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With all the controversy around cholesterol drugs at the moment I thought it a good idea to look into the subject a bit. I always recommend that patients look into natural, non-harmful remedies before considering drugs.

As with blood pressure, much more attention is given to high cholesterol than low cholesterol. But like any other biologic parameter there’s always a normal range, too high and too low.

Dangerously low cholesterol also carries deadly risks:

We are thoroughly aware that high-serum cholesterol carries with it a risk of heart disease. We’re not made aware, however, that low-serum cholesterol may carry some risks of its own: cancer, stroke and major depression.

A quick check of any textbook of biochemistry or physiology tells us that all naturally occurring steroid hormones (DHEA, estrogens, progesterone, testosterone, pregnenolone to name a few) are also made in our bodies from a single starting material cholesterol. And cholesterol is also a key component of every cell membrane in our bodies.

Serum cholesterol is usually considered high when it’s above 5mmol/L. Low cholesterol is defined by many researchers as 4.l4mmol/L or below.

Manganese is a key co-factor in the transformation of cholesterol to steroid hormones. Recommended dosage is to take 50 milligrams of manganese citrate once or twice daily. When “normalization” occurs, reduce the dosage to 10 to 15 milligrams once daily. Don’t take more manganese than prescribed.

It’s wise to monitor liver function if your cholesterol levels are below normal. Since the liver is our major source of circulating cholesterol, general measures to improve liver function are also advisable if serum cholesterol is low particularly in cases where manganese is not helpful.

It is vital that you get informed about your health. We must stop to follow the drug manufacturers like sheep and take responsibility for our successful healing naturally.

There are obviously emergency cases where drugs are the only alternative but where it concerns degenerative diseases that are more often than not caused by our bad lifestyle it is better to treat the cause and root it out at the source, naturally.

Your health

PS.Treat your cholesterol naturally - more info!

Popularity: 6% [?]

Many patients can reach LDL cholesterol goal through dietary changes alone

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Worried about your cholesterol? You may want to schedule a few appointments with a registered dietitian, to get some sound advice about how to shape up your eating habits, according to a new national study led by University of Michigan Health System researchers.

Not only are you likely to lower your cholesterol levels, you may be able to avoid having to take cholesterol medication, or having to increase your dose if you’re already taking one. And you’ll probably lose weight in the process, which also helps your heart.

The new results, published in the February issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, are based on data from 377 patients with high cholesterol who were counseled by 52 registered dietitians at 24 sites in 11 states.

In the group of 175 patients who started the study with triglycerides less than 400 milligrams per deciliter of blood (mg/dL), and who had their cholesterol measured before they changed or added medication, 44.6 percent either reduced their levels of “bad” cholesterol by at least 15 percent, or reached their cholesterol goal.

The results reflect progress in approximately eight months, after three or more appointments with a dietitian. But the results add further evidence that medical nutrition therapy, as it is called, can make a big difference in a patient’s life.

All of the R.D.s in the study based their advice to their patients on the latest research-based evidence about eating habits and cholesterol levels available at the time of the study: the American Dietetic Association’s 1998 Medical Nutrition Therapy Hyperlipidemia Protocol.

Since that time, the ADA has updated the clinical guideline based on new research, which means that patients who see an R.D. today may have even more success.

The study was funded by the ADA and its Clinical Nutrition Management Dietetic Practice Group, and based on a framework developed for a pilot project carried out in Michigan by the Michigan Dietetic Association and led by U-M cardiovascular dietitians.

“Everyone knows that nutrition is important for cholesterol management, and that a registered dietitian is the professional most thoroughly trained to help patients choose foods wisely,” says lead author Kathy Rhodes, Ph.D., R.D., manager of Nutrition Services with the U-M Cardiovascular Medicine program at Domino’s Farms and the U-M Cardiovascular Center. “But this is the first national study to show what happens when high-risk patients work with R.D.s to follow nutrition guidelines grounded in the best evidence.”

Key nutrition issues in the 1998 guidelines used in the study include reducing saturated and trans fat and increasing “healthy” fats such as olive oil; increasing soluble and insoluble fiber; eating fish twice a week; increasing fruits and vegetables; regular exercise and healthy weight management. Information about food-label reading and dining out was also included.

