Tim Russett's heart attack

Tim Russet, the famous newscaster recently died of a heart attack. As a famous newscaster, he had access to the best doctors and medical care in the world. His doctors claim that everything was being done for him to keep his heart healthy (think prescription drugs) but his obvious risk factor, obesity was not addressed. Did the prescription drugs that his doctors placed him on cause his heart attack? See http://www.yourmedicaldetective.com/public/1035.cfm for a perspective from Dr. Grisanti

Heart Healthy Diets

Most medical doctors have only had one nutrition course throughout their whole medical education but they have been thoroughly trained in prescribing prescription pills. Because of this they have little nutritional knowledge and are reluctant to recommend diet as a first line defense against heart disease. And many times common medical wisdom is just plain wrong as in the margarine/butter debate.

There are a few doctors who specialize in treating heart disease with diet. Dr. Dean Ornish was the first to show heart disease was reversible through diet. Watch him speak about diet and lifestyle http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/dean_ornish_on_the_world_s_killer_diet.html Information on his recommendations are here http://www.pmri.org/?p=jtb Another doctor with great success with diet changes is Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr., M.D. His website is http://heartattackproof.com/ Be sure to watch the video. Yet another doctor with a similar philosophy is Dr. McDougall http://www.drmcdougall.com/about.html While all of these doctors feature low fat vegetarian foods which some people might find extreme, there is also evidence that a more mainstream diet which contains plenty of fruit and vegetables can also work to lower both blood pressure and cholesterol. The DASH Diet, which I believe originally came out of either Harvard or Tufts University is recognized by the American Heart Association as being able to lower both numbers. Yet even though this diet is proven to work, you will find few mainstream physicians that are even aware of this diet. You can find out more at http://www.dashforhealth.com/pages/public/index.php and also http://dashdiet.org/

Did Statins Cause Senator Ted Kennedy’s Brain Tumor?

All drugs have side effects. In this article Nutritionist Byron J. Richards discusses how statin drugs could be the cause of Ted Kennedy's brain tumor http://www.wellnessresources.com/content/articles/did_statins_cause_senator_ted_kennedys_brain_tumor?source=Email&camp=news052708

Is High Cholesterol Beneficial

There are many studies that show cholesterol is beneficial in frighting infections http://www.westonaprice.org/moderndiseases/benefits_cholest.html

Welcome to Heart Health and Cholesterol Myths

Hello and welcome. This site is dedicated to my Mother and all the other people who have died because they listened to common medical wisdom instead of common sense. I believe that my mother who died from pancreatic cancer at the age of 72, was lead to her demise by a lifetime of margarine and diet soda (that she deemed to be part of a heart healthy diet) and by seven years of statin drug use. Common sense would tell you that you can't build health with a diet of fake foods that are lacking in nutrition. Medical wisdom says that if your unhealthy diet isn't working for you all you need to do is take a pill (or 2 or 3 or more) and you can improve the medical markers such as cholesterol that the medical world uses to declare you healthy. It matters not that the numbers are symptoms that the body might be in distress and not the root cause of the problem or that the side effects of the medication may be worse than the original diagnosis (they have pills for that too). Chasing symptoms instead of going after the root cause is akin to patching a leaky pipe with bubble gum.

When discussing heart disease the first item usually tested for by the medical field is cholesterol. Most people misunderstand that cholesterol is a necessary part of a healthy body. Our brains are made up of mostly cholesterol and we also need it to make hormones. Your body uses it to patch the nicks caused by free radicals hitting your arteries much like your body uses a scab to patch an external cut. A cholesterol patch in your arteries is not necessarily a bad thing - normal cholesterol patches are soft and pliable. However, if the cholesterol becomes oxidized it will become hard and inflexible. Thus the amount of oxidized cholesterol not the total cholesterol may be a culprit in heart disease. In fact people who have low cholesterol levels are more likely to have strokes because they lack the ability to patch their arteries properly.

Getting back to the "optimum cholesterol number" recommended by the medical professionals. Do you know that people with all sorts of cholesterol numbers have heart attacks and about 50% of the people who have heart attacks do not have high cholesterol numbers. The recommended cholesterol number continues to be pushed lower and lower by panels of doctors who have ties to the pharmaceutical companies. And more people are continuing to be prescribed cholesterol lowering medicines. In the years between 2000 and 2005 statin use increased by 150% http://v.mercola.com/blogs/public_blog/Statin-Use-Has-Jumped-150-Percent-64906.aspx
and the heart disease rate has increased during this time not decreased. And while there are studies to show that cholesterol drugs will lower cholesterol numbers very effectively, there is not one study that shows that lowering cholesterol will decrease the death rate. As a matter of fact, in older women, higher cholesterol numbers are indicative of a longer not shorter lifespan.

Not everyone in the medical community agrees that cholesterol is the evil villain. There is a whole community of scientists who are skeptical about cholesterol being the cause of heart disease http://www.thincs.org/ And a Finish MD has written a book called "the Cholesterol Myths" http://www.ravnskov.nu/cholesterol.htm
Duane Graveline MD MPH, medical doctor and former astronaut is one of the cholesterol skeptics . He maintains a website about the hazards of statin drug use at http://www.spacedoc.net/

While this blog is not intended to be medical advice (I am not a doctor and only doctors can give medical advice), the purpose of this site is to be a source of information about current medical and natural theories relating to heart disease and good health. In upcoming posts, I hope to provide more information and links to empower you to make your own good decisions regarding your health care options. Please feel welcome to post comments and relative information.
To Your Good Health,
Cheryl