I am a 49 year old male. For several years now the doctors have said my cholesterol levels were too high (very high). Until I found this website they had tried several statins, to include lipitor, but all sent my liver enzymes through the roof.
Three days ago I was at my desk at work when I suddenly got short of breath and felt really terrible. I checked my blood pressure (always rock solid at 114/70) and it was 169/93. Very high for me. I monitored my blood pressure on and off for another 2 hours. It went down to normal. Still I was alarmed and made an appointment with my doctor for that afternoon. An EKG was run which looked good other than a slight "T" wave (I think that's what he said) abnormality. Due to the sudden onset of symptoms I had experienced, he sent me to the cardiology center of the local ER. There, an EKG and complete blood workup showed there was no heart attack or damage to the heart. I remained in the hospital overnight and went through catherization yesterday. It showed one partially blocked artery (85%). A stint was implanted. It also showed evidence of calcification (hardening) of another artery.
Here's the amazing part. My cardiologist said don't worry about the cholesterol levels, they're fine. Let's work on the triglycerides. Knowing my cholesterol levels are very high his comment really floored me. I wish he would have had more time to talk so I could ask him his opinion on cholesterol. He prescribed Lopid for the triglycerides but I'll be reading up more on controlling my diet (such as the McCully Heart Diet). I [u]was[/u] also a less-than-a-pack-day smoker but that's gone too. I consider this to be my one wake-up call especially since a heart attack or stroke didn't occur. Thank goodness.
[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/custom-spacedoc.php on line 2: mysql_connect(): Access denied for user 'pblocals_super'@'localhost' (using password: YES)
[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/custom-spacedoc.php on line 5: mysql_fetch_array() expects parameter 1 to be resource, boolean given
[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/custom-spacedoc.php on line 5: mysql_fetch_array() expects parameter 1 to be resource, boolean given
The Cardiologist Says .........
12 posts
• Page 1 of 1
The Cardiologist Says .........
by DigitalDon » Fri Aug 11, 2006 6:41 pm
- DigitalDon
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Fri Aug 11, 2006 6:10 pm
Another approach:
by catamaran » Fri Sep 08, 2006 2:24 pm
:) Take a look at this:
[http://www.ourhealthcoop.com/pauling.htm]
You may find the information interesting....and certainly pertinant to your situation. :?
[http://www.ourhealthcoop.com/pauling.htm]
You may find the information interesting....and certainly pertinant to your situation. :?
- catamaran
- Posts: 49
- Joined: Sat Jan 28, 2006 7:03 pm
- Location: Edgewater, Florida
by Darrell » Wed Oct 18, 2006 10:01 am
Catamaran, the link is interesting, but there's a lot of misleading information there. For example, take this disingenuous piece:
"In 1900 heart attacks were almost nonexistent, and most cases of heart disease that did occur were usually the result of an infectious disease (rheumatic fever for example) or congenital heart defects. In the ensuing decades, this once rare condition steadily rose in frequency to become the leading cause of death in America."
It doesn't mention that the diseases that killed more than heart disease were pneumonia and TB which are now well understood and treated, thus no longer diseases of the masses. Heart disease ranked third in 1901 ["almost nonexistent"?] and became the leading cause of death because the other two leading causes were virtually eliminated in comparison.
[http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/dvs/lead1900_98.pdf]
As for rate of heart disease mortality per 100,000 people roughly doubling since 1900, that's readily understandable considering that the average life expectancy in 1900 was only 48 years.
The problem I have with Pauling's vitamin "science" is that its advocates (including Pauling) are so enthusiastic that they are willing to tell lies like this, make exaggerated claims, and virtually ignore the scientific method based on large double-blind studies. Vitamin C is certainly important, but Pauling overplayed his hand.
"In 1900 heart attacks were almost nonexistent, and most cases of heart disease that did occur were usually the result of an infectious disease (rheumatic fever for example) or congenital heart defects. In the ensuing decades, this once rare condition steadily rose in frequency to become the leading cause of death in America."
It doesn't mention that the diseases that killed more than heart disease were pneumonia and TB which are now well understood and treated, thus no longer diseases of the masses. Heart disease ranked third in 1901 ["almost nonexistent"?] and became the leading cause of death because the other two leading causes were virtually eliminated in comparison.
