I have felt this way for years, and now finally can point to an article and say, "see this". I am curious if Doc agrees with what this guy is saying. It is a good article, whether you agree or not....food for thought.
http://www.sott.net/articles/show/242516-Heart-Surgeon-Speaks-Out-On-What-Really-Causes-Heart-Disease (http://www.sott.net/articles/show/242516-Heart-Surgeon-Speaks-Out-On-What-Really-Causes-Heart-Disease)
All I know is, groupthink is very dangerous. When one or two people come up with a new (right or wrong) idea, in a large group of like-minded people, it becomes accepted by the whole group as fact, because rarely will any of the other group members do any research on the subject.
Whether the previous thinking this doctor is talking about is an example of groupthink, or whether his own opinion is an example, I do not know.
However it does tend to support my belief that they had food right "back in the day", and it was never broke, so why have we been trying to "fix" food?
i do know that i quit taking my cholesterol meds back in oct or nov. and when i last went to see the doc he ask if i was still taking it, i hadnt planned on mentioning it to him until he ask me.... i told that i had not been taking it.,
he says" well we have had some bad reports on it" so i want you to switch to half dose,
i never did take anymore of it. and my body feels better as in my muscles do not hurt anymore, the reason i quit taking it was, i was losing muscle mass and i could see the difference.
My dad has been on cholesterol meds for over 35 years and still had to have a stint put in. I am 45 with a cholesterol number of over 230 and my heart is as good as when I was in High school. I will never take cholesterol meds.
Patty
I agree to some extent. Certainly this "correct diet will solve everything" attitude that's been pervasive in our culture is questionable at best. I think the idea that simply lowering a blood value like cholesterol as a final solution to heart disease is phenomenally short sighted. They can't really decide whether it's the cause or the symptom of a problem. Diet and exercise do matter, for sure, but genetics have a lot to do with it, as well as environmental factors.
Remember that scary statistics like "more people will die this year from heart disease..." are skewed from the start, as ther are more older people than ever before. The unanswered question is whether our preventive measures have done anything to affect the natural course of heart disease. So I enjoyed the article, but I won't be jumping completely on the band wagon.
I'll take a double helping of lard, please.
I think what we don't know dwarfs what we know. Back about 6 or so years ago, when I had my bout of pancreatis my transglyceride level was over 4000. I went on a lower fat diet and medication. About two years ago, I ran out of medication, and just never made it back to the doctor until last fall. My level was at 150. I can't say that I have stuck to the diet faithfully. I can say that I read food labels like a hawk, and if it says trans fats, it goes back on the shelf. I eat at McD's about once or so a month. But they changed oils to no trans fats. Otherwise, if I cook, its in olive or canola oil. I eat red meat. Eat a variety of things. I had even run out of gout medication. Doctor shook his head and said, you don't need medication for anything. Was it trans fat? Was it the lessened stress of getting out of the cattle business? Moved from the old house to the new house two years ago. Could it have been enviromental? Who knows. I don't.
Or it could have developed from a temporary blockage of the pancreatic duct, and it had little to do with diet at all!
All this is good...the fact that folks are even thinking about a simple foods diet is a fine start in my opinion. Is it the cure-all answer to good health? I don't know, but I think it can't hurt to eat healthy. Simple food in my mind is that which is not adulterated. Such as fresh fruits and vegetables, red meat, chicken, fish; as opposed to potato chips, bologna, fruit drinks that do not contain fruit ::) , cocoa puffs...the list is endless.
If nothing else it causes us to think about our body and what we are putting into it for fuel.
Quote from: doctorb on March 08, 2012, 10:51:01 PM
Or it could have developed from a temporary blockage of the pancreatic duct, and it had little to do with diet at all!
You know, not once in any discussions with the doctors about what happened did that even come up. Yet that makes more sense than anything.
Expanding on Patty's post, isn't it amazing how many older people used real butter, ate bacon and eggs in the morning, made pie crusts with butter or lard, and lived to a ripe old age. Still remember my grandmother's pies where she used lard from a duck for the pie crust. It did get to her eventually though. She only lived to be 105.
Some of my earliest memories are helping her and grandpa plant their garden. That was a big thing for me. They loved their veggies to go with it.
