Statin Drugs

Statin Drugs...Inflammation Is Like Being On Fire!

One of my previous posts was about statin drugs. I discussed the science and various recent studies regarding the efficacy of them...or lack there of. I suggest going back to read it if you haven’t already. 

This time I want to bring to light a couple of ideas of why statin drugs work....at the expense of your overall health. Yes, these drugs do lower LDL-cholesterol, and thus reduce your heart disease risk....but at what expense? 

Your overall mortality goes up and you die of other diseases sooner. When heart disease deaths go down in primary prevention with the use of statin drugs, there are more deaths from other diseases. You trade your heart attack for cancer. The usual drug trial is just a few years, and cancer/infectious diseases/gastrointestinal diseases take longer to develop under the undesirable side effects of statin drugs. They don't’ show up until later.

And just why do statins work? Lowering your LDL-cholesterol? Nope! I don’t ascribe to the idea that LDL-c is trying to kill me and HDL-c is trying to save me. Evolution would not have allowed simultaneous events of one blood product trying to kill me and another trying to save me. You think LDL-c is actually made by your body in order to clog up your arteries??? And HDL-c is the “clean-up-crew”? C’mon...

Same thing about cholesterol....it’s not harmful, nor would the human body produce something that’s trying to kill me. Human biochemistry unfortunately is not that simple. Nor would your body work in such fashion. Cholesterol has particular benefits, albeit requirements, for your health; without it you cannot make any cell membranes, hormones, bile salts, or Vitamin D. Kinda important there...

Trials have failed repeatedly to associate the lowering of LDL-c and the reduction of cardiac events. ALL HAVE FAILED!

Read that again....

Here is some information from Dr. Kurt Harris, MD:

-Older trials have demonstrated all-cause mortality benefit to statins in secondary (you’ve already had a heart attack or coronary artery disease) prevention only in men...not women. More recent trials show an even less benefit to statin use even in secondary prevention. 

-If you have neither had a heart attack, or coronary artery disease, there is no demonstrated mortality benefit to taking statins for primary prevention.

-Recent studies show statins actually work by decreasing inflammation in your body.

And this inflammation is the real problem here. The inside of your arteries, the endothelial membranes, become damaged from a poor diet, infection, alcohol, drug side-effects, trauma, and a few other lesser important issues. Your immune system tries to repair it with a cascade of chemicals, platelets, white cells, etc. 

Arterial inflammation involves 4 important components and steps. And it begins with a substance called nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kB): 

Platelets become all excited...they get sticky

Macrophages (white cells that are in your tissues) They eat things...pathogens and dead tissues

Monocytes (white cells that are in your blood...sort of immature macrophages) They also eat things, but stuff in your blood...damaged red blood cells, pathogens, and damaged endothelial lining of your arteries

Smooth muscle cell migration...i.e.. certain types of arterial muscle cells go to the injury site and enlarge, making the inside of your arteries smaller, closing down the inside

Higher levels of inflammation consistently predict coronary events, and survival after an event, goes down. Markers for inflammation include a blood test called hs-CRP...or Highly Sensitive C-Reactive Protein. This protein, produced by your liver in response to inflammation, is a very strong indicator of generalized inflammation. And when it is elevated, is a very good predictor of coronary events. As a matter of fact, if your CRP is in the upper third of normal levels, your risk is doubled. This increased risk level has been demonstrated in men, women, and the elderly. 

Many good claims are being made to reduce your inflammation by consuming more antioxidants to combat the free radicals abundant in inflammation. Arteriosclerosis is an inflammatory issue, from beginning to end. The damage inside your arteries, and the resultant plaque buildup, is from a natural immune response to inflammation. 

And this is why statins work....NOT from reducing cholesterol...but from reducing inflammation. 

And this is why aspirin, an anti-inflammatory drug, shows benefit to reducing coronary events....NOT from reducing cholesterol...reducing inflammation.

And this is why a diet filled with plants, and certain vitamins/minerals (full of antioxidants) shows benefit to reducing coronary events....NOT from reducing cholesterol...reducing inflammation.

Your body knows how much cholesterol to make based upon your particular needs. Not some number (180, 200, 250, 350) pulled out of some pharmaceutical lab’s financial ass. Where did the “maximum total cholesterol” number come from? Why is it such an absolute number when most other lab values have ranges? 