[http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/dvs/lead1900_98.pdf]
As for rate of heart disease mortality per 100,000 people roughly doubling since 1900, that's readily understandable considering that the average life expectancy in 1900 was only 48 years.
The problem I have with Pauling's vitamin "science" is that its advocates (including Pauling) are so enthusiastic that they are willing to tell lies like this, make exaggerated claims, and virtually ignore the scientific method based on large double-blind studies. Vitamin C is certainly important, but Pauling overplayed his hand.
- Darrell
- Posts: 341
- Joined: Wed Dec 07, 2005 1:25 pm
- Location: USA
Heart Disease
by Realfooddude » Mon Oct 23, 2006 1:19 pm
We are sicker now than ever. The U.S. spends 2 trillioan a year on "health care" yet around half of all deaths each year come from heart disease. It is what we are eating and what we are not that is the main reason for this. Record for cause of death in the earlt 20th century are not accurate but the anual death rate due to heart disease in 1910 was between 3 and 10%. By 1950 a half a million people where giving up the ghost to heart attacks. That can not be explained away with playing the genetics card. Nor in life expectancy to some extent. One problem was poor diagnosis but doctors didn't see much heart disease. One docotor who invented the EKG was told by his peers to give it up as they was no demand for it! Most people assume because of modern medicine we are healthier and live longer. More the later but not the former. Look how fat we are. Many say this next generation we not live as long as the previous.
The main cause of all degenerative disease is nutritional deficiencies and imbalance. Too much omega 6 fatty acids and no or very little omega3 is one of the worst combinations to poor health. We have gone away from healthy natural fats in favor of cheaper refined vegetable oils and shortening. People can't even define what there food is or if it's even food! Buttery spread, whipped topping, and non-dairy creamer replace, butter, whipped cream and cream. Convenience foods like snack foods, fast food, are every where, in our work place, in hospitals, schools, and homes. In most cases we are told by "experts" to do the exact opposite of what will bring us good health. Imagine in a time when corn oil didn't even exist, no Oreos or Twinkies heart disease was no where near the threat it is now. TB was the 1# killer in the world. That changed in a matter of decades. To recommend replacing animal fats with polyunsaturated omega 6 rich oil is pure horse chips. Next year it is projected we will spend 3 Trillion on health care yet we have fewer living over 60 and higher infant mortality than many other developed countries who spend only a fraction of what we spend.
Cancer which only 8 years ago was killing half as many as heart disease now has caught up! This is not normal. It is what we eat and don't eat and what we do to our food. Over all lifestyle is another big part of this. With 2/3 of Americans obese/over weight disease rates through the roof, WHAT WE ARE DOING IS NOT WORKING. It will continue to get worse until people take charge of there health and learn how to rourish themselves. I know Pfizer doesn't have my back. They will not tell me to take cod liver oil to protect me from heart disease. Not when they have the biggest selling drug on the market, Lipitor.
The main cause of all degenerative disease is nutritional deficiencies and imbalance. Too much omega 6 fatty acids and no or very little omega3 is one of the worst combinations to poor health. We have gone away from healthy natural fats in favor of cheaper refined vegetable oils and shortening. People can't even define what there food is or if it's even food! Buttery spread, whipped topping, and non-dairy creamer replace, butter, whipped cream and cream. Convenience foods like snack foods, fast food, are every where, in our work place, in hospitals, schools, and homes. In most cases we are told by "experts" to do the exact opposite of what will bring us good health. Imagine in a time when corn oil didn't even exist, no Oreos or Twinkies heart disease was no where near the threat it is now. TB was the 1# killer in the world. That changed in a matter of decades. To recommend replacing animal fats with polyunsaturated omega 6 rich oil is pure horse chips. Next year it is projected we will spend 3 Trillion on health care yet we have fewer living over 60 and higher infant mortality than many other developed countries who spend only a fraction of what we spend.
Cancer which only 8 years ago was killing half as many as heart disease now has caught up! This is not normal. It is what we eat and don't eat and what we do to our food. Over all lifestyle is another big part of this. With 2/3 of Americans obese/over weight disease rates through the roof, WHAT WE ARE DOING IS NOT WORKING. It will continue to get worse until people take charge of there health and learn how to rourish themselves. I know Pfizer doesn't have my back. They will not tell me to take cod liver oil to protect me from heart disease. Not when they have the biggest selling drug on the market, Lipitor.
