No more Lovaza 30. July 2010 William Davis (45) That's it: I will NEVER ever write another prescription for Lovaza. I actually very rarely write a prescription for Lovaza, i.e., prescription fish oil. But this was the last straw.I advised a patient that we've had good success using high-doses of fish oil to reduce lipoprotein(a), Lp(a). 6000 mg per day of the omega-3 component (EPA + DHA) from fish oil reduces Lp(a) in 60% of people after one year. (Recall that Lp(a) is the most aggressive known lipid-related cause of heart disease.) The two preparations I generally suggest are either the very affordable Sam's Club Members Mark Triple-Strength Fish Oil with 900 mg EPA + DHA per capsule: 7 capsules per day. Another great product (my personal favorite because of its extreme purity--it doesn't even smell like fish oil): Pharmax Finest Pure Fish Oil with 1800 mg EPA + DHA per teaspoon: 3 to 3 1/2 teaspoons per day. Both preparations work great and are quite affordable, given the high dose. For the Sam's Club preparation, it will cost around $30 per month, while the Pharmax liquid will run around $49 per month. Well, the woman's husband insisted on a prescription for Lovaza. One Lovaza capsule contains 784 mg EPA + DHA per capsule: 7 to 8 capsules per day. Here are some prices for Lovaza from online pharmacy discounters:Prescription Giant: $78.99 for 30 capsules ($2.63 per capsule)Planet Drugs Direct: $135 for 100 capsules ($1.35 per capsule)These are lower than the prices I obtained in past by calling local pharmacies in my area, quite a bit lower, in fact. Filling the Lovaza prescription at Prescription Giant will therefore cost $552.93 to $631.92 per month; at Planet Drugs Direct it will cost $283.50 to $324.00 per month. At local pharmacies, a similar 7 to 9 capsules Lovaza per day will cost upwards of $800 to $900 per month. The patient's husband insisted on the Lovaza prescription because he knew that his insurance would cover it. When I pointed out that this was a large cost that would have to be borne by others in their healthcare premiums, he said that didn't matter to him. I hesitated, but ended up writing the prescription for 7 Lovaza capsules per day. As soon as I handed to him, I regretted it. In fact, I am embarassed and angry at myself for having given in. So I vowed: I will NEVER EVER write another prescription for Lovaza. I do not believe that we should spread the excessive profiteering of the pharmaceutical industry around on the backs of people who pay their healthcare insurance premiums, just so that a few people, like this selfish couple, can save a few dollars a month.
This is your brain on wheat II 29. July 2010 William Davis (24) In the original Heart Scan Blog post, This is your brain on wheat, I discussed how opioid peptides (i.e., small proteins that act like opiates such as heroine or morphine) that result from digestion of wheat cause unique effects on the human brain, particularly addictive behaviors. I also briefly reviewed how elimination of wheat has been shown to reduce auditory hallucinations and other psychotic behaviors in a subset of people with paranoid schizophrenia. These two phenomena, addictions and schizophrenia, are most likely the result of exorphins that cross the blood-brain barrier. Exorphins--exogenous morphine-like compounds--can be blocked by opiate-blocking drugs like naloxone and naltrexone. Naloxone is used in hospitals to reverse morphine or heroine overdoses; naltrexone is being repackaged into a weight loss drug, since blocking wheat-derived exorphins reduces appetite. (Yes: The USDA tells us to eat more wheat, the drug industry sells us the antidote.) There's another way that wheat can affect the brain and nervous system: immune-activated damage. This is similar to the effect seen in celiac. There's even overlap with some of the antibody markers used to diagnose celiac, like the anti-gliadin antibodies and the anti-endomysium antibodies. The most common immune neurological syndrome consequent to wheat consumption is cerebellar ataxia, a condition in which an immune response causes damage to the Purkinje cells of the cerebellum, the portion of the brain responsible for balance and coordination. This results in stumbling, incoordination, incontinence, and eventually leads to reliance on a cane or walker and wearing a diaper. Average age of onset: 53 years. A shrunken, atrophied cerebellum can be seen on an MRI of the brain.Problem: Most people with central nervous system damage caused by wheat do not have any intestinal symptoms, like diarrhea and abdominal pain, the sort of symptoms usually associated with celiac disease. It means the first sign of wheat-induced brain damage may be bumping into walls and wetting your pants.
