Here is a link to a list of nutritional supplements I recommend to my patients after evaluating their musculoskeletal conditions and their diets and overall health. These supplements are particularly great finds with respect to excellence of formulation, quality, and great price. Be sure to consult with your health professional before taking any of these formulas, since your individual dietary practices and health condition may warrant different choices in nutritional supplementation.
Click on the following link, and scroll to the bottom of the page, for Dr. Michael Ackerman's list of Nutritional Supplement Recommendations for his Patients...
http://depthhealing.com/Articles.html
Monday, August 30, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
What Your Doctor May Not Have Told You About Statin Drugs
"Statin" drugs are a class of medication commonly prescribed for managing your cholesterol, they include Lipitor, Mevacor, Altocor, Cresor, Zocor, Simcor, Advicor, Vytorin, Pravachol, Lescol, Livalo, Lipostat, Caduet, and others.
Although Statin Drugs may achieve a 30-50% decrease in your LDL cholesterol, please thoroughly consult with your medical doctor about your alternatives to them…
Statin Drugs have many side effects you may not be aware of:
While these drugs lower the risk of heart disease, Statin drug users don’t have an overall lower mortality rate! Instead of dying from heart disease, death rates actually increase from other causes and drug-induced side effects, for example…
- Cancer – rates increase in part because Statin drugs lower the production of a compound called NFicB in white blood cells, which would otherwise act to fight cancers.
- In lowering cholesterol, Statins also lower the body’s Vitamin D levels
This Vitamin D deficiency is associated with an increased risk of:
- 22 types of cancer including breast, colon, and prostate
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Hypertension
- Rhuematiod Arthritis
- Type I Diabetes
- Chronic Pain Syndromes (90 percent of people with chronic non-specific pain have Vitamin D deficiency)
*Thus you need an extra 1000 IU Vit D per day, or about 2-3000 IU total daily supplementation of Vitamin D3, if you are on Statin Drugs…
Statin Drugs also lower Coenzyme Q10 production
Due to this Coenzyme Q10 production deficiency…
- Statin drugs destroy connective tissue
- Statin users have a 14 X greater likelihood of peripheral neuropathy
"pinched nerves” throughout their bodies
- 2 years on Statin drugs increase the likelihood of a peripheral neuropathy
by about 26 fold !
- Note: If you take Coenzyme Q10 with any diabetes medication, beware that it has a further blood sugar lowering effect, consult your doctor or pharmacist!
*Thus you need to supplement an additional 500-600 mg CoQ10 per day (which is very costly) if you are on Statin Drugs.
- Statin Drugs may also cause transient global amnesia
- Statin Drugs are linked with an increased likelihood of Multiple Sclerosis
A large study funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (a part of the National Institute of Health) which looked at sleep patterns of people who took the statin drug Zocor or Simvastatin found they had significantly worse sleep quality compared with people who took Pravachol or pravastatin, another non-Statin type of cholesterol-lowering drug. "The findings are significant because sleep problems can affect the quality of life and may have adverse health consequences, such as promoting weight gain and insulin resistance, as well as lowering growth hormone levels and slowing connective tissue and wound repair" said Dr. Beatrice Golomb, of the University of California at San Diego School of Medicine.
Strangely, Statin drugs work to help fight heart disease more as a result of their property of lowering inflammation in the body, versus their other property of lowering cholesterol in the body! While they lower bad cholesterol “LDL’s”, they don’t raise good cholesterol “HDL” levels, and this doesn’t create an ideal health picture. So if a person wishes to achieve the same inflammation lowering effect as Statin drugs while positively affecting their LDL and HDL cholesterol levels, the following supplements (especially combined with diet and exercise), can be better alternatives without all of the dangerous side effects discussed above…
- Omega 3 fatty acids - found in fish oils. They are 44% better at reducing overall mortality vs. Statin drugs. A daily supplement should contain 2400 mg of EPA and 1200 mg of DHA total per day. Two of the least expensive and convenient supplements which supply this amount of EPA and DHA are GNC’s “Triple Strength Fish Oil” or Puritan Pride’s “Highly Concentrated Fish Oil”, available from www.puritan.com. 5 capsules/day with meals. * DO NOT ADD FISH OILS TO YOUR DIET IF YOU ARE REGULARLY TAKING ASPIRIN OR BLOOD THINNERS. CONSULT YOUR DOCTOR FIRST. *
- “Ruby Red” Grapefruit - research has shown than eating one per day gives you nearly the equivalent cholesterol lowering effect that Statin drugs have.
(SOURCES: Gorinstein, S. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, Feb. 3, 2006; online edition. News release, American Chemical Society.)
- Psyllium husk fiber (10 gm/day) and/or Ground Flax seed (50 gm/day)
- Gum Guggul: 75/100 mg/day can produce a cholesterol reduction of
14 %to 27% in 4-12 weeks, in addition to a 22% to 30%
drop in bloodtriglyceride levels, in patients with
hypercholesterolemia and/or hypertriglyceridemia.