- Realfooddude
- Posts: 5
- Joined: Fri Feb 24, 2006 5:46 pm
- Location: Mount Morris MI
by Darrell » Mon Oct 23, 2006 4:16 pm
I beg to differ:
It is not true that "around half of all deaths each year come from heart disease". If you look at the data at the link I posted above [http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/dvs/lead1900_98.pdf] you'll see that it was just under a third in 1998.
Furthermore, as I pointed out before, it is not reasonable to say that heart disease is soaring compared to say 1910. In 1910, lots of people died of things like TB and pneumonia before they ever got the chance to die of heart disease. And life expectancy was only about 50 years, thus not giving people a lot of time to clog their arteries.
In addition, much of the $2 trillion a year for health care has nothing to do with heart disease. A lot of the recent growth has to do with tests and procedures for defensive medicine. For example, when I went to a doctor about my statin leg damage, he had to rule out everything from arthritis to Lyme Disease with extensive blood tests and then he followed up x-rays with an MRI and physical therapy. When all was said and done, none of that made any difference. Roughly $5,000 down a hole. Not counting the statin costs and related bloodwork that came before it all. I would be healthier and wealthier if I had never gone to a doctor.
Lastly, you're not convincing me that our food and medicine are so terrible when I see darned few major countries with higher life expectancies than our own. The best of them average 80 years compared to our 77 years. [http://geography.about.com/library/weekly/aa042000b.htm]
I won't argue the obesity point at all. A lot of medical problems would go away if people just ate less and exercised more. We have a culture of gluttony and sedentary activity.
It is not true that "around half of all deaths each year come from heart disease". If you look at the data at the link I posted above [http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/dvs/lead1900_98.pdf] you'll see that it was just under a third in 1998.
Furthermore, as I pointed out before, it is not reasonable to say that heart disease is soaring compared to say 1910. In 1910, lots of people died of things like TB and pneumonia before they ever got the chance to die of heart disease. And life expectancy was only about 50 years, thus not giving people a lot of time to clog their arteries.
In addition, much of the $2 trillion a year for health care has nothing to do with heart disease. A lot of the recent growth has to do with tests and procedures for defensive medicine. For example, when I went to a doctor about my statin leg damage, he had to rule out everything from arthritis to Lyme Disease with extensive blood tests and then he followed up x-rays with an MRI and physical therapy. When all was said and done, none of that made any difference. Roughly $5,000 down a hole. Not counting the statin costs and related bloodwork that came before it all. I would be healthier and wealthier if I had never gone to a doctor.
Lastly, you're not convincing me that our food and medicine are so terrible when I see darned few major countries with higher life expectancies than our own. The best of them average 80 years compared to our 77 years. [http://geography.about.com/library/weekly/aa042000b.htm]
I won't argue the obesity point at all. A lot of medical problems would go away if people just ate less and exercised more. We have a culture of gluttony and sedentary activity.
- Darrell
- Posts: 341
- Joined: Wed Dec 07, 2005 1:25 pm
- Location: USA
Diseased
by Realfooddude » Mon Oct 23, 2006 9:54 pm
Diseases like heart disease and diabetes are not "old age diseases". They are modern diseases.USA Today reported that as of Jan 2002 450,637 peole died from heart diseases. Heart diseases has declined in recent years but much of that is do to a decline in smoking. Children are getting diabetes now at unheard of rates. Sure many people live long enough to get heart disease but that doesn't explain so many deaths. Health care spending is about treating symptoms not disease. It is part of the problem.Heath care is part of disease. Take hyper tension for example. The most used drug now is the expensive calcium channel blockers. Not because it is most effective but because it is the most promoted. It isn't about science. It's about buieness. This drug accounts for 85,000 death annually. I can cause heart failure, heart attacks, gastrointestinal bleeding, kidney and liver damage. Doctors treat symptoms. Symptoms are not diseases and what is called hyper tension is no exception. Annual treatment with CCB's is almost $1,000.00. Many who take this drug feel worse on it than without it. Go from sitting to standing and you can faint or feel dizzy. It is because this drug interferes with calcium from cell to cell causing the heart to relax slowing it's beat which results in a lower pressure. Congrates doctor you lowered a number, problem solved. Drugs make more problems without addressing the cause which is complex.