There's no such thing as a "no-carb" diet 27. July 2010 William Davis (24) When I tell patients how I advise a wheat-free, cornstarch-free, sugar-free diet on the background of a low-carbohydrate diet, some people ask: "But can I live on a no-carb diet?"Well, there's no such thing as a "no-carb" diet. Low-carb, yes. No-carb, no.Here are the carbohydrate contents of various "low-carb" foods:Gouda cheese--3 oz contains 1.65 grams carbohydratesMozzarella cheese--1 cup contains 2.89 grams carbohydrates Walnuts--4 oz (56 nuts) contains 2.96 grams carbohydratesAlmonds--4 oz contains 1.38 grams carbohydratesSour cream--one-half cup contains 3.31 grams carbohydratesRed wine--3.5 oz glass contains 2.69 grams carbohydratesEggplant--1 cup cooked contains 8.33 grams carbohydratesGreen pepper--1 medium-sized raw contains 5.52 grams carbohydratesCucumber--1 medium contains 4.34 grams carbohydratesTomato--1 medium contains 4.82 grams carbohydrates (Nutrition data from USDA Nutrient Database)In other words, foods thought to be "low-carb" actually contain a modest quantity of carbohydrates. Such modest quantities of carbohydrates may not be enough to trip your blood sugar. But add up all the "low-carb" foods you consume over the course of a day and you can easily achieve 30 grams or more carbohydrates per day even without consuming any higher carbohydrate foods.
Why doesn't your doctor try to CURE diabetes? 21. July 2010 William Davis (88) Imagine you have breast cancer. You go to your doctor and she says, "As your pain worsens, we'll help you with pain medication. We'll fit you with a special bra to accommodate the tumor as it grows. That's all we're going to do.""What?" you ask. "You mean just deal with the disease and its complications, but you're not going to help me get rid of it . . . cure it?" It would be incredibly shocking to receive such advice. Then why is that the sort of advice given when you are diagnosed with diabetes? Say you go to the doctor. Lab values show a fasting blood sugar of 156 mg/dl, HbA1c (a reflection of your previous 60 days average glucose) of 7.1%. Both values show clear-cut diabetes. Your doctor advises you to 1) start the drug metformin, then 2) talk to the diabetic teaching nurse or dietitian about an American Diabetes Association (ADA) diet. The ADA diet prescribed encourages you to increase carbohydrates and cut fats at each meal and maintain a consistent intake so that you don't experience hypoglycemic (low blood sugar) episodes. You follow the diet, which causes you to gain 10-15 lbs per year, increasing your "need" for diabetes medication. You doctor adds Actos, then Januvia, then injections of Byetta. Three years and 34 lbs later, you are not responding well to the drug combination with blood sugars rarely staying below 200 mg/dl. You've developed protein in your urine ("proteinuria"), lost 30% of your kidney function, and you are starting to lose sensation in your feet. So the doctor replaces some of your medication with several insulin injections per day. This formula is followed millions of times per year in the U.S. So where along the way did your doctor mention anything about a "cure"?Adult diabetes is the one chronic disease that nobody cares to cure. Treat it, maintain control over blood sugars, but cure it? Most physicians say it's impossible. The tragedy is that diabetes is a curable condition. I've seen it happen many times. Physicians dedicated to curing diabetes like low-carb expert, Dr. Mary Vernon, have cured it countless times. Dr. Eric Westman and colleagues have been building the case for the carbohydrate-restricted cure for diabetes with studies such as this. In this last study, of the 8 participants on insulin + medications at the start of the study, 5 no longer required medications at the close of the study--they were essentially non-diabetic. I tell patients that diabetes, in fact, is a disease you choose to have or not to have--provided you are provided the right diet and tools. Sadly, rarely are diabetics told about the right diet and tools. That's why Cadbury Schweppes has been a major contributor to the American Diabetes Association, as are other processed food manufacturers and the drug industry, all who stand to profit from maintaining the status quo. The cure? Eliminate or at least dramatically reduce carbohydrates, the foods that increase blood sugar. Note: If you have diabetes and you are taking any prescription agents, such as glyburide, glipizide, insulin, and some others, you will need to discuss how to manage your medications if you reduce carbohydrates. The problem is finding a doctor or other resource to help you do this.
