Category: Cholesterol and Statins

Doctors generally happy to treat people with statins who are very unlikely to benefit from them

In my work as a doctor I see a quite-steady stream of individuals who are concerned about their cholesterol-levels. Usually, these people are male, quite young (often in their 40s) and have been diagnosed with ‘raised cholesterol’. They are also often fit, healthy, non-smoking and free of diabetes and high blood pressure. Despite the fact […]

Podcast – 29th March 2013

Cholesterol-modifying drug that does more harm than good is withdrawn from sale

Niacin is a form of vitamin B3 that has been long-known to reduce levels of ‘unhealthy’ LDL-cholesterol, while raising levels of ‘healthy’ HDL-cholesterol. It’s generally believed that these effects would translate into better outcomes in terms of cardiovascular issues such as heart attacks and strokes. As a result, niacin has a history of use for […]

Some reasons why the side effects of statins are likely to be much more common than official statistics suggest

I saw a patient recently who suffered from mental symptoms (poor memory and inability to find his words) quite soon after commencing statins, and his symptoms resolved quite soon after discontinuing the drugs. He might be imagining his issues or suffering from a ‘nocebo’ response (the opposite of a placebo response), but he and I […]

Evidence points to dairy products not being inflammatory after all

Dairy products are, from a conventional nutritional perspective, very much a ‘double-edged sword.’ On the one hand, we are told, they provide the body with valuable calcium for healthy bones. On the other, they can be rich in ‘artery-clogging’ saturated fat and cholesterol. The answer, we are assured, it to consume dairy products in low-fat […]

Are we soon to see a relaxing in cholesterol guidelines?

What is deemed a desirable cholesterol level in the mind of many health professionals has a lot to do with the opinion of panels of ‘experts’ who, essentially, tell doctors what to think and how to manage their patients. One such endeavour in the US is known as the Adult Treatment Protocol (ATP), which itself […]

Confused about dietary fats? My advice is to steer clear of the British Nutrition Foundation

I don’t believe bread, as we commonly eat it, is a healthy or wholesome food (far from it). And last year I was surprised to read a ‘review’ lauding the nutritious attributes of bread and lamenting the fact that, here in the UK, bread consumption is declining. The review was authored by a scientist connected […]

Can statins extend life, and if so, by how much?

We’re often told that statin (cholesterol-reducing) drugs are effective for preventing heart disease and stroke (cardiovascular disease). Whether you buy into this statement or not depends, to a degree, on how you look at the data. It is true that statins reduce the risk of heart attack by about a third. However, this ‘relative risk’ […]

Researchers suggest that statins can nullify the beneficial effects of omega-3 fats

So-called ‘omega-3’ fats found in oily fish (like salmon, trout, mackerel and herring) have a reputation for being healthy, including an ability to ward off cardiovascular diseases such as heart disease and stroke. I was interested to read a recent study which points out that while earlier studies found that supplementing individuals with omega-3 fats […]

New data from old study reveals that reducing saturated fat in favour of ‘vegetable’ oils increases risk of heart attack and can have fatal consequences

Conventional nutritional ‘wisdom’ has it that saturated fat (found in foods such meat, eggs, dairy products, coconut and palm oil) is bad for heart health, while ‘polyunsaturated’ fats (including ‘vegetable’ oils) are good. These concepts emerged decades ago and were mostly based on the impact of these fats on cholesterol levels. There’s a big potential […]