Kansas,you are right,but how many of those old people sit around and play on a computer. ;D My Father was always outside doing something. My Grandparents had a small get by farm. We was over here alot growing up. Always some kind of work that needed to be done. I say work but they did not really see it that way. I'm out usually on a good day trying to improve the land,but to me it's not work. I enjoy it. The older people worked off all of that bad stuff and really did not eat much from a store. I wonder how much bad stuff that I eat and my wife cooks alot of things herself.
Kansas. In fairness to your docs, they usually could tell if you had an obstructive pancreatitis. The duct would look swollen and blocked on CT or MRI, one of which I am sure you had. It does occur, though.
Quote from: ely on March 08, 2012, 05:43:20 PM
i do know that i quit taking my cholesterol meds back in oct or nov. and when i last went to see the doc he ask if i was still taking it, i hadnt planned on mentioning it to him until he ask me.... i told that i had not been taking it.,
he says" well we have had some bad reports on it" so i want you to switch to half dose,
i never did take anymore of it. and my body feels better as in my muscles do not hurt anymore, the reason i quit taking it was, i was losing muscle mass and i could see the difference.
Similar experience here.
My Doc had me on a Cholesterol control called Simvastatin. It knocked my levels down pretty effectively, but it knocked me around as well. Sore muscles, poor sleep, no energy etc. As I was on a low dose he then increased it, and I felt even worse.
Aha - so that's the one in the cocktail that I'm taking that's messing me around. I stopped taking it totally for a week, and feel a lot better. Went back to the Doc today, and he's pretty concerned about me stopping it, but accepts it's having side effects that I can't handle long term.
OK he says - There is a better (more expensive) drug we can use. It's not normally prescribed because of the cost, but if you are in this high risk group we can give it to you. Actual cost to me is the same, but the receipt shows the cost is $24 vs the $6 for the old stuff, but if it works better I'd happily pay the difference even if it wasn't subsidised.
Anyway, we shall see how this new one works out.
Ian
Ive never heard of anyone dying from a cholesterol attack. :)
Quote from: saltydog on March 28, 2012, 10:34:10 PM
Ive never heard of anyone dying from a cholesterol attack. :)
Drug company's have not thought of it yet.
Here is another study that may say the same thing.
Aspirin Helps in Reducing Cancer Deaths, a Study Finds (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/07/us/07aspirin.html)
Aspirin is also recommended to help lower the risk of heart disease. It is also a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) and that fits with the first article that says that heart disease may be caused by inflammation.
I am supposed to be taking a low dose aspirin a day and now after reading this, I am going to be more faithful about actually taking one a day. ;D
For those of us that take a baby aspirin a day as well as an occasional ibuprofen (Motrin et al), please know that you should take your aspirin at least one hour prior to taking any other anti-inflammatory meds. The motrin, if already on board, ,can negate the helpful effects of the aspirin. There's no right time of day to take it, but taking the aspirin right before bed seems to work in that I'm not usually taking anti-inflammatory meds or pain relievers at that time. Just a thought.
I learned years ago to not mix those anti-inflammatorys. Wait for one to be out of your system before switching.
When I take a daily aspirin, I always do it right after eating breakfast in the morning. But then I rarely take any other anti-inflammatory.
Ditto what Gary had to say. Like him, I usually take my baby aspirin with breakfast and don't take any other pain meds.
Bruce
I'm grateful that Patty posted that link. I no longer have to feel guilty for not taking the statins I quit taking a while ago. Somthing about all the drugs they prescribed the day they found out I had a problem with my heart didn't sit right with me. I took most of them for a year then I quit all of them. Thanks Patty
Hey guys, please check with your doctor before discontinuing any heart drugs....or any drugs for that matter....I really do not want to be responsible for any complications you might have discontinuing a drug without checking first....
No worries Patty, I had already quit them before I read the article. I also mentioned to my Dr. That I had quit a bunch of stuff that was hard on my heart like shift work and smoking so I just told her that now I probably don't need the drugs anymore to which she did'nt respond but it works for me. I usually tell her "If I die I wont hold you responsible" to which she always laughs. So Patty if I die I wont hold you responsible unless you run over me with the Cat.
I also asked her "will I die if I quit taking the meds?" to which she said "hell you could get hit by a truck on the way home! I could hit you with MY truck!" she is kinda cute that way.
no worries
Andy
Andy, I am a dangerous woman on my Cat....you better watch out! :o