LDL pattern B 18. July 2010 William Davis (17) Here's a Q&A I stumbled on in the Forum of MedHelp, where people obtain answers from presumed health "experts." Question:My VAP test results in July 07 identified an LDL Pattern B. Overall results: Total 150 HDL 75 LDL 61 Trig 60 HDL-2 17 LP(a) 6.0 LDL Pattern B Medications: Lipitor 10mg Zetia 10mg Altace 10mg Atenolol 50mg Plavix 75mg Aspirin 81mg I had several heart attacks which resulted in CABG performed May 2000. I am a 53 year old white male , 6'1", 190 pounds, exercise every day, watch my diet and feel great. Everything looks OK except my LDL Pattern B. Is there any therapy to improve the Patten B? Answer from CCF, MD:Your results indicate an LDL pattern B, which generally indicates small atherogenic LDL particles which may cause increased risk for CAD. However, there are several problems with LDL patterning: 1) its unreliability (of LDL pattern testing ), 2) unclear clinical evidence regarding regarding the usefulness of LDL patterns and particle size. The majority of evidence regarding the progression of atherosclerosis is with LDL lowering and to an smaller extent HDL raising. All available clinical evidence shows that any particles in the VLDL, IDL, or LDL range are atherogenic, and there is no evidence that whether belonging to pattern A or B one is more atherogenic than others. Subclass studies have proliferated over the last few years, but many of these studies were funded or subsidized either by suppliers of the assays as a method to expand their use and move them into mainstream practice, or by pharmaceutical companies in an attempt to claim some advantage over other therapeutic agents. Thus, current data on LDL subclasses are at best incomplete and at worst misleading, suffering from publication bias, and now given the recent results of the Ensign et al. study, unreliable. Your LDL, and HDL are at goal. The Lpa level is still not clearly linked as a modifiable risk factor for CAD, although elevated levels are now know to be linked to stroke. Continue with your present treatments: aspirin, plavix, ateonol and altace are all essential medications. Wow. The extent of ignorance that pervades the ranks of my colleagues is frightening. Contrary to the response, LDL particle size assays are quite reliable and accurate. I've performed many thousands of lipoprotein assays and they yield reproducible and clinically believable results. For example, eliminate wheat, oats, cornstarch, and sugars and small LDL drops from 2400 nmol/L to 893 nmol/L (NMR)--huge drops. If repeated within a short period of time, the second measure will correspond quite closely. The data are also quite clear: Small LDL particles (i.e., "pattern B") are a potent predictor of cardiovascular events. What we lack are the treatment trials that show that reduction of small LDL results in reduced cardiovascular events. The reason for this is that small LDL research is not well-funded, since there is no prescription drug to treat small LDL, only nutritional means. Niacin (as Niaspan) is as close as it comes for a "drug" to reduce small LDL. But diet is far more effective. Given the questioner's fairly favorable BMI of 25.1 and his history of aggressive heart disease, it is virtually certain that he has what I call "genetic small LDL," i.e., small LDL that occur on a genetically-determined basis (likely due to variants of the cholesteryl-ester transfer protein, or CETP, or of hepatic lipase and others). Ignoring this man's small LDL will, without a doubt, consign him to a future of more heart attacks, stents, and bypass. Maybe by that time the data supporting the treatment of small LDL will become available.
What increases blood sugar more than wheat? 15. July 2010 William Davis (38) Cureality | Real People Seeking Real Cures Toggle navigation Home Blog Home Archive Join Now Log in Who lost weight? 1. August 2009 William Davis (30) The results of the latest Heart Scan Blog poll are in.I went wheat-free and I . . . Gained weight 6 (3%)Lost no weight 41 (21%)Lost less than 10 lbs 28 (14%)Lost more than 10 lbs 34 (17%)Lost more than 20 lbs 22 (11%)Lost more than 30 lbs 28 (14%)I'm still losing weight! 30 (15%)(189 respondents)This means that, by eliminating wheat:24% had no success31% had moderate success (less than 10 lbs or more than 10 lbs)25% had extravagant results with 20 lbs or more lostIt would be interesting to know where along the weight-loss spectrum the last category, "I'm still losing weight," group falls. (Anyone with a good story please speak up!)I believe we can conclude from this casual exercise that, as a simple strategy, wheat elimination is surprisingly effective. Why would 3% gain weight? Well, without knowing the details, there are several possible explanations:1) Weight gain developed through other foods. For instance, I've had people eliminate wheat only to replace it with fattening gluten-free alternatives. Remember: wheat-free is not gluten-free. Others load up on the wrong foods, e.g., Craisins and other dried fruit; overdo dairy; or snack on wheat-free but unhealthy foods like ice cream and chips. 2) Too much alcohol3) Hypothyroidism--A lot more common than you'd think. In fact, this has been the case with a majority of people who have done everything right, yet either failed to lose weight or gained weight. Those are the biggies. I'd like to hear your personal stories of wheat elimination--the ups and downs, your success or failure, how you felt during the process, how easy or difficult, your eventual results. Just post them as a response to this blog post. A niacin primer 29. July 2009 William Davis (19) A reader of Life Extension reminded me of a piece I wrote about niacin a couple of years back. Anyone desiring a primer on how and why to use niacin to correct lipid and lipoprotein patterns might find this useful. While some people, no matter what they do, cannot tolerate niacin (about 10% of people), many others enjoy spectacular benefits. Q: I recently had a cholesterol profile blood test and learned that I may be at risk of heart disease because my levels of beneficial HDL (high-density lipoprotein) are too low. I read that niacin could help increase my HDL, but my doctor said niacin is dangerous. Whom should I believe?A: Your doctor would be right—if we were still living in 1985. Since then, however, we have learned how to use niacin (vitamin B3) safely and effectively. Unfortunately, many physicians have not yet caught up, or are still trapped by the idea that cholesterol-lowering statin drugs are the only way to decrease cardiovascular disease risk. I have personally prescribed niacin for thousands of patients as part of our program to reverse coronary disease. In fact, niacin is the closest thing we have available to a perfect treatment that corrects most of the causes of coronary heart disease.Continued here. What would life be like . . . ? 29. July 2009 William Davis (16) What if coronary heart disease could be prevented--no eliminated--applying methods that were accessible, easy, and cheap? What if coronary heart disease and, thereby, angina, heart attack, sudden cardiac death, ventricular tachycardia, heart failure, and the cerebrovascular equivalent, stroke, could be eliminated using readily available tools available to virtually everyone in the U.S.? And, over a year, it cost less than a once-a-week latte at Starbucks? How would the healthcare landscape change? What would become of hospitals, manufacturers of the billions of dollars of hospital equipment necessary to supply the cardiovascular hospital industry (e.g., stent manufacturers, catheter manufacturers, defibrillator and pacemaker manufacturers, pharmaceutical manufacturers who no longer have to produce the volume of antiplatelet agents, inotropic drugs, antiarrhythmic agents, etc.)? How would our lives change? What would the end of life look like if people stopped dying of heart attack, sudden cardiac death, congestive heart failure at age 55, 65, or 75, but lived out their lives to die of something unrelated?What if the solution had little or nothing to do with drugs but evolved from simple nutritional strategies, supplements meant to correct the deficiencies that accompany modern lifestyles, and a few unique strategies targeted towards the genetic predispositions that lead to heart disease? What if all this were possible at a cost of a few hundred dollars per year? It would certainly be a cataclysmic change. Hospitals would shrink to a small remnant of their current gargantuan, dozens-per-city presence. The need for hospital staff would be slashed by over half. The rare cardiologist would tend to congenital heart disease sufferers and other unusual forms of heart disease and he or she might have a colleague or two in all of a major city. Healthcare costs would plummet, no longer having to sustain the enormous cardiovascular healthcare machine of hospitals, staff, industry, and long-term care. Health insurance, private or public, would drop by 50%. It would free up nearly a trillion dollars that could be redirected towards other pursuits, like schools and research. Extraordinary leaps forward in quality of life and science would emerge, given that magnitude of funding. It's not as grand a thought experiment as Alan Weisman's The World Without Us, in which he imagines what the world would be like without humans altogether. How long would it take to recover lost ground and restore Eden to the way it must have gleamed and smelled the day before Adam, or Homo habilis, appeared? Could nature ever obliterate all our traces? How would it undo our monumental cities and public works, and reduce our myriad plastics and toxic synthetics back to benign, basic elements? But I believe this thought experiment--what would life be like without heart disease because it was eliminated using inexpensive tools-- is more plausible, more likely to occur. In fact, it has already begun to occur. See those vines growing up the side of the hospital? Are jelly beans heart healthy? 27. July 2009 William Davis (0) Total Fat 3 g or less Less than 6.5 g Saturated Fat1 g or less 1 g or less Cholesterol 20 mg or less20 mg or less Sodium 480 mg or less per RACC* & labeled serving480 mg or less per RACC* & labeled servingNutrients Contain 10 percent or more of the daily value of 1 of 6 nutrients; vitamin A, vitamin C, iron, calcium, protein or dietary fiber Contain 10 percent or more of the daily value of 1of 6 nutrients; vitamin A, vitamin C, iron, calcium, protein or dietary fiber Trans fat Less than 0.5 g per RACC* and labeled serving Less than 0.5 g per RACC* and labeled serving Whole Grain N/A 51 percent by weight/RACC* Minimum Dietary Fiber N/A1.7 g/RACC of 30 g2.5 g/RACC of 45 g2.8 g/RACC of 50 g3.0 g/RACC of 55 g(RACC=Reference Amount Customarily Consumed) Thyroid correction: The woeful prevailing standard 27. July 2009 William Davis (16) Rich has been taking Synthroid or levothyroxine for many years. When Rich came to my office for continuing management 10 years after his bypass surgery, I checked his thyroid panel:TSH 7.44 uIU/LFree T4 1.88 ng/dl (Ref range 0.80-1.90 ng/dl)Free T3 2.0 pg/ml (Ref range 2.3-4.2 pg/ml)Rich's thyroid hormone distortions--high TSH, low T3--are sufficient to account for a tripling of heart attack risk long-term. As Richs' thyroid was being managed by his primary care physician, I notified this doctor of Rich's panel. He therefore increased Rich's levothyroxine from 75 mcg per day to 100 mcg per day. Another thyroid panel several months later showed:TSH 0.98 uIU/LFree T4 2.38 ng/dlFree T3 2.0 pg/ml As you would expect, increasing the intake of the T4 hormone (levothyroxine) increased free T4 and suppressed TSH. But what about T3? It's unchanged. Indeed, Rich says that he feels no better and, in fact, wakes up in the morning foggy and requires a nap in the afternoon. In my experience, the majority (approximately 70%, but not 100%) experience subjective improvement when T3 is added in some form and the free T3 level is increased. While the data (summarized here) are conflicted on whether there is objective benefit to T3 management and supplementation, there seems to be a poorly-quantified subjective improvement. Rich's increased levothyroxine dose decreased (calculated) LDL cholesterol by 10 mg/dl. Based on my experience, I'll bet that his lipid panel would likely be further improved with T3 correction. What I find incredible is the absolutely rabid resistance waged by primary care