Elevated cholesterol is in response to inflammation. Especially oxidized cholesterol....the stuff involved in arterial plaque formation...from an inflammatory response. Cholesterol is sent there to “patch” the arterial damage and help mend the lesion. So if it is elevated, you probably have a large amount of inflammation going on. 

Ranges of values....not absolute numbers...are what’s commonly stated in lab science.

Laboratory science looks at ranges of values, plus or minus, and even daily fluctuations, hour by hour, and values even change over a course of a month...and years based upon age of the patient. 

That pharmaceutical lasso gets “bigger” every few years....now, 180 total cholesterol, in some clinics, is the maximum amount...and I have heard even 160 as well....hmmm, can anyone say “more patients”??? More drugs??? More $$$???

Well, guess what? You know what statins inhibit? The Grandaddy of all anti-inflammatories: nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kB)! That stops the initiation, and each element of the 4 steps of inflammation I previously mentioned. You stop that guy, and BINGO!...NO inflammation! And heart disease drops. Not from the lowering of LDL-c. You need LDL-c for your metabolic functions. 

But wait a minute....statins also inhibit an energy pathway called the mevalonate pathway...the one involved with Co Q10...which makes your heart muscle strong, allows your liver to function, and kidneys to eliminate toxins. These high energy organs, and every other tissue in your body, rely upon Co Q10 to generate ATP (your energy currency in your cells). Nearly all (95%) of your energy produced is from the utilization of Co Q10 in the mitochondria of your cells. Statin drugs have been shown to cut the mitochondrial energy production by at least 50%.

Uh oh...”Houston, we have a problem here”...

THAT’S WHY STATINS HAVE MAJOR SIDE EFFECTS TO YOUR BODY! 

AND THAT’S WHY ALL CAUSE MORTALITY IS HIGHER ON STATINS!!! 

If you are on a statin drug, go read the drug insert that came with it when you started taking this drug....What? You don’t have it anymore? You threw it out before reading it??? SHAME ON YOU! 

My professional advice is to call your dealer...oppps...doctor, and discuss these side effects I mentioned. Or google for your drug’s side effects and YOU decide what you want to do...NOT your doctor. If your doctor didn’t mention side effects after prescribing a statin drug, SHAME ON THEM! 

All doctors are obligated to discus side effects of any prescribed treatment. That’s why in my clinic, and any other you have been to, you have to sign an “Informed Consent To Treatment” before anything is done to you. You are putting your health and life in our hands....you trust us....right??? 

Right....

Now, am I telling you to stop taking your prescribed pharmaceutical? Of course not. My discussion and comments are not to be construed or substituted as medical advice. Seek the consult with your doctor...a smart one who understands diet and nutrition in heart disease promulgation. We do not have a shortage of drugs in America, causing diseases to occur. Visit any drug store across the country, and you will be assured we do not have any drug shortages. There’s plenty to go around...and then some. 

So if we have plenty of drugs, why do we still have diseases? 

It’s not your fault. You have just followed the wrong advice...advice unfounded in science, biased financial interests, ignorance, and naiveté. The health results of our society stand as a symbol of medical failures. In my opinion it is mass genocide of our populace. 

Here are some CDC Facts:

Every year, over 106,000 people die from adverse drug reactions. Sloppy prescription hand writing cause over 7,000 deaths/year. Preventable medication mistakes hurt 1.5 million/year. But only 6% are identified. If you are between 45-64, your mortality rate rose 90% in 5 years....even taking the drug correctly.

Most side effects are mistaken for new diseases which leads to more drugs...more side effects...more risks of death. 

In 2001, Pfizer was the number one most profitable company of all Fortune 500 companies: 7.8 Billion Dollars. The medical industry is a “for profit disease industry” that can only survive if people get sick, and stay that way.

Please discuss this with your doctor. And you decide what you want to do. 

In my opinion, diet and lifestyle are much more effective and safer at reducing inflammation than drugs. Toxic medications can never replace poor food choices and inferior lifestyles.

In my next newsletter I will address how food and some supplements can reduce inflammation. Stay Tuned For More Information!

As Always...Healthful Regards,

Dr. John

drfitness@cox.net

Type 2 Diabetes

Diabetes....you are so sweet to be around.