When the statin is promoted as reducing you risk of heart attacks by 25% what does that mean? 25% of what? Lowering tryglicerides is one of the easiest things to do without drugs yet they want you to take a toxic drug to do so.Cholesterol is good for you. You make 5 times the cholesterol than you can consume. Eating less cholesterol will in many cases not lower your cholesterol because if you consume less your body will make more and the other way around. That is why diet will not "work". Nor is it good to have low cholesterol. The lower the better makes no sense for a vital substance. The Cholesterol Education Program is adding to sickness. While cholesterol is at the site of clots it is but one of many thing present. That doesn't make it the guilty party and since every cell contains cholesterol of course it will be there. After George Mann studied the Masi cattle hearders of Africa he said the lipid hypothesis was the greatest medical fraud of the 20th century. They eat copious amounts of raw and cooked meat, organ meat, blood and raw milk from cows with amost no heart disease, diabetes, cancer or tooth decay. They also had some of the lowest cholesterol levels. Many other "primatives" such as the Inuit, and Plains Indians also had robust health BEFORE converting to modern foods. They had no doctors or dentists. No "experts" to tell them what to do. Parents taught the children what to eat and what not to. Mothers to be, pregnant woman, and those breast feeding had special diets.
To say that modern is advanced is folly and arrogance. It ignors cenrturies of practiced wisdom forgotten. If eating less and exercising more was all we had to do we would not be so fat and sick. What you eat will determine how much you eat. What that is is starvation. Being hungry all the time will lead to failure and binge eating and addiction. Only giving your body what it needs will result in being full and mantaining optimal heath. With feed lot farming, GMO foods, pesticides, hormones, anti- biotics, persevatives, additives and synthetic vitamins and minerals it will only get worse. Eating wrongly no doctor can help. Eating rightly no doctor is needed.
When the statin is promoted as reducing you risk of heart attacks by 25% what does that mean? 25% of what? Lowering tryglicerides is one of the easiest things to do without drugs yet they want you to take a toxic drug to do so.Cholesterol is good for you. You make 5 times the cholesterol than you can consume. Eating less cholesterol will in many cases not lower your cholesterol because if you consume less your body will make more and the other way around. That is why diet will not "work". Nor is it good to have low cholesterol. The lower the better makes no sense for a vital substance. The Cholesterol Education Program is adding to sickness. While cholesterol is at the site of clots it is but one of many thing present. That doesn't make it the guilty party and since every cell contains cholesterol of course it will be there. After George Mann studied the Masi cattle hearders of Africa he said the lipid hypothesis was the greatest medical fraud of the 20th century. They eat copious amounts of raw and cooked meat, organ meat, blood and raw milk from cows with amost no heart disease, diabetes, cancer or tooth decay. They also had some of the lowest cholesterol levels. Many other "primatives" such as the Inuit, and Plains Indians also had robust health BEFORE converting to modern foods. They had no doctors or dentists. No "experts" to tell them what to do. Parents taught the children what to eat and what not to. Mothers to be, pregnant woman, and those breast feeding had special diets.
To say that modern is advanced is folly and arrogance. It ignors cenrturies of practiced wisdom forgotten. If eating less and exercising more was all we had to do we would not be so fat and sick. What you eat will determine how much you eat. What that is is starvation. Being hungry all the time will lead to failure and binge eating and addiction. Only giving your body what it needs will result in being full and mantaining optimal heath. With feed lot farming, GMO foods, pesticides, hormones, anti- biotics, persevatives, additives and synthetic vitamins and minerals it will only get worse. Eating wrongly no doctor can help. Eating rightly no doctor is needed.
- Realfooddude
- Posts: 5
- Joined: Fri Feb 24, 2006 5:46 pm
- Location: Mount Morris MI
by GWardMD11 » Sun Apr 15, 2007 8:29 pm
Realfooddude you are so very RIGHT. Everyone should listen to this man. He absolutely knows what he is talking about. Throw away the pills and only eat the foods that you could buy or produce 100 years ago. If you do you will live a longer, healther life and your body will eventually repair itself. It's an amazing machine to do so. GET OFF THE MEDS!
