Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
CARY, N.C., July 30 (UPI) -- There are significant differences between those diagnosed with high cholesterol and those with high cholesterol and hypertension, U.S. researchers say.
Jessica Brueggeman, director of behavioral services at MicroMass Communications in Cary, N.C., says despite these differences, one striking similarity is evident -- neither group is very good at taking cholesterol-lowering medications as prescribed.
Most of the studies I've seen lately don't seem to show cholesterol drugs do all that much good. Probably more effective for people to cut way back on sugar and other carbs, eat fewer calories than they burn and get down to a lower weight.
In the first place, I don't have high cholesterol. According to my doctor, I ALMOST have it and he wants me to take a statin. I refused.
Not only do have a philosophical aversion to taking some drug to "prevent" a problem I don't yet have, but statin's are hard on the liver, more so if you drink alcohol, which I do and enjoy.
It seems to me that all I'd be doing is trading my liver for my heart and that's a tradeoff I'm not willing to make, especially to prevent a "maybe."
Even with insurance, Lipotor costs us 450/mo/person. so that means $100/month, just for that one drug!
We've found it more cost-effective just to watch the diet.
Honestly, do doctors have a clue as to how much certain drugs cost/ No, they're not there to balance your budget, but just to keep throwing pill after pill at a patient, then wonder why they're not "compliant" is absurd!
Last doctor visit, I was handed RX for 9 meds, I only take 3 of them, the rest, well......I spend about $100+/month on the meds I do take, and yes, I know all the "tricks" generics, mail order, etc, etc....a person can't be expected to take a pill for everything.
We found our cholesterol, hdl, ldl, etc, balanced out when we simply made a few dietary changes, like switched from 2%--skim milk, cut out the "spreads" like butter, margarine, watched the refined sugars, etc.
When I turned 40, we were transferred to Southern Italy. Our diet changed a great deal at that point, to what is called a Southern Med diet. Within a year my cholesterol shot up so high that the lab could not got a true reading on my LDL/HDLs.
At a duty station of approx 10,000 US servicemembers, about 10 to 20 each month have this reaction to their diet while stationed there. Which forms a 'group' of about 150 that meet with the dietitians. They even had a support group for them.
I met with a dietitian monthly for 2 years, and my doc gave me ever increasing doses of drugs. We finally got me on a vegan diet and the maximum doses of four drugs. Where my cholesterol held level at just above the trigger level that would require drugs.
Ten years later [having been on the maximum doses all along] my body finally reacted with the most common side-effect which is my skeletal muscles began breaking down. I had pain in my arms, legs and back. I had difficulty walking and was nearly stopped from doing farm chores.
My docs changed me onto alternative drugs and cut the dosage way down. My cholesterol shot back up with the reduced drugs. After another year, I have finally regained most of my muscle usage again that I had lost from those drugs.
During all of this, no doctor can tell me what triggered this.
No doctor can say what it is that my body is doing that is causing my cholesterol to be so high.
No focus is on the root cause of this. It is entirely doctors saying lets try this drug, and see what it does. If it does not work then we can try some other drug.
I am not over-weight. I do not have high B/P.
This 'problem' is invisible, it does not cause any lessened lifestyle or any noticeable symptoms. But the drugs given for it have side effects which can be crippling.
I have decided to stop taking the drugs. I do not care if they are from the world's largest drug cartel. Nor that I have really good insurance coverage. The drug pushers can not provide me with any evidence that their drugs are doing me any good.
When I turned 40, we were transferred to Southern Italy. Our diet changed a great deal at that point, to what is called a Southern Med diet. Within a year my cholesterol shot up so high that the lab could not got a true reading on my LDL/HDLs.
At a duty station of approx 10,000 US servicemembers, about 10 to 20 each month have this reaction to their diet while stationed there. Which forms a 'group' of about 150 that meet with the dietitians. They even had a support group for them.
I met with a dietitian monthly for 2 years, and my doc gave me ever increasing doses of drugs. We finally got me on a vegan diet and the maximum doses of four drugs. Where my cholesterol held level at just above the trigger level that would require drugs.
I'll bet a lot of those service people went hog wild on the cappuccino, pasta, pizza, bread, and marinara. I doubt it was the olive oil, citrus, contorno (veggies) and fish that did that to them.
Did you try cutting out sugar? There's some evidence that switching to a very low carbohydrate diet can significantly increase your liver's ability to process food without producing as much cholesterol.
I'll bet a lot of those service people went hog wild on the cappuccino, pasta, pizza, bread, and marinara. I doubt it was the olive oil, citrus, contorno (veggies) and fish that did that to them.
Did you try cutting out sugar? There's some evidence that switching to a very low carbohydrate diet can significantly increase your liver's ability to process food without producing as much cholesterol.
For the past few years, our diet has been focusing more and more on produce that I grow on my land.
With my Dw's occasional baking we go through about 10-pounds of sugar each year. [we still have a couple bags of sugar that we bought on sale years ago]
Most of her baking has been in conjunction with testing new recipes where she substitutes dried-bean flour for wheat flour. [she presents a workshop at our annual self-sufficiency fair]
Our salt consumption is at about 1 pound every 4 years. [I bought this salt we have in the house now in 2004]
We shifted to poultry once a week, fish once a week and the rest is mostly veggies, no fried foods, back in 1995 [2 years before moving to Italy].
While in Italy we ended up swearing off all red meat, all dairy, any oils outside of grapeseed oil [it became clear that olive oil spikes my cholesterol numbers. In fact among the group of us, olive oil seemed to be the biggest single factor in increased cholesterol. The nutritionist had a stack of studies that had been done about how olive oil does that, it may be slightly less bad for you as compared to corn oil, but that is far far removed from being 'good' ]. And of course all pre-processed corporate-marketed foods.
Also fruit juice is completely forbidden as it spikes triglycerides.
btw.
A low-carbohydrate, low-protein, no-refined-sugar, no-salt diet results mostly in the veggies you can grow in your backyard.
For the past few years, our diet has been focusing more and more on produce that I grow on my land.
With my Dw's occasional baking we go through about 10-pounds of sugar each year. [we still have a couple bags of sugar that we bought on sale years ago]
Most of her baking has been in conjunction with testing new recipes where she substitutes dried-bean flour for wheat flour. [she presents a workshop at our annual self-sufficiency fair]
Our salt consumption is at about 1 pound every 4 years. [I bought this salt we have in the house now in 2004]
We shifted to poultry once a week, fish once a week and the rest is mostly veggies, no fried foods, back in 1995 [2 years before moving to Italy].
While in Italy we ended up swearing off all red meat, all dairy, any oils outside of grapeseed oil [it became clear that olive oil spikes my cholesterol numbers. In fact among the group of us, olive oil seemed to be the biggest single factor in increased cholesterol. The nutritionist had a stack of studies that had been done about how olive oil does that, it may be slightly less bad for you as compared to corn oil, but that is far far removed from being 'good' ]. And of course all pre-processed corporate-marketed foods.
Also fruit juice is completely forbidden as it spikes triglycerides.
btw.
A low-carbohydrate, low-protein, no-refined-sugar, no-salt diet results mostly in the veggies you can grow in your backyard.
Smart move on the juices. When you read labels and see 32 grams of sugar per cup of juice, it wakes you up. The other surprise for me was 13-16 grams in milk, so I switched to rice milk, tastes the same, but you have to find the kind that is sugar free. I try to stay at 15 grams of sugar a day Take supplemental calcium to replace loss in no milk.
Breads are another surprise sugar package. Really surprised after label checks at how many breads use so much sugar when it is really not necessary. Dry cereals are real culprits, too.
Here's a little known side of effect from statins, it can cause quarter size bald spots on the back of your head. Google it. It happened to me. The doc said no way however I knew when I got my last hair cut at the exact same time I started the statin. My barber noticed well defined clean bald spots 3 months later. I looked it up to see if statins can cause this and sure enough it does.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
]. And of course all pre-processed corporate-marketed foods.
