Eating Whole Grains Improve Cholesterol with Statins

One in four adults over 40 years old are taking a statin medication to improve their cholesterol levels. Tufts University researchers studied almost 4300 adults over 45 years old and found non-HDL levels significantly lower in statin users, but those who consumed more than 16 grams of whole grains per day were even lower. This…

The Need for Critical Evaluation

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation aired an investigative documentary (later withdrawn) discussing the side-effects of statins. They reported an"increased risk of 50 percent" for diabetes, which would more accurately be described as a change from two people out of 200 with diabetes to three people out of 200. Researchers estimate an extra 28,000 Australians stopped taking these cholesterol-lowering meds after the documentary aired.…

Statins May Raise Risk of Diabetes

A cohort of 8749 randomly selected men without diabetes at baseline, but taking statins, were followed for 6 years. After adjustment for potential confounders, those using statins had a 46% increased relative risk of developing diabetes. More research is needed, but the tendency found in this study may give pause to statin use in those with borderline…

Statin Users May Exercise Less

Thousands of people use statin medications to control their blood cholesterol levels, but their behavior may reduce the benefits. A recent study of 6000 men aged 65 and older found that after 7 years, statin users engaged in 40 minutes less of moderate exercise per week than non-statin users. Researchers think statin's side effects (muscle…

Statins and Grace

Statins are an important class of medications for lowering blood cholesterol levels. Statins can help unblock arteries and reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes. The first line of treatment for high cholesterol is dietary. Eating fewer dairy products, eggs, and red meat will often dramatically lower cholesterol levels. Statins can be added if diet alone…

TV Drug Ads Sell Product

Tired of watching direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertisements on TV? They work well for the drug manufacturers! Researchers found the odds of self-reported high-cholesterol and statin use were significantly higher in those who report viewing the most statin advertisements. This finding held for both men and women, most of whom were actually at low risk for coronary…

Diet that Lowers Cholesterol as Good as Medication

Diet is an important part of healthful living. There are foods that hurt your health and foods that improve your health. What you choose to eat is just as important as what you chose NOT to eat. This is particularly true for foods that help control your cholesterol levels. Saturated fats in the diet are harmful…

Statin Therapy Questioned for Primary Prevention

Researchers reanalyzed 11 pacebo-controlled trials of statin use in more than 65,000 high-risk patients without cardiovascular disease at baseline. While LDL levels were lower in the statin users than the placebo, there was no difference in all-cause mortality. Other investigators re-looked at the JUPITER trial which claimed a large benefit from one of the statins…