- GWardMD11
- Posts: 11
- Joined: Sun Apr 30, 2006 12:42 am
by slacckk » Sat Jun 09, 2007 12:42 pm
The "average" life expectancy rates are so low in 1900 becuase of the huge number of childhood deaths.
I can't find the citation right now, but I remember reading somewhere that the average life expectancy for a 40 year old is only 7 years longer now than it was in 1900.
I can't find the citation right now, but I remember reading somewhere that the average life expectancy for a 40 year old is only 7 years longer now than it was in 1900.
- slacckk
- Posts: 8
- Joined: Wed Oct 25, 2006 11:24 am
Life expectancies:
by catamaran » Sat Jun 09, 2007 1:08 pm
I will reiterate what I have said before in this and other related posts:
Most of the diseases of aging (and heart disease in particular, according to board-certified cardiologist and researcher, Dr. Thomas Levy) are caused directly or indirectly by chronic subclinical scurvy, vitamin C deficiency.
Dr. Levy backs up his declaration with over 1800 clinical research references going back over 70 years.
As far as I am concerned, forget about all the popular meds ostensibly designed to "prevent" heart disease and adjust your diet to include 500mg or more of supplemental vitamin C every two to three hours. The dynamic-flow model developed by Drs. Hickey and Roberts indicates this approach to be quite efficaceous. :!:
Most of the diseases of aging (and heart disease in particular, according to board-certified cardiologist and researcher, Dr. Thomas Levy) are caused directly or indirectly by chronic subclinical scurvy, vitamin C deficiency.
Dr. Levy backs up his declaration with over 1800 clinical research references going back over 70 years.
As far as I am concerned, forget about all the popular meds ostensibly designed to "prevent" heart disease and adjust your diet to include 500mg or more of supplemental vitamin C every two to three hours. The dynamic-flow model developed by Drs. Hickey and Roberts indicates this approach to be quite efficaceous. :!:
- catamaran
- Posts: 49
- Joined: Sat Jan 28, 2006 7:03 pm
- Location: Edgewater, Florida
another approach
by JL » Sun Jun 17, 2007 2:53 pm
[http://www.ourhealthcoop.com/pauling.htm]
just wanted to chime in an say that this is one of my favorite articles.
Thanks Catamaran for posting its link!!! :D
just wanted to chime in an say that this is one of my favorite articles.
Thanks Catamaran for posting its link!!! :D
- JL
- Posts: 63
- Joined: Thu Aug 03, 2006 12:12 am
- Location: Hawaiian Nation
by gedunk » Mon Feb 18, 2008 5:31 pm
If the average American would get off of his or her lazy oversized butt, and get 3-4 hours of modest aerobic exercise a week, then a very large percentage of the problem would fade away.
The biggest overall problem is not just with the "Conspiracy of Silence" from the pharmaceutical manufacturers, but also with a population of people who refuse to take full responsibility for their physical health.
It's far easier to sit on the couch and demand a pill for a largely self-inflicted problem, than it is make the necessary changes to the Western lifestyle to which we're all accustomed.
I am pointing a finger at myself here too. I consider myself extremely fortunate to have stopped taking statins after only 2 1/2 years, and with only a (as yet) limited encounter with the side effects.
I'm 51, 35 pounds overweight, and until 4 months ago, pretty sedentary. The fact that my BP and HDL/LDL levels were pretty whacked is because of the choices I made while Young and Dumb, or just plain deliberately ignorant.
I'm making changes that already bearing good fruit.
The biggest overall problem is not just with the "Conspiracy of Silence" from the pharmaceutical manufacturers, but also with a population of people who refuse to take full responsibility for their physical health.
It's far easier to sit on the couch and demand a pill for a largely self-inflicted problem, than it is make the necessary changes to the Western lifestyle to which we're all accustomed.
I am pointing a finger at myself here too. I consider myself extremely fortunate to have stopped taking statins after only 2 1/2 years, and with only a (as yet) limited encounter with the side effects.
I'm 51, 35 pounds overweight, and until 4 months ago, pretty sedentary. The fact that my BP and HDL/LDL levels were pretty whacked is because of the choices I made while Young and Dumb, or just plain deliberately ignorant.
I'm making changes that already bearing good fruit.
- gedunk
- Posts: 12
- Joined: Tue Feb 12, 2008 9:01 pm
12 posts
• Page 1 of 1
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 4 guests