Or, why fix something when we can just manage it....and very poorly at that!

Type 2 diabetes, (allow me to abbreviate: T2d) is a growing problem in America. The statistics show that 1 out of every 3 births since 2000, that person will become diabetic. That’s huge....and very preventable. We used to call it “Adult Onset Diabetes”, but since more and more children started developing it, the name did not apply well. (Type 1 diabetes is usually discovered in young children, and is an auto-immune problem. Insulin is the treatment of choice for them.)

So what is diabetes? Specifically, T2d? It is uncontrollable high levels of glucose in your blood. And it’s not insulin dependent. Insulin from your pancreas is secreted anytime you eat carbohydrates. These become sugars after they are broken down in your body. Insulin’s job is to put glucose into your cells and clear it from your blood. Insulin attaches to the glucose, looks for a cell with an insulin-receptor, attaches there, and dumps the glucose into the cell. Then insulin goes back looking for more glucose to deliver in this fashion. 

Simple....right? And it does so in a “lock and key” fashion. There exists a very specific cell receptor on your cell’s surface for insulin to “lock” into and deliver it’s payload...glucose. Then it goes on it’s merry-way looking for more glucose. It recycles itself, in a very “green-way” and does its job over, and over many times after you put any carbohydrates down your cake-hole!

However, have you ever had a lock and key you used over, and over, many times, over many years and the key gets loose in the lock? Then you have to “giggle it” sometimes to make it work? Eventually, you try it one more time and the key won’t unlock the door.....You can’t get in....

And there you have it: Type 2 Diabetes. The insulin (key) won’t fit on the cell receptor (lock) anymore. Your levels of blood glucose raise up and you develop hyperglycemia....elevated blood glucose levels in your blood. As the blood glucose levels raise up, many “wonderful” symptoms of T2d develop: peripheral neuropathy (dead nerves usually in your feet first), optic nerve neuritis (blindness), hyperlipidemia (high fats in the blood), heart attacks, strokes, and many others.

Why is the insulin not fitting in the receptor anymore? Well, why did your key stop working in your lock? That’s right....you used it too much. And that’s what happening with your insulin and your cells. You are using it too much by eating too many carbohydrates. You have developed an “insulin resistance” on your cell surface and its not recognizing your insulin any more. Repeated bombarding on the cell surface from insulin causes the cells to “down-regulate” its receptors and won’t allow anymore insulin to attach to the cell surface and thus glucose cannot get inside the cell. 

Most commonly found Type 2 diabetes today is not about a lack of insulin problem, its a problem of too much insulin. Anytime you consume carbohydrates, insulin is secreted from your pancreas. And, over a period of time, you develop insulin resistance in the body. It’s a huge problem in our country and getting worse and worse every year. Right now it costs the U.S. 5 Billion dollars every year in healthcare costs. In 10 years it will cost us 10 Billion dollars. It will cripple our healthcare system and the associated effects of T2d wide spread: obesity, heart disease, and cancers (cancers of the colon, breast, endometrium, pancreas, and liver), associated with T2d. 

Most of the treatment centers around, just manage the symptoms; not curing it. Sad but true. It is preventable, treatable, and reversible. Please don’t ask me why it’s not cured, and just “managed”....ignorance? unwilling? Money? Between doctors and pharmaceutical companies.....not my discussion here.

Or just simply a lack of education? This is my choice and yours. Educate yourself: here and elsewhere. Again, like I have said: Find someone who understands WHY T2d develops and then correct it. Why just manage it like it’s done in common diabetic clinics? For example: 

A typical blood test that I order is a fasting blood sugar. Usually you don’t eat anything overnight for 8 -10 hours, then blood taken first thing in the morning. (Don’t let your doctor do this if you have not been fasting for at least 8-10 hours). And I also would order the HbA1c (It tells me how much sugar has been in your blood in the last 120 days) and a fasting insulin test.

If the values of blood sugar are on the order of 120 mg/dl, the HbA1c over 7%, and insulin over 10 microU/ml then the diagnosis of diabetes is easy. You’ve had plenty of insulin secreted by your pancreas, but you have been doing it way too long, and thus eating way too many carbohydrates.

Now, what happens next depends on how smart your doctor is, and if he/she wants to manage your condition or cure it.

