What role cholesterol medication?

10. April 2006 William Davis (0)
A frequent conversation point among my patients, as well as participants in the www.cureality.com program, is "Are cholesterol medications really necessary?"

No, they are not. What IS necessary is to correct all manifest and hidden causes of coronary plaque. Among these causes, in my view, is LDL cholesterol of 60 mg/dl or greater. There are many other causes of coronary plaque--e.g., small LDL particles, unrecognized hypertension, Lp(a), hidden diabetic patterns, etc.--but reducing LDL to 60 mg is still an important part of a plaque-reversing effort.

Insofar as we wish to get LDL to this goal, the statin cholesterol drugs like Lipitor, Zocor, Crestor, etc. may play a role. However, they should only be considered after a full effort dietary program is pursued. Don't follow the American Heart Association's diet unless you want to fail. It's nonsense.

For a more detailed discussion of how to use nutrition and nutritional supplements to reduce LDL cholesterol, go to www.lef.org, the website for the Life Extension Foundation. I wrote an article for their magazine called "Cholesterol and Statin Drugs: Separating Hype from Reality". You'll find the article at http://search.lef.org/cgi-src-bin/MsmGo.exe?grab_id=0&page_id=1295&query=davis%20cholesterol%20natural&hiword=CHOLESTEROLA%20CHOLESTEROLS%20DAVI%20DAVID%20DAVIE%20DAVIES%20DAVIN%20DAVIO%20DAVISON%20DAVISS%20DAVIT%20NATURALBASED%20NATURALES%20NATURALIZED%20NATURALLY%20NATURALS%20NATURE%20NATURES%20cholesterol%20davis%20natural%20.)

Can your plaque-reversal efforts succeed without statin drugs? It depends on your causes. For instance, someone with small LDL and Lp(a) only may do great on our basic program and then add niacin. Unfortunately, another person with a starting LDL cholesterol of 240 mg/dl--sky high--will have more success with these drugs.

Believe me, I am no blind supporter of drug companies and their flagrantly profit-seeking practices which, in my view, are cut-throat, shoving anyone and anything out of their way to increase profits and market share. I share many of Dr. Dave Warnarowski's views on how vicious their tactics can be; see his recent Blog post at http://www.drdavesbest.com/blog/ called "I smell a rat".

Nonetheless, the deep and well-funded research of the pharmaceutical industry does yield some useful tools. You don't have to love the insect exterminator, but if your house is being eaten by termites, his services can be useful. Same thing with these drugs. Useful--not the complete answer, not even close, but nonetheless useful in the right situations. Sometimes antibiotics are necessary, even life saving. That's how cholesterol drugs are, too.

Take it all in the proper perspective. Your goal is not cholesterol reduction, per se, but plaque control, preferably reversal.

Supplement Mania!

9. April 2006 William Davis (3)
Ever hear of "polypharmacy"? That's when someone takes too many medicines. People will have lists of 15-20 prescription medicines, for instance, with crazy interactions and oodles of side-effects.

Well, how about "poly-supplments"? That's when someone takes a large number of nutritional supplements.

Let me tell you about a 45 year old man I met.

In an effort to rid himself of risk for heart disease that he felt was likely shared with his family (brother and father diagnosed with heart attacks in their late 40s), Steve followed a program of nutritional supplementation. You name it, he took it: hawthorne, anti-oxidant mixtures, vitamins C, E, B-complex, saw palmetto, 7-keto DHEA, velvet deer antler, gingko biloba, policosanol, chronium picolinate, green tea, pine bark extract, St. John's Wort, CoEnzyme Q10, papain and other digestive enzymes...He became a distributor for a nutritional supplement company to allow him to afford his own extraordinary program.

To satisfy himself that he had indeed "cured" himself of heart disease, he got himself a CT heart scan. His score: 470, in th 99th percentile. Steve's heart attack risk based on this score was around 10% per year. High risk, no question.

For weeks after his scan, Steve admitted walking around in a daze, not knowing what to do. Years of telling himself that he had effectively dealt with his heart disease risk, now all down the drain.

When we met, I persuaded him that to think that this collection of supplements would reverse heart disease was magical thinking. We trimmed his list down to the essentials and got him on the right track.

Heart disease is controllable and reversible, but not this way. Don't fool yourself into thinking that some collection of supplements will be enough to stamp out your heart disease risk. Just like taking an antibiotic when you don't have an infection achieves nothing, so does taking the wrong supplements.

What does heart scanning mean to you?

8. April 2006 William Davis (0)
CT heart scans can mean different things to different people.


What does a heart scan mean to you? There are several possibilities:

1) A way of reducing uncertainty in your future.

2) A tool to crystallize your commitment to health.

3) A device to help you track how successful your heart disease prevention program is.

4) A trick to get you in the hospital.

5) A moneymaking tool for unscrupulous physicians hoping to profit from "downstream" testing, particularly heart catheterizations.


Like anything, heart scans can be used for both good and evil. How can you be sure that your heart scan is put to proper use--for your benefit and not someone else's profit?

Simple: Get educated. Understand the issues, be armed with informed questions.

