Home · Blog
The Wellness Journal · Blog

Category: Cholesterol and Statins

Blog posts from the drbriffa.com archive — same writing, same categories, on the same domain.

Topic

Category: Cholesterol and Statins

Why don’t the ‘excellent’ benefits of statins seen in clinical trials appear to transfer to the population at large? Cholesterol and Statins

Why don’t the ‘excellent’ benefits of statins seen in clinical trials appear to transfer to the population at large?

One claim that is often made about cholesterol-reducing ‘statin’ drugs is their ability to reduce cardiovascular events (essentially heart attacks and strokes) by a third. This is a reference to studies in which individuals have been treated with a, say, a statin or a placebo (randomised controlled trials). Saying that a drug reduces risk of […]

October 4, 2013· 5 min read
Read article →
Statin drug found to impair learning and memory in animals Brain and Behaviour

Statin drug found to impair learning and memory in animals

One of my blogs last week focused on the potential impact statins have on the development or symptoms of dementia. Interest in this area is an example of the growing recognition that statins have the ability to affect brain functioning. As I briefly mentioned last week, even the Food and Drugs Administration in the US […]

September 26, 2013· 4 min read
Read article →
Do statins reduce the risk of dementia? Brain and Behaviour

Do statins reduce the risk of dementia?

Last month I noticed several reports in the news about a study concerning the relationship between statins and dementia (see here for an example). The study in question was presented at a cardiology conference in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. This research found that, over a 4 and a half-year period, statin use was associated with a […]

September 20, 2013· 6 min read
Read article →
Doctors can help you get back on your statins, but does this help you? Cholesterol and Statins

Doctors can help you get back on your statins, but does this help you?

The side-effects of statin drugs are well-recognised, and include muscle pain, fatigue, mental symptoms, kidney damage or liver damage. Some doctors and researchers have decided to change the nomenclature on these side-effects by referring to people who have them as ‘statin intolerant’. I may be wrong, but this seems to me to be a way […]

September 13, 2013· 5 min read
Read article →
Is the concept of getting cholesterol down to a particular level evidence-based? Cholesterol and Statins

Is the concept of getting cholesterol down to a particular level evidence-based?

This week there’s been a big cardiological meeting (the European Society of Cardiology) going on in Amsterdam in the Netherlands. One of the studies presented at the meeting is reported here. The research compared the number of patients achieving recommended LDL-cholesterol levels in the UK with those in Germany. It turns out that the numbers […]

September 5, 2013· 5 min read
Read article →
Certain statin and antibiotic combinations appear to increase the risk of serious statin side-effects Cholesterol and Statins

Certain statin and antibiotic combinations appear to increase the risk of serious statin side-effects

Statin drugs are promoted for their ability to prevent heart attacks and strokes but, as with all medications, they are not without risk either. They can, for example, be toxic to the muscles and kidneys and, in extreme circumstances, can cause muscle breakdown known as ‘rhabdomyolysis’ as well as cause critical injury to the kidneys. […]

August 30, 2013· 4 min read
Read article →
Evidence links cholesterol-reducing interventions with increased risk of dying from accidents, suicide and violence Cholesterol and Statins

Evidence links cholesterol-reducing interventions with increased risk of dying from accidents, suicide and violence

While we are consistently encouraged to keep our cholesterol levels in check for the sake of our heart health, common sense dictates that we should be somewhat cautious here. After all, cholesterol is an essential element in the body and, for instance, is integral to the structure and function of all our cells, including those […]

August 15, 2013· 5 min read
Read article →
Evidence suggests stanols and sterols are ‘good’ for cholesterol but bad for health Cholesterol and Statins

Evidence suggests stanols and sterols are ‘good’ for cholesterol but bad for health

Three weeks ago, one of my blogs focused on the presumed benefits of food products containing plant substances known as stanols or sterols. These partially block absorption of cholesterol from the gut and therefore can reduce blood cholesterol levels. The point I made in that blog, though, was that the impact these foods products have […]

August 1, 2013· 6 min read
Read article →
What is the ‘Fat Information Service’ up to? Cholesterol and Statins

What is the ‘Fat Information Service’ up to?

I had a press release recently alerting me to the presence of the Fat Information Service. On the face of it, this ‘service’ seeks to provide us with balanced and accurate information and advice about the sorts of fat we should be eating in our diets. It claims, among other things, to provide “Access [to] […]

July 18, 2013· 7 min read
Read article →