- Policosanol: 10-20 mg / day can decrease your LDL cholesterol
between 17% and 25%, and raise HDL levels up to 29%
-- better than Statins which don’t raise HDL’s
There are several supplements on the market which combine Gum Guggul, Policosanol, and several synergistic herbal and fiber blends: "ChoLESStat” by MRM and "Cholesterol Support” by Now Foods, art two examples.
Eliminate excess Cholesterol, Saturated Fats, and Partially Hydrogenated Oils (containing Trans fat) from your diet…
Most people could achieve a cholesterol level of 150-180 by just adopting a low fat diet with a daily ingestion of no more than…
7-15 grams (65-135 calories) of saturated fat and 150-200 mg of cholesterol
Although saturated fat is the main dietary culprit that raises LDL, trans fat and cholesterol eaten in your diet also contribute significantly. Trans fat can often be found in processed foods made with partially hydrogenated vegetable oils such as
vegetable shortenings and some margarines, especially margarines that are harder), crackers, candies, cookies, snack foods, fried foods, and baked goods. Read labels which now are required to list the types of fat content in foods. The daily intake of about 5 g of trans fat is associated with a 25% increase in the risk of coronary artery disease.
Add Cardiovascular Exercise – a minimum of 30 to 40 minutes, at least 3x per week, at 75% of your maximum heart rate level, i.e., (220-Your Age) X .75 = target heart rate. This frequency and intensity has been shown to increase HDLs and lower LDLs. If you are out of shape, start training at a lower heart rate level, for less time, and gradually build up to a level of 75% of your maximum heart rate. A good rule of thumb is never exercise at a sustained level which has you breathing so hard that you cannot carry on a normal conversation.
AS A FINAL NOTE, TAKING IN TO ACCOUNT ALL OF THE ABOVE …
In a revealing article, “The Case for Statins: Has it Really Been Made?” Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, October 2004; Volume 97, Number 10, pp. 461-464, the authors state:
The ‘positive’ outcomes of statin research studies “have been magnified by the manner of presentation of results...” For example, in a study where 100 patients take statin drugs, 2 will have a fatal heart attack. Out of 100 patients taking a placebo, 3 will have a fatal heart attack. The absolute risk reduction of a heart attack is thus clearly only 1 percent. Yet the drug company spins the pathetic results by dividing 2/3 and publishing the relative risk, which is a 33 percent reduction of a fatal heart attack! This is intentionally misleading and dishonest. These authors claim an honest disclosure based on available research to date would be to state “if you take statins then, in seven years time, there is a one chance in about 120 that your death will have been prevented.”
** Be Sure to Never Discontinue Prescription Drugs Without the Advice of your Medical Doctor **
Although Statin Drugs may achieve a 30-50% decrease in your LDL cholesterol, please thoroughly consult with your medical doctor about your alternatives to them…
Statin Drugs have many side effects you may not be aware of:
While these drugs lower the risk of heart disease, Statin drug users don’t have an overall lower mortality rate! Instead of dying from heart disease, death rates actually increase from other causes and drug-induced side effects, for example…
- Cancer – rates increase in part because Statin drugs lower the production of a compound called NFicB in white blood cells, which would otherwise act to fight cancers.
- In lowering cholesterol, Statins also lower the body’s Vitamin D levels
This Vitamin D deficiency is associated with an increased risk of:
- 22 types of cancer including breast, colon, and prostate
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Hypertension
- Rhuematiod Arthritis
- Type I Diabetes
- Chronic Pain Syndromes (90 percent of people with chronic non-specific pain have Vitamin D deficiency)
*Thus you need an extra 1000 IU Vit D per day, or about 2-3000 IU total daily supplementation of Vitamin D3, if you are on Statin Drugs…
Statin Drugs also lower Coenzyme Q10 production
Due to this Coenzyme Q10 production deficiency…
- Statin drugs destroy connective tissue
- Statin users have a 14 X greater likelihood of peripheral neuropathy
"pinched nerves” throughout their bodies
- 2 years on Statin drugs increase the likelihood of a peripheral neuropathy
by about 26 fold !
- Note: If you take Coenzyme Q10 with any diabetes medication, beware that it has a further blood sugar lowering effect, consult your doctor or pharmacist!
*Thus you need to supplement an additional 500-600 mg CoQ10 per day (which is very costly) if you are on Statin Drugs.
- Statin Drugs may also cause transient global amnesia
- Statin Drugs are linked with an increased likelihood of Multiple Sclerosis
A large study funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (a part of the National Institute of Health) which looked at sleep patterns of people who took the statin drug Zocor or Simvastatin found they had significantly worse sleep quality compared with people who took Pravachol or pravastatin, another non-Statin type of cholesterol-lowering drug. "The findings are significant because sleep problems can affect the quality of life and may have adverse health consequences, such as promoting weight gain and insulin resistance, as well as lowering growth hormone levels and slowing connective tissue and wound repair" said Dr. Beatrice Golomb, of the University of California at San Diego School of Medicine.
Strangely, Statin drugs work to help fight heart disease more as a result of their property of lowering inflammation in the body, versus their other property of lowering cholesterol in the body! While they lower bad cholesterol “LDL’s”, they don’t raise good cholesterol “HDL” levels, and this doesn’t create an ideal health picture. So if a person wishes to achieve the same inflammation lowering effect as Statin drugs while positively affecting their LDL and HDL cholesterol levels, the following supplements (especially combined with diet and exercise), can be better alternatives without all of the dangerous side effects discussed above…
- Omega 3 fatty acids - found in fish oils. They are 44% better at reducing overall mortality vs. Statin drugs. A daily supplement should contain 2400 mg of EPA and 1200 mg of DHA total per day. Two of the least expensive and convenient supplements which supply this amount of EPA and DHA are GNC’s “Triple Strength Fish Oil” or Puritan Pride’s “Highly Concentrated Fish Oil”, available from www.puritan.com. 5 capsules/day with meals. * DO NOT ADD FISH OILS TO YOUR DIET IF YOU ARE REGULARLY TAKING ASPIRIN OR BLOOD THINNERS. CONSULT YOUR DOCTOR FIRST. *
- “Ruby Red” Grapefruit - research has shown than eating one per day gives you nearly the equivalent cholesterol lowering effect that Statin drugs have.
(SOURCES: Gorinstein, S. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, Feb. 3, 2006; online edition. News release, American Chemical Society.)
- Psyllium husk fiber (10 gm/day) and/or Ground Flax seed (50 gm/day)
- Gum Guggul: 75/100 mg/day can produce a cholesterol reduction of
14 %to 27% in 4-12 weeks, in addition to a 22% to 30%
drop in bloodtriglyceride levels, in patients with
hypercholesterolemia and/or hypertriglyceridemia.
- Policosanol: 10-20 mg / day can decrease your LDL cholesterol
between 17% and 25%, and raise HDL levels up to 29%
-- better than Statins which don’t raise HDL’s
There are several supplements on the market which combine Gum Guggul, Policosanol, and several synergistic herbal and fiber blends: "ChoLESStat” by MRM and "Cholesterol Support” by Now Foods, art two examples.
Eliminate excess Cholesterol, Saturated Fats, and Partially Hydrogenated Oils (containing Trans fat) from your diet…
Most people could achieve a cholesterol level of 150-180 by just adopting a low fat diet with a daily ingestion of no more than…
7-15 grams (65-135 calories) of saturated fat and 150-200 mg of cholesterol
Although saturated fat is the main dietary culprit that raises LDL, trans fat and cholesterol eaten in your diet also contribute significantly. Trans fat can often be found in processed foods made with partially hydrogenated vegetable oils such as
vegetable shortenings and some margarines, especially margarines that are harder), crackers, candies, cookies, snack foods, fried foods, and baked goods. Read labels which now are required to list the types of fat content in foods. The daily intake of about 5 g of trans fat is associated with a 25% increase in the risk of coronary artery disease.
Add Cardiovascular Exercise – a minimum of 30 to 40 minutes, at least 3x per week, at 75% of your maximum heart rate level, i.e., (220-Your Age) X .75 = target heart rate. This frequency and intensity has been shown to increase HDLs and lower LDLs. If you are out of shape, start training at a lower heart rate level, for less time, and gradually build up to a level of 75% of your maximum heart rate. A good rule of thumb is never exercise at a sustained level which has you breathing so hard that you cannot carry on a normal conversation.
AS A FINAL NOTE, TAKING IN TO ACCOUNT ALL OF THE ABOVE …
In a revealing article, “The Case for Statins: Has it Really Been Made?” Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, October 2004; Volume 97, Number 10, pp. 461-464, the authors state:
The ‘positive’ outcomes of statin research studies “have been magnified by the manner of presentation of results...” For example, in a study where 100 patients take statin drugs, 2 will have a fatal heart attack. Out of 100 patients taking a placebo, 3 will have a fatal heart attack. The absolute risk reduction of a heart attack is thus clearly only 1 percent. Yet the drug company spins the pathetic results by dividing 2/3 and publishing the relative risk, which is a 33 percent reduction of a fatal heart attack! This is intentionally misleading and dishonest. These authors claim an honest disclosure based on available research to date would be to state “if you take statins then, in seven years time, there is a one chance in about 120 that your death will have been prevented.”
** Be Sure to Never Discontinue Prescription Drugs Without the Advice of your Medical Doctor **
Save a Life With The New CPR Method
Here is a link to a video demonstrating the new method of cardio-pulmonary resuscitation... It's so easy you could save a life without undergoing special training or certification, although training is highly recommended...
Visit http://tinyurl.com/2fx8r59
Visit http://tinyurl.com/2fx8r59
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