physicians and endocrinologists against this notion of T3, mostly due to fears of the remote likelihood of inducing atrial fibrillation and osteoporosis, while they are ready to prescribe lifelong statin drugs without a moment's hesitation. Launch of new Track Your Plaque newsletter: Cardiac Confidential 27. July 2009 William Davis (3) Track Your Plaque has just launched a new version of our newsletter. We call it Cardiac Confidential.Cardiac Confidential is meant to be a no-holds-barred, go-for-the-throat exposé of the world of heart disease. We will expose the dishonest, reveal what we view as the underlying truth. We'll even have an occasional "undercover" report of what goes on in hospitals and the go-for-the-money world of heart procedures. Read the first issue here (open to everyone) in which "Laurie" describes her encounter with a sleazy, profiteering cardiologist. She survives, but not without paying a dear price. Thyroid: Be a perfectionist 27. July 2009 William Davis (18) If you'd like to reduce LDL cholesterol with nearly as much power as a statin drug, think thyroid. When thyroid is corrected to ideal levels, LDL cholesterol drops 20, 30, 40 mg/dl or more, depending on how poor thyroid function and how high LDL are at the start. The poorer the thyroid function (the higher the TSH or the lower the T3 and T4) and the higher the LDL cholesterol, the more LDL drops with thyroid correction. (For those of you minding LDL particle size, such as Track Your Plaque Members, the "dominant" LDL species will drop: If you are genetic small LDL, small LDL will drop. If you have mostly large LDL because of being wheat-free and sugar-free, then large LDL will drop.)One of the problems is that many healthcare providers blindly follow what the laboratory says is "normal" or the "reference range," which is usually nothing more than a population average (actually the mean +/- 2 standard deviations, a common method of developing references ranges). In other words, a substantial degree of low thyroid function, or hypothyroidism, can be present when your doctor adheres to the reference range provided by the laboratory. What does it mean to achieve ideal thyroid status? My list includes:--Normal oral temperature of 97.3 F first upon arising. (The thyroid is the body's thermoregulatory organ.)--TSH 1.0 mIU/L or less--Free T3 upper half "normal" range--Free T4 upper half "normal" range--You feel good: mental clarity, energy, upbeat mood. You lose weight when you try. Iodine replacement should be part of any thyroid health effort. Iodine is not an optional trace mineral, no more than vitamin C is optional (else your teeth fall out). The only dangers to iodine r
Who lost weight? 1. August 2009 William Davis (30) The results of the latest Heart Scan Blog poll are in.I went wheat-free and I . . . Gained weight 6 (3%)Lost no weight 41 (21%)Lost less than 10 lbs 28 (14%)Lost more than 10 lbs 34 (17%)Lost more than 20 lbs 22 (11%)Lost more than 30 lbs 28 (14%)I'm still losing weight! 30 (15%)(189 respondents)This means that, by eliminating wheat:24% had no success31% had moderate success (less than 10 lbs or more than 10 lbs)25% had extravagant results with 20 lbs or more lostIt would be interesting to know where along the weight-loss spectrum the last category, "I'm still losing weight," group falls. (Anyone with a good story please speak up!)I believe we can conclude from this casual exercise that, as a simple strategy, wheat elimination is surprisingly effective. Why would 3% gain weight? Well, without knowing the details, there are several possible explanations:1) Weight gain developed through other foods. For instance, I've had people eliminate wheat only to replace it with fattening gluten-free alternatives. Remember: wheat-free is not gluten-free. Others load up on the wrong foods, e.g., Craisins and other dried fruit; overdo dairy; or snack on wheat-free but unhealthy foods like ice cream and chips. 2) Too much alcohol3) Hypothyroidism--A lot more common than you'd think. In fact, this has been the case with a majority of people who have done everything right, yet either failed to lose weight or gained weight. Those are the biggies. I'd like to hear your personal stories of wheat elimination--the ups and downs, your success or failure, how you felt during the process, how easy or difficult, your eventual results. Just post them as a response to this blog post.
A niacin primer 29. July 2009 William Davis (19) A reader of Life Extension reminded me of a piece I wrote about niacin a couple of years back. Anyone desiring a primer on how and why to use niacin to correct lipid and lipoprotein patterns might find this useful. While some people, no matter what they do, cannot tolerate niacin (about 10% of people), many others enjoy spectacular benefits. Q: I recently had a cholesterol profile blood test and learned that I may be at risk of heart disease because my levels of beneficial HDL (high-density lipoprotein) are too low. I read that niacin could help increase my HDL, but my doctor said niacin is dangerous. Whom should I believe?A: Your doctor would be right—if we were still living in 1985. Since then, however, we have learned how to use niacin (vitamin B3) safely and effectively. Unfortunately, many physicians have not yet caught up, or are still trapped by the idea that cholesterol-lowering statin drugs are the only way to decrease cardiovascular disease risk. I have personally prescribed niacin for thousands of patients as part of our program to reverse coronary disease. In fact, niacin is the closest thing we have available to a perfect treatment that corrects most of the causes of coronary heart disease.Continued here.
What would life be like . . . ? 29. July 2009 William Davis (16) What if coronary heart disease could be prevented--no eliminated--applying methods that were accessible, easy, and cheap? What if coronary heart disease and, thereby, angina, heart attack, sudden cardiac death, ventricular tachycardia, heart failure, and the cerebrovascular equivalent, stroke, could be eliminated using readily available tools available to virtually everyone in the U.S.? And, over a year, it cost less than a once-a-week latte at Starbucks? How would the healthcare landscape change? What would become of hospitals, manufacturers of the billions of dollars of hospital equipment necessary to supply the cardiovascular hospital industry (e.g., stent manufacturers, catheter manufacturers, defibrillator and pacemaker manufacturers, pharmaceutical manufacturers who no longer have to produce the volume of antiplatelet agents, inotropic drugs, antiarrhythmic agents, etc.)? How would our lives change? What would the end of life look like if people stopped dying of heart attack, sudden cardiac death, congestive heart failure at age 55, 65, or 75, but lived out their lives to die of something unrelated?What if the solution had little or nothing to do with drugs but evolved from simple nutritional strategies, supplements meant to correct the deficiencies that accompany modern lifestyles, and a few unique strategies targeted towards the genetic predispositions that lead to heart disease? What if all this were possible at a cost of a few hundred dollars per year? It would certainly be a cataclysmic change. Hospitals would shrink to a small remnant of their current gargantuan, dozens-per-city presence. The need for hospital staff would be slashed by over half. The rare cardiologist would tend to congenital heart disease sufferers and other unusual forms of heart disease and he or she might have a colleague or two in all of a major city. Healthcare costs would plummet, no longer having to sustain the enormous cardiovascular healthcare machine of hospitals, staff, industry, and long-term care. Health insurance, private or public, would drop by 50%. It would free up nearly a trillion dollars that could be redirected towards other pursuits, like schools and research. Extraordinary leaps forward in quality of life and science would emerge, given that magnitude of funding. It's not as grand a thought experiment as Alan Weisman's The World Without Us, in which he imagines what the world would be like without humans altogether. How long would it take to recover lost ground and restore Eden to the way it must have gleamed and smelled the day before Adam, or Homo habilis, appeared? Could nature ever obliterate all our traces? How would it undo our monumental cities and public works, and reduce our myriad plastics and toxic synthetics back to benign, basic elements? But I believe this thought experiment--what would life be like without heart disease because it was eliminated using inexpensive tools-- is more plausible, more likely to occur. In fact, it has already begun to occur. See those vines growing up the side of the hospital?
Are jelly beans heart healthy? 27. July 2009 William Davis (0) Total Fat 3 g or less Less than 6.5 g Saturated Fat1 g or less 1 g or less Cholesterol 20 mg or less20 mg or less Sodium 480 mg or less per RACC* & labeled serving480 mg or less per RACC* & labeled servingNutrients Contain 10 percent or more of the daily value of 1 of 6 nutrients; vitamin A, vitamin C, iron, calcium, protein or dietary fiber Contain 10 percent or more of the daily value of 1of 6 nutrients; vitamin A, vitamin C, iron, calcium, protein or dietary fiber Trans fat Less than 0.5 g per RACC* and labeled serving Less than 0.5 g per RACC* and labeled serving Whole Grain N/A 51 percent by weight/RACC* Minimum Dietary Fiber N/A1.7 g/RACC of 30 g2.5 g/RACC of 45 g2.8 g/RACC of 50 g3.0 g/RACC of 55 g(RACC=Reference Amount Customarily Consumed)
Thyroid correction: The woeful prevailing standard 27. July 2009 William Davis (16) Rich has been taking Synthroid or levothyroxine for many years. When Rich came to my office for continuing management 10 years after his bypass surgery, I checked his thyroid panel:TSH 7.44 uIU/LFree T4 1.88 ng/dl (Ref range 0.80-1.90 ng/dl)Free T3 2.0 pg/ml (Ref range 2.3-4.2 pg/ml)Rich's thyroid hormone distortions--high TSH, low T3--are sufficient to account for a tripling of heart attack risk long-term. As Richs' thyroid was being managed by his primary care physician, I notified this doctor of Rich's panel. He therefore increased Rich's levothyroxine from 75 mcg per day to 100 mcg per day. Another thyroid panel several months later showed:TSH 0.98 uIU/LFree T4 2.38 ng/dlFree T3 2.0 pg/ml As you would expect, increasing the intake of the T4 hormone (levothyroxine) increased free T4 and suppressed TSH. But what about T3? It's unchanged. Indeed, Rich says that he feels no better and, in fact, wakes up in the morning foggy and requires a nap in the afternoon. In my experience, the majority (approximately 70%, but not 100%) experience subjective improvement when T3 is added in some form and the free T3 level is increased. While the data (summarized here) are conflicted on whether there is objective benefit to T3 management and supplementation, there seems to be a poorly-quantified subjective improvement. Rich's increased levothyroxine dose decreased (calculated) LDL cholesterol by 10 mg/dl. Based on my experience, I'll bet that his lipid panel would likely be further improved with T3 correction. What I find incredible is the absolutely rabid resistance waged by primary care physicians and endocrinologists against this notion of T3, mostly due to fears of the remote likelihood of inducing atrial fibrillation and osteoporosis, while they are ready to prescribe lifelong statin drugs without a moment's hesitation.
Launch of new Track Your Plaque newsletter: Cardiac Confidential 27. July 2009 William Davis (3) Track Your Plaque has just launched a new version of our newsletter. We call it Cardiac Confidential.Cardiac Confidential is meant to be a no-holds-barred, go-for-the-throat exposé of the world of heart disease. We will expose the dishonest, reveal what we view as the underlying truth. We'll even have an occasional "undercover" report of what goes on in hospitals and the go-for-the-money world of heart procedures. Read the first issue here (open to everyone) in which "Laurie" describes her encounter with a sleazy, profiteering cardiologist. She survives, but not without paying a dear price.
Thyroid: Be a perfectionist 27. July 2009 William Davis (18) If you'd like to reduce LDL cholesterol with nearly as much power as a statin drug, think thyroid. When thyroid is corrected to ideal levels, LDL cholesterol drops 20, 30, 40 mg/dl or more, depending on how poor thyroid function and how high LDL are at the start. The poorer the thyroid function (the higher the TSH or the lower the T3 and T4) and the higher the LDL cholesterol, the more LDL drops with thyroid correction. (For those of you minding LDL particle size, such as Track Your Plaque Members, the "dominant" LDL species will drop: If you are genetic small LDL, small LDL will drop. If you have mostly large LDL because of being wheat-free and sugar-free, then large LDL will drop.)One of the problems is that many healthcare providers blindly follow what the laboratory says is "normal" or the "reference range," which is usually nothing more than a population average (actually the mean +/- 2 standard deviations, a common method of developing references ranges). In other words, a substantial degree of low thyroid function, or hypothyroidism, can be present when your doctor adheres to the reference range provided by the laboratory. What does it mean to achieve ideal thyroid status? My list includes:--Normal oral temperature of 97.3 F first upon arising. (The thyroid is the body's thermoregulatory organ.)--TSH 1.0 mIU/L or less--Free T3 upper half "normal" range--Free T4 upper half "normal" range--You feel good: mental clarity, energy, upbeat mood. You lose weight when you try. Iodine replacement should be part of any thyroid health effort. Iodine is not an optional trace mineral, no more than vitamin C is optional (else your teeth fall out). The only dangers to iodine r