Called the Lipid Management Nutrition Outcomes Project or LMNOP, the national study was launched by Rhodes and her U-M colleagues Melvyn Rubenfire, M.D., and Martha Weintraub, MPH, R.D., after the successful completion of the Michigan-wide pilot project. Rubenfire, Weintraub and Christina Biesemeier, M.S., R.D., FADA, of Vanderbilt University are co-authors of the new study.

The study gives us an important “real world” picture of what happens when R.D.s try to implement evidence-based nutrition guidelines in daily practice, Rhodes notes.

Some commercial health insurance plans are beginning to cover appointments with registered dietitians, but many still do not. Only dietitian visits for diabetes or kidney disease are covered by Medicare. It is important for people to check their specific health insurance plan to see whether nutrition is covered, Rhodes says. But even if individuals need to pay for the appointments out of their own pocket, they may find that an R.D.’s advice will pay off in the long run, she says.

To get uniform data, the researchers brought lead R.D.s from each state to U-M for training on the cholesterol and nutrition guidelines, and on the data collection practices used in the study. R.D.s at Veterans Affairs hospitals got their training by phone conferencing. R.D.s then returned to their own practices, trained their colleagues and implemented the ADA guidelines.

The study included only patients between the ages of 25 and 70 years who had high cholesterol levels, or triglyceride levels over 200 mg/dL, and who met other inclusion criteria including no recent changes in their cholesterol medication status. Neither the R.D.s nor their patients were paid to participate in the study.

The “real world” aspect of this study included the disappointing finding that many patients dropped out of nutrition counseling after one or two visits, when three or four sessions with an R.D. is recommended to make and sustain truly effective changes in eating habits. Lack of insurance coverage was a major factor in this dropout rate.

Patients whose doctors changed their cholesterol medication status, either by starting them on a drug for the first time, or increasing their dose before assessing the effect of diet change, were not included in the analysis. But for the 219 patients who didn’t have any change in their medication status, the impact of the R.D. counseling became apparent in the first year after the initial visit.

“Although some patients may already be eating a relatively healthy diet, medical nutrition therapy can increase patient’s knowledge of ‘cardioprotective foods’ and assist them in individualizing the guidelines to fit their preferences and lifestyle,” says Weintraub. A significant number of patients reduced the fat in their diets to less than 30 percent of calories, as recommended for a heart health. Many participants also lost weight and/or increased the number of days each week on which they exercised for 30 minutes or more.

“Often, we see heart patients who are on multiple cholesterol medications but have never seen a dietitian. And even when a patient with high cholesterol does get to see an R.D., their care team may not allow enough time to see how effective diet is before they add additional treatment,” says Rhodes. “We hope that this demonstration of how well cholesterol can be lowered without medication or increases in medication will be very useful for patients and physicians, and perhaps insurers too.”

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To learn more about how eating habits can influence cholesterol levels, or to find an R.D., visit the ADA’s web site at www.eatright.org. For more on U-M Cardiovascular Medicine and its nutrition services, visit www.med.umich.edu/cvc/prevention. Reference: JADA, Vol. 108, No. 2, Feb. 2008.

Sources: “EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS”

I trust that you found the article enlightening. It is my purpose in life to persuade you to make the positive changes to your lifestyle that will result in you living a longer, healthier, fulfilled life.

Your health,

Popularity: 11% [?]

It is always good to discover another natural cholesterol cure.

Researchers may have found a safe, natural, and “appealing”alternative to cholesterol-lowering drugs.

A class of compounds found in citrus fruit peels called polymethoxylated flavones (PMFs) has the potential to lower
cholesterol more effectively than some prescription drugs.

And without side effects.

Looking For A Natural Cholesterol Cure That Works? Your Solution is Cholestasys™

This study, published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, examined the effects of PMFs on animals with diet-induced high cholesterol.

When these animals were given the same diet plus one percent PMFs, their blood levels of total cholesterol and LDL (bad cholesterol) were reduced by 19 to 27% and 32 to 40% , respectively.

To get the benefits of this cholesterol-lowering compound, grate the peel from a well-scrubbed organic orange or lemon.

You can add a tablespoon or so to your favorite tea, salad dressing, yogurt, and many recipes.

You’ll do your heart (and taste buds!) a favor.

Your health,

Popularity: 10% [?]

Yeh, I’m on the heart failure or shall I say health band wagon again. But it is serious and largely preventable, I know this might sound corny but it is a serious as a heart attack.

