery becomes damaged, a plaque, the buildup of fat-like substanses (cholesterol, triglyceride, cellular waste products), calcium and clotting blood substance (fibrin), can form on the damaged artery. The plaque can reduce or completely stop the flow of blood through the artery thus reducing the oxygen supply. Atherosclerosis can result in a stroke or heart attack if the oxygen supply to the brain or heart muscle is reduced. If the oxygen supply to the extremities is cut off, gangrene can result. Athresclerosis often leads to coronary heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States.
Causes of atherosclerosis:
* High cholesterol level in blood
* High blood pressure
* Tobacco smoking
* Lack of physical activity
* Obesity
* Aging
High cholesterol & atherosclerosis treatment
Atherosclerosis prevention and treatment includes lifestyle changes and cholesterol lowering therapy. High cholesterol levels can be lowered by:
1. Low cholesterol diet
Low cholesterol diet must be low in trans and saturated fat, sodium and dietary cholesterol and rich in whole-grain, high-fiber, low-fat foods, fruits and vegetables.
2. Lifestyle changes
* Stop smoking
* Loose weight
* Increase physical activity
3. Drug therapy
* Take medications used to lower cholesterol levels in blood
* Treat hypertension, control your blood pressure
* Treat diabetes mellitus
* Treat overweight, loose weight
Medications used to lower cholesterol level in blood
When your blood test shows high cholesterol level, your doctor will prescribe you low cholesterol diet and lifestyle changes. If these changes in diet and physical activity do not lower your blood cholesterol level, your doctor may prescribe a cholesterol-lowering medication.
Nearly 25 per cent of blood cholesterol comes from the foods you eat and 75 per cent of cholesterol is produced by your liver. Due to this statistics, there are two kinds of medications: first lower cholesterol count produced by your liver and the second reduce cholesterol count taken from foods.
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Sunday, July 20th, 2008
There have been plenty of studies done showing the heart healthy benefits of alcohol. But while there are rumors red wine is the best, is it really?
According to a study by Jefferson Medical College researchers, who compared the effects of drinking either red wine or gin on several biochemical markers in the blood, red wine had a much greater effect in lowering levels of substances which are hallmarks for heart disease and stroke.
Subjects in two groups were given two drinks a day of either wine or gin for 28 days. Then, those who received red wine the first time then were given gin. Those who had gin first then received red wine. The researchers measured levels of inflammatory biomarkers before and after each half of the trial.
The red wine dramatically lowered, more than the gin, the levels of molecules involved in inflammation.
While this is a controversial issue, there are many experts who believe the benefits of wine have been shoved under the rug. In fact, this is highly valuable medicinal, as powerful as some of the best drugs we have available today in preventing heart disease.
“Moderate drinking that’s say one, two drinks a day of alcoholic beverage provides as much protection as the statins. It’s about a third reduction in heart attacks, which is very substantial. And alcohol’s a lot cheaper,” said Dr. Emanuel Rubin, a pathologist.
The statins are drugs like Lipitor or Pravachol. Red wine contains many complex compounds including polyphenols, which are absent from gin, and what the researchers believe make the difference.
But Dr. Rubin cautions, regardless of the alcohol, there are true benefits to be gained by drinking daily. “I think it is a reasonable thing for doctors to recommend to patients after a certain age that ordinary social drinking is actually good for you,” he said.
Keep in mind not to overdo it. The research found there’s no benefit when you have more than two drinks per day.
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Saturday, July 19th, 2008
Exercise and Heart Health
Lack of exercise may contribute to being overweight. This is a risk factor you can manage with your doctor. And your heart needs you to get active—especially if you’ve been diagnosed with high cholesterol. Exercise can help you reach (or stay at) your appropriate weight. It can also strengthen your body to help you fight off illness and may keep you in a healthier, more optimistic state of mind.
Like diet, exercise is something where a few small changes can make a big difference. Here are a few ideas to get you moving:
Walk for 30 minutes a day. Increasing the number of steps you take each day can help your heart. Take your dog to the park, take the stairs instead of the elevator, park in the farthest spot from the store.
Try a new activity. Go ride a bike. Or start swimming. Take a yoga class. Join a hiking club. Learn tai chi. A new activity can reduce your weight and help raise your spirits.
LIPITOR is a prescription drug. It is used in patients with multiple risk factors for heart disease such as family history, high blood pressure, age, low HDL (”good” cholesterol) or smoking to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke. When diet and exercise alone are not enough, LIPITOR is used along with a low-fat diet and exercise to lower cholesterol.
LIPITOR is also used in patients with type 2 diabetes and at least one other risk factor for heart disease such as high blood pressure, smoking or complications of diabetes, including eye disease and protein in urine, to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke.
LIPITOR is not for everyone. It is not for those with liver problems. And it is not for women who are nursing, pregnant or may become pregnant.
If you take LIPITOR, tell your doctor if you feel any new muscle pain or weakness. This could be a sign of rare but serious muscle side effects. Tell your doctor about all medications you take. This may help avoid serious drug interactions. Your doctor should do blood tests to check your liver function before and during treatment and may adjust your dose. The most common side effects are gas, constipation, stomach pain and heartburn. They tend to be mild and often go away.
When diet and exercise alone are not enough, adding LIPITOR can help. LIPITOR is one of many cholesterol-lowering treatment options that you and your doctor can consider.
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