Strategies for Lowering LDL

[Chuckanut]

I would have more confidence in taking a drug like a statin if the big Pharma companies did not advertise so much on TV. I see ad's for depression, asthma, high blood pressure, ED, dry eyes, foot pain, twitchy legs, bad breath, meddling mother-in-laws, etc, all pushing some new drug. For some reason that makes me suspicious about their objectivity and motives. I wonder why?

[smr91481]

Has anyone watched the fathead documentary? It made a world of sense and since I just had a physical last week and was told my LDL is too high I'm going to give it a whirl. I guess I will find out in three months if the low carb/high fat diet helps. I will also be exercising more.

If you haven't seen the fathead documentary it is on Netflix, it's free on Hulu, and I believe it's on YouTube.

[Lsbcal]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chuckanut I would have more confidence in taking a drug like a statin if the big Pharma companies did not advertise so much on TV. I see ad's for depression, asthma, high blood pressure, ED, dry eyes, foot pain, twitchy legs, bad breath, meddling mother-in-laws, etc, all pushing some new drug. For some reason that makes me suspicious about their objectivity and motives. I wonder why?

I would agree with your observation.

On a side note, we rarely see these adds because we watch the news on PBS and very rarely watch TV with ads. If recorded I zip through them. Might help ones blood pressure to avoid this stuff.

[haha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chuckanut I would have more confidence in taking a drug like a statin if the big Pharma companies did not advertise so much on TV. I see ad's for depression, asthma, high blood pressure, ED, dry eyes, foot pain, twitchy legs, bad breath, meddling mother-in-laws, etc, all pushing some new drug. For some reason that makes me suspicious about their objectivity and motives. I wonder why?

Good luck finding things that are not marketed, and thus to a greater or lesser degree polluted. For example, this board is brought to you by a capitalist, and if you notice, you are being tracked, you are getting ads, ads, ads .

All of life is marketed today, including ER.

Ha

[Lsbcal]

To remove some ads, consider using Firefox with Adblock.

[grasshopper]

Ads, Ads, I don't see no stinkin Ads.

[RAE]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chuckanut I would have more confidence in taking a drug like a statin if the big Pharma companies did not advertise so much on TV. I see ad's for depression, asthma, high blood pressure, ED, dry eyes, foot pain, twitchy legs, bad breath, meddling mother-in-laws, etc, all pushing some new drug. For some reason that makes me suspicious about their objectivity and motives. I wonder why?

After reading more about statins (and their side-effects), I cannot imagine ever taking them. Sure, statins lower cholesterol, but cholesterol is NOT the problem in heart disease (inflammation is). So, you can take a statin, lower your cholesterol, and you will still have at least as great a chance of getting heart disease as without the statin. Plus, you have a much greater chance of becoming diabetic, getting cancer, having your muscle tissue break down, and having a host of other serious problems.

No thanks. I will stick to eating real foods and forget about heavily-marketed drugs like statins. You won't see a big marketing campaign for eating real foods (vegetables, grass-fed meat, etc), because there isn't much money to be made from it (compared to most Rx drugs, anyway).

[tfudtuckerpucker]

I have been lurking for some time, but I want to speak up on this. I am 56 now, and 10 years ago my PCP wanted to put me on Lipitor, because of high triglycerides and ldl. I read up and asked for advice, and instead of statins, I added fish oil (3000 mg daily), switched to oatmeal (steel cut), avoided transfat, and improved moderate exercise. I noticed a large drop in triglycerides & ldl. My lipids have been in the normal range since. I told my PCP, but she said I was just deferring the problem- that I would still need statins before long. It's been 10 years and I am still in the normal range. I think many people have an omega3 deficiency- think that was the main thing that helped me. This may not be the solution for everyone, but it was for me.

[haha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tfudtuckerpucker I noticed a large drop in triglycerides & ldl. My lipids have been in the normal range since. I told my PCP, but she said I was just deferring the problem- that I would still need statins before long. It's been 10 years and I am still in the normal range. I think many people have an omega3 deficiency- think that was the main thing that helped me. This may not be the solution for everyone, but it was for me.

Has she ever apologized for that stupid and almost maliciously negative comment 10 years ago?

Doctors should sometimes record what they say to us unfortunate patients. Clearly there was no way that she could know anything about whether you might want to start later or not. Try to design the that study!

And isn't medicine the art of deferring the inevitable? Or do they now claim to be able to give immortality with their magic pills?

Ha

[Lsbcal]

Hi Tfudtuckerpucker, nice first post. I wonder why your PCP was not more positive? Hopefully she now will come around to believing you can continue to do this assuming your blood work is still showing good numbers.

[tfudtuckerpucker]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lsbcal Hi Tfudtuckerpucker, nice first post. I wonder why your PCP was not more positive? Hopefully she now will come around to believing you can continue to do this assuming your blood work is still showing good numbers.

Sometimes I wonder if doctors sometimes get kickbacks for prescribing certain drugs. But I was deterred by my neighbor, who has a physical therapy practice. He said that if a patient comes to him, complaining about muscle aches, the first thing he asks is if the person is on statins. Apparently that's a major side effect for statins. From the studying I have done over the past 10 years, I am convinced that statins are much over-prescribed in the US. I should not have been prescribed, based on my Framingham score.

By the way, I'll add an into in the "Hi, I'm" section, now that I have been "forced into early retirement". That's an interesting story by itself.

[obgyn65]

Didn't we have a similar conversation a few months ago where I got shot down for providing the official guidelines and related advice? I won't try this again.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FIREd I have been told to eat more almonds, cinnamon, and a host of other supposedly heart-healthy foods. Has anyone had success with any LDL-lowering "miracle food" or supplements?

[FIREd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by obgyn65 Didn't we have a similar conversation a few months ago where I got shot down for providing the official guidelines and related advice? I won't try this again.

"We" as in you and I? Because I seriously doubt that "we" had such conversation.

[obgyn65]

No, "we" as this online community here. I don't like giving names.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FIREd "We" as in you and I? Because I seriously doubt that "we" had such conversation.

[donheff]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lsbcal Hi Tfudtuckerpucker, nice first post. I wonder why your PCP was not more positive? Hopefully she now will come around to believing you can continue to do this assuming your blood work is still showing good numbers.

My former PCP was big on statins but in his defense, a few years back recommendations were floating all over that driving LDL levels way below the upper end of the normal range was a sensible approach. The talk was about putting everyone on statins. Since then a lot of kickback has pushed the other way but the medical profession is divided with the establishment still, for the most part, on the side of statins. You really have to read and think and make up your own mind. The same applies to your PCP. It can be worthwhile to have a little pushback from your PCP to keep us thinking on issues like this and PSA screening where many of us elect still controversial approaches. On the other hand, if your PCP is not following any of the studies that led to the pushback and can't discuss the topics with understanding, it sounds like time to look for a new doctor.

[Chuckanut]

Quote:

Originally Posted by obgyn65 Didn't we have a similar conversation a few months ago where I got shot down for providing the official guidelines and related advice? I won't try this again.

I think the real issue is not a disagreement with any one doctor, even the wise and generous ones here, but a lack of trust in big pharma, big food companies, researchers who get $$'s from food and pharma companies, and the government institutions they are involved with. The average layperson simply does not know what the truth is and feels that he/she is being exploited for economic gain, with their health a distance second place at best.

Examples if misinformation are all over the place: they told us to eat high trans-fat margarine instead of butter, low fat foods loaded with sugar, adding some fiber or Omega-3 to a junky food to make it appear healthy, etc.

Worse of all, we suspect that our doctors are being fed the same garbage we are getting. (pun intended )

[Lsbcal]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chuckanut ...(snip)... Examples if misinformation are all over the place: they told us to eat high trans-fat margarine instead of butter, low fat foods loaded with sugar, adding some fiber or Omega-3 to a junky food to make it appear healthy, etc. ...

We agree that there are plenty of self-interested parties out there and mixed agendas. But suppose you ate some of that trans-fat margarine -- if you just did a little in a well balanced diet it probably wouldn't have led to health issues. That's my unscientific guess and it would apply to those who are relatively healthy.

Occasionally I even eat a Big Mac.

[donheff]

Quote:

Originally Posted by obgyn65 Didn't we have a similar conversation a few months ago where I got shot down for providing the official guidelines and related advice? I won't try this again.

I may be remembering wrong, but my vague recollection was that the response was not so much an attack on you as an attack on the official guidelines. No reason to stay out of the fray. After all, there are plenty of reputable physicians who take strong issue with those guidelines. If you want to defend them you should not back off simply because people argue with you.

[Lsbcal]

Quote:

Originally Posted by obgyn65 Didn't we have a similar conversation a few months ago where I got shot down for providing the official guidelines and related advice? I won't try this again.

I understand you want to avoid snarky comments and back-forth heated arguments. I don't like those either.

I like respectful disagreements that I can perhaps learn from but sometimes people on web sites forget their manners. Also sometimes people forget we cannot see anything but the words written down here. So be careful with your words folks.

[braumeister]

Quote:

Originally Posted by donheff I may be remembering wrong, but my vague recollection was that the response was not so much an attack on you as an attack on the official guidelines. No reason to stay out of the fray. After all, there are plenty of reputable physicians who take strong issue with those guidelines. If you want to defend them you should not back off simply because people argue with you.

Exactly.
After all, the conventional wisdom once was that heavier-than-air flight was physically impossible. Scientific progress is a zig-zag line, not a smooth curve.