So let’s get cracking what can you do today to destroy your heart:

1. Don’t have a regular doctor who knows you, your history and your special requirements, somebody who knows your medical challenges best when it is emergency time.
2. Don’t have breakfast, by breakfast I mean a healthy protein smoothie, not a bowl of sugar laden supposed healthy cereal. Fresh fruit is always great. Not having breakfast prevents your metabolism from firing up properly, it reduces your bodies chances of burning fat.
3. Do engage in major road rage on your way to dropping the kids at school or work, it does wonders for your stress levels and gets your heart and adrenalin levels shooting through the roof.
4. Don’t drink water but instead “quench” your thirst with sodas and coffee, there goes your elimination system, I bet you’re feeling pretty sluggish by now.
5. Don’t have a healthy snack like almonds (unsalted) during the course of the morning to help your metabolism burn all those unwanted deadly fats.
6. Don’t have a healthy wholegrain sandwich with roast beef for lunch, instead grab a burger and fries or even better a insulin inducing pastry.
7. Do have numerous cups of coffee during the course of the day and even add a bit of alcohol just to take the edge off all the office politics.
8. Do become a couch potato when you get home, watch the game, eat chips and drink beer.
9. Don’t do any exercise your body is coping horribly with all the abuse you are heaping on it.
10. Don’t take the time out to relax and spend with your family and friends, don’t tell your loved one you love them and mean it, don’t get out into nature and enjoy the sunlight.

Alarming isn’t it? How many of these 10 things do you do every day, without giving your bodies a thought at all.

That is until it is to late.

Don’t become a statistic, live a long and healthy life instead.

Download This Nifty Heart Failure Risk Calculator.

Your health

Popularity: 18% [?]

Hi there,

I found this very interesting article on heart failure trends in the USA.
As you’ll notice there has been a steady increase in the levels which the study attributes to and aging population, there has also been a slight decrease in the mortality rates.

The fact is that apart from genetics the major cause of heart disease is a bad lifestyle, it is up to you to exercise, drink more water, cancel out stress and improve your diet e.g. less fast/fried foods and more fresh foods.

DURHAM, N.C. – Conventional wisdom holds that as the U.S. population ages, the incidence of heart failure will continue to rise. A new study from Duke University Medical Center challenges part of that assumption, however, finding that heart failure is actually declining among the very elderly. Yet the number of heart failure cases overall continues to rise.

“Heart failure is largely a disease of aging, so we were surprised by the findings,” says Dr. Lesley Curtis, a health services researcher at Duke and lead author of the study appearing in the February 25 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Carefully documenting the incidence of a disease – the rate at which it occurs – and the prevalence – how many people have it at any one time – is critically important, because projections have direct bearing upon planning and resources needed for future health care.

Curtis and her colleagues examined data from a five percent sample of Medicare beneficiaries’ claims between 1994 and 2003 and found that during that period, 622,789 patients
were diagnosed with heart failure.

While the incidence of heart failure fell most sharply among those aged 80 to 84 years old, from 57.5 to 48.4 per 1000 person years, it also rose from 17.5 cases to 19.3 cases per 1000 person-years among those aged 65 to 69 years old.

The study also found that the total number of Americans living with heart failure steadily increased over the ten-year study period, from about 140,000 to 200,000, with more men living with the disease than women.

“From all indications, heart failure will continue to be a major public health burden, consuming billions of dollars each year,” says Curtis. Nearly 5 million people in the U.S. suffer from heart failure, and even though mortality from the disease has fallen slightly, it remains a very serious problem. Nearly a third of those diagnosed with heart failure will die within one year, and
“that figure hasn’t budged over the last decade,” according to Curtis, who is also a member of the Duke Clinical Research Institute.

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The study was funded by grants from the National Institute on Aging, the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

Duke researchers contributing to the study include Drs. David Whellan, Adrian Hernandez and Kevin Schulman, from the Duke Clinical Research Center and Bradley Hammill, Kevin Anstrom and Alisa Shea, from the Center for Clinical and Genetic Economics.

Sources: “EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS”! -Trends in heart failure - 25-February-2008

Also know your blood pressure and cholesterol levels, we are fortunate with all the advancements in alternative and conventional medicine our life expectancy has increased with between 10 and 40 years.

There are numerous natural cures for High Blood Pressure and Cholesterol available today, so there is no reasonable excuse for you to neglect your heart health.

Your health!

P.S. - For a great Free heart failure risk calculator go here.

Popularity: 15% [?]