Cholesterol and Statins
Recently, a brief article appeared in the British Medical Journal about how to manage the muscle pain (myalgia) that can occur in takers of the cholesterol-reducing drugs known as statins. The article itself describes this symptom as ‘common’, quoting an incidence of 5-10 per cent in published studies. However, my experience in practice is that […]
Cholesterol and Statins
Yesterday saw the on-line publication of a study in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) that concerns statins and is getting more than its fair share of media attention. The study, conducted in Denmark, analysed the rates of death from cancer in individuals taking statins, and compared them to those in individuals not taking […]
Cholesterol and Statins
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 shown to […]
Cholesterol and Statins
‘Heart failure’ is a term used by doctors to describe a state where the heart muscle has become quite ineffective at pumping blood around the body. This problem can manifest in a variety of ways including fatigue, breathlessness, swelling (oedema) in the lower legs and fluid build-up in the lungs (pulmonary oedema). Ultimately, the condition […]
Cholesterol and Statins
It’s often said that the ‘gold standard’ test of a medical intervention is the ‘randomised controlled trial’. If it was a drug being tested, this normally means randomly assigning half of a group of people to the drug, while the other half gets a placebo. In ‘double-blind’ studies neither the researchers nor the study subjects […]
Cholesterol and Statins
I saw a patient this week who occasionally feels light-headed, particularly when he stands up quickly. This symptom – referred to as ‘postural hypotension’ in medicine – usually signals that someone’s blood pressure is on the low side, and drops even lower on standing. Sure enough, his blood pressure was low (100/70 mmHg). Most doctors […]
Cholesterol and Statins
There’s a widespread view in the scientific and medical communities that saturated fat is bad for the heart. In particular, this form of fat (found in, among other things, meat, eggs, dairy products, coconut and palm oil) is said to raise levels of cholesterol, which in turns increases our risk of heart disease by promoting […]
Cholesterol and Statins
Baroness Barbara Young is the chief executive of the charity Diabetes UK, the UK’s largest and most prominent diabetes charity, and an organisation which encourages diabetics to eat at every meal foods which are known to be disruptive to blood sugar levels and therefore be bad for diabetics (go figure). You can read more about […]
Cholesterol and Statins
Statins – the most commonly prescribed of cholesterol-modifying drugs – work by inhibiting an enzyme (known as HMG-coA reductase) responsible for the manufacture of cholesterol in the liver. However, that enzyme is also responsible for the production of something clled coenzyme Q10, which plays a role in energy production in the body. Some people have […]
Cholesterol and Statins
Here in the UK this week Professor Rory Collins has enjoyed a bit of a media blitz telling all who will listen that statins should really be considered for anyone over the age of 50, irrespective of their risk of cardiovascular disease and state of health. Here and here you can see how his ideas […]