Manage: 

1. You will start drug therapy

You will talk to a dietician to follow the American Diabetes Assoc. (ADA) diet recommendations. This is a very high (60%) carbohydrate/sugar based diet. And the sugar is making you secrete more insulin.

 Cure:

Change your diet to a lower carbohydrate, and higher fat proportions. 

Reverse Type 2 Diabetes, without expensive drug costs and unsuccessful “diet-disaster” recommendations. 

This ridiculous ADA diet wants you to eat more carbohydrates with each meal. This will cause your blood sugar to rise further and cause more insulin resistance; making your disease worse. They also want you to cut fats, thinking they are harmful for you. That could not be further from the truth. Fats help curb your hunger, creating meal-satisfaction, and keep you from overeating. With that “diet disaster”, they are trying to make sure you don’t become hypoglycemic (low blood sugar). Don’t worry about that....you will always have plenty of sugar and insulin in your blood, making your insulin resistance worse and worse each year. And as an added “bonus” from the ADA diet, you will store all that sugar as fat! 

Then after 3 years, and at least 30 pounds of fat accumulation later, following the ADA “diet-disaster”, your doctor (The Manager), will then decide that you need more drugs....Actos, Januvia, (pills), then and injections of Byetta. The insulin injections are performed many times a day. Increased risk of thyroid cancer, pancreatitis, acid or sour stomach, belching, diarrhea, heartburn, indigestion, nausea, and vomiting can occur with Byetta. As the years pass, you start developing kidney malfunction with proteins leaking into your urine, nerves dying in your feet, and eventually you loose your eyesight from the high levels of blood sugar damaging the optic nerve.

Nice symptoms....all because you followed the ADA “diet-disaster” of abnormally high carbohydrate consumption recommendation. Don’t feel bad, it’s not your fault. 

So, you being the smart, discerning, skeptic, you ask your “manager”...err, doctor: “Wait a minute....I thought my problem was too MUCH insulin from all the sugars (carbs) I was eating, thus causing insulin resistence??? Why do I want more insulin???”

And your doctor says: “That’s how WE treat it, we manage it.”

Great.....more insulin making your condition worse. Remember my analogy about the lock and key? Your cell receptor just gets worn out with all the constant bombardment from the insulin on its surface. The cell then pulls the insulin receptor inside the cell and insulin is no longer able to attach and unload its glucose. Your blood sugar then climbs and climbs over months and years, damaging your body. 

How about curing it??? Ever thought about that? That’s what I do for my patients. Cure Type 2 diabetes, NOT manage it. Curing involves changing your diet to a more normal level of carbohydrate consumption; much lower than what is currently recommended by the ADA “diet-disaster” of 60% sugar/carbohydrate. Think about it...why put more sugar (carbohydrates) in your body when that’s what is causing the problem? Why “low-fat recommendation” when dietary fat is what signals your brain’s satiety center in the hypothalamus to inform you to stop eating? Eating a low fat diet will make you fat. Eating a high carbohydrate diet will make you diabetic. I’m going to say it again with feeling......

Eating a high carbohydrate diet will make you diabetic.

Too many, literally millions, of patients are poorly treated like this everyday. T2d is very curable and easily reversed. It’s curable....without a lifetime of drugs, disability, and high drug costs. There are many physicians dedicated to reversing and curing T2d. Physicians like Dr. Mary Vernon, M.D., is doing fantastic work with T2d. I highly respect her work. She is a bariatric physician who has a family practice in Lawrence, Kansas, as well as being the Medical Director of of the University of Kansas Weight Control Program, and the current president of the American Society of Bariatric Physicians.

Being sweet, is a nice thing, but, having lots of sugar in your blood is not!

Balance is the Enemy of Chaos

Greetings to All...
My purpose with this blog is to bring together the three aspects of a healthy lifestyle; nutritional, physical, and mental.
These 3 basic categories encompass very large and extensive areas. I will bring together many expert's writings and advice in these areas to assist you in creating a better, more healthy lifestyle. Leaving one or ignoring one of the categories always produces an imbalance in one's life. Or over emphasizing one of the categories also produces imbalances.
This first short posting from me will include my philosophy of the 3 categories:

So divinely is the world organized that every one of us, in our place and time, is in balance with everything else. 
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe