Krysan Blog: Aide Memoire (2) About Statins ...
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- Written by Marian Moore
K R Y S A N B L O G Saturday, 21 August 2010
THE WELLBEING CONSULTANCY
(Previous blogs are stored in the ARCHIVES)
Aide-mémoire - No.2 - Saturday 21 August 2010
Neither do men put new wine into old bottles; else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles and both are preserved.
Matt. 9:17
How Great Thou Art (Lest We Forget)
Wise words from the Upanishads.Words cannot reveal him. Mind cannot reach him. Eyes do not see him.
How then can he be comprehended, save when taught by those seers who
indeed have known him?
Dear Friends
I didn't write the article on statins which follows, but I could have!The article was written by Ann Pietrangelo, an American freelance writer with an interest in health care policy borne of personal experience. Please read what Ann Pietrangelo has to say with particular reference to the last paragraph of her article.
I say no more other than a prescription for statins was followed - five days later - by a emergency 999 call and an emergency operation for my previously healthy husband. The involvement of statins may (or may not) be a co-incidence.
But, without further ado, here's Ann Pietrangelo's article delivered into my inbox only a few minutes ago - bang on time and bang on target.
One burger, a large order of fries, and some free statins. What if you could bypass the doctor and the pharmacist and get your statins directly from your fast-food provider? Talk about cutting out the middle-man.At least that’s what researchers at Imperial College London have suggested in a recent study, as reported in ScienceDaily. The paper, published in the American Journal of Cardiology, indicates that the effect of a statin is enough to offset the increased risk of heart attack caused by eating a cheeseburger and a milkshake. It turns out that the statin reduces risk to approximately the same degree as fast food increases it.
Naturally, researchers were careful to note that “statins don’t cut out all of the unhealthy effects of burgers and fries. It’s better to avoid fatty food altogether.” They also stressed the need for studies to assess the risks of allowing people to take statins without medical supervision. I would hope so.
About Fast Food
The link between fat intake and blood cholesterol is well documented. Fast food generally contains high amounts of trans fats which, when consumed on a regular basis, contribute to high cholesterol and escalate risk of heart disease. In addition, fast food is loaded with empty calories and little nutritional value.Even if a statin could offset the cholesterol contained in a fast food meal, it still doesn’t make either the meal or the statin a good choice. What we eat matters!
About Cholesterol
Despite the bad press, cholesterol isn’t all bad.LDL cholesterol is the bad kind. Too much of it increases the risk of heart attack and stroke. The body produces LDL naturally -- how much is a matter of genetic predisposition, but consuming too much saturated fat, trans fats, and dietary cholesterol increases what you already have. An LDL cholesterol reading of less than 100 is optimal.
HDL cholesterol is the good kind. It helps to keep LDL cholesterol from spiraling out of control. HDL protects against heart attack and stroke. When it comes down to the numbers, higher levels of HDL are desired. Low levels -- less than 40 mg. for men and less than 50 mg. for women -- indicates higher risk of heart health problems.
One way to keep cholesterol levels in check is through lifestyle -- no smoking; healthy diet low in fat, cholesterol, and salt; and frequent exercise.
For more information about cholesterol, visit the American Heart Association.
About Statins
Statins are marketed under many different names and are prescribed to reduce the amount of LDL cholesterol in the blood, thereby lowering risk of heart attack. They work by blocking a substance your body needs to make cholesterol, and may also reabsorb built up cholesterol.Researchers believe there are other health benefits to statins, including treatment for other disease unrelated to heart health. For people with a genetic pre-disposition to poor cholesterol readings, statins have been shown to have a positive impact.
The Mayo Clinic lists the potential side effects of statins as muscle and joint aches, nausea, diarrhea, constipation, and even liver damage, also cautioning that once you take a statin, you will most likely take it for life. AP
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My husband is now making good progress at home, but it was a close encounter for him and a wake-up call for me and the rest of my family. I thank the young NHS surgeon who saved his life, the para-medics, and also the nurses from around the world who took care of him.It is also well worth remembering that our National Health Service (NHS) is free at the point of contact and this has been the case since 1948. Next time we meet, I will be looking at its roots and trying to make sense of the proposals for change - lest we forget.
__Best Wishes and Thank You for Listening
Marian Moore21.08.10
Walk in the Dark
If a man
wishes to be sure
of the road he travels on,
he must close his eyes
and walk in the dark.~ Saint John of the Cross
FOR LOVERS OF GOD EVERYWHERE. So, the less we know, the more sure we may be? John of the Cross frequently turns conventional wisdom on its head, and nowhere more so than here. The light of the left brain will not serve us on the mystical path. When our thoughts no longer fill the screen of our awareness, we are in a state of unknowing, because we normally "know" through our thinking. But when thinking falls away and we enter the apparent darkness of not thinking, we discover another kind of knowing, another kind of light. Wordless, imageless - it is the essence of silence itself, and it carries its own knowledge, which is faith, our true guide. Faith, not belief, carries us forward. for a belief is a thought, whereas faith is a knowing, a certainty which grows in the marrow.
ROGER HOUSDON, 2009
THE FUTURE OF THE NHS: PETITION
The future of the NHS is under real threat. Government plans will pave the way for an unfair, two-tier health service dominated by private companies, and a return to wealth-based healthcare. Join the campaign to Stop The NHS White Paper. Sign the petition at:
http://www.nhscampaign.org/stop-the-nhs-pain/e-petition.html
Posted: 20 September 2010