If, for instance, you're a 55-year old female with a heart scan score of 90, active without symptoms, and you're told to have a heart catheterization right off the bat---run the other way. This is bad advice. A heart procedure like catheterization at this score in an asymptomatic woman is very rarely necessary. That decision can only be made after a step-by-step series of decisions are made by a truly interested, unbiased party. (A stress test is almost always required in this situation before the decision can be made to proceed with a catheterization.)

Unfortunately, in 2006, getting unbiased advice from your doctor is still a struggle. That's why we started Track Your Plaque---unbiased information, uncolored by drug or device company support, with an interest in the truth.

Coronary disease is drying up!

7. April 2006 William Davis (1)
I had an interesting conversation with a device representative this morning. He was a sales representative for a major medical manufacturer of stents, defibrillators, and other such devices for heart disease.

Since I'm still involved with hospital heart care and cardiac catheterization laboratories, this representative asked me if I was interested in getting involved with some of the new cardiac devices making it to market over the next year or two. "The coronary market is drying up, what with coated stents and such. We've got to find new profit sources."

Well, doesn't that sum it up? If you haven't already had this epiphany, here it is:

HEART DISEASE IS A PROFITABLE BUSINESS!

Why else can hospitals afford billboards, $10 million dollar annual ad campaigns, etc.? They do it for PROFIT. Likewise, device and drug manufacturers see the tremendous profit in heart disease.

The representative's comments about the market "drying up" simply means that the use of coated stents has cut back on the need for repeat procedures. It does NOT mean that coronary disease is on the way out. On the contrary, for the people and institutions who stand to profit from heart care, there's lots of opportunity.

Track Your Plaque is trying to battle this trend. Heart disease should NOT be profitable. For the vast majority of us, it is a preventable process, much like house fires and dental cavities.

Mammogram for your heart

6. April 2006 William Davis (0)
With the booming popularity of "64-slice CT scans", there's a lot of mis-information about what these tests provide.

These tests are essentially heart scans with added x-ray dye injected to see the insides of the arteries. However, to accomplish this, a large quantity of radiation is required. In addition, the test is not quantitative, that is, it is not a precise measure that can be repeated year after year.

It is okay to have a 64-slice CT coronary angiogram. It is NOT okay to have one every year. That's too much radiation. However, a heart scan can be repeated every year, if necessary, to track progression or regression. Once stabilization (zero change) or reduction is achieved, then you're done (unless your life takes a major change, like a 20 lb weight gain).

The tried-and-true CT heart scan is the gold standard--easy, inexpensive, precise, and repeatable. Not true for 64-slice angiograms.

Is your doctor using "leeches"?

4. April 2006 William Davis (0)
What if you went to your doctor for a problem and he/she promptly placed leeches on your body?

Yeccchhhh! Would you go back? I'd bet that you'd run the other way as fast as your bleeding legs could take you. Outdated health practices like "bleeding" are outdated for good reason.

Then why would you allow your doctor to approach your heart disease prevention program by checking cholesterol and then waiting for symptoms to appear? That miserable approach leads to tragedy and death all too often--ask Bill Clinton! He might as well have had leeches!

Don't allow your doctor's ignorance or disinterest impede your prevention program. Get your coronary plaque measured, then attack it from all sides by knowing all causes, hidden and obvious. That's why Track Your Plaque is such an effective program.

I often wonder why more doctors aren't using this unbelievably powerful approach to deal with heart disease. But when I see colleagues implanting stents, defibrillators, and the like for many thousands of dollars per patient, the answers are obvious. Given a choice of a rational, effective program of prevention that pays the doctor a few hundred dollars for his time, versus $2000 to $10,000 for a procedure, you can see that the temptation is irresistible for many physicians.

All in the family--What to do if there's heart disease in your family

3. April 2006 William Davis (0)
What should you do if a close relative of yours is diagnosed with coronary disease?
This question came up recently with a patient of mine. The patient--a strapping, 47 year old businessman who looked the absolute picture of health--was undergoing bypass surgery. Although I'd met him for the purposes of plaque reversal, he was already having symptoms and his stress test was flagrantly abnormal, all discovered after a heart scan score of 765. On the day after the patient's bypass, the patient's brother came to me. Understandably concerned about his own health, he asked what he should do. The answer: get a heart scan.
Measure the disease with the easiest test available. If his heart scan score is zero, great--he's at exceptionally low (near zero) risk for heart attack. A modest program of long-term prevention is all that's necessary. What if his score is like his brother, should he get in line for his bypass? No, absolutely not! But he will need two things: 1) a stress test to ascertain whether or not he's safe (60% likelihood a stress test would be normal), and 2) an effort to determine how the heck he got so much plaque. (We favor lipoprotein testing, of course, for greatest diagnostic certainty.)
Message: Learn from the lessons your own family provides. Don't let this valuable information go to waste.
Self-directed health is ALREADY here

Self-directed health is ALREADY here

12. April 2009 William Davis (12)
It can't happen.

People are too stupid/ignorant/lazy or simply don't care.

It is irresponsible. People will misuse, abuse, misdiagnose, fail to recognize all manner of medical conditions.


It's all true. Most of the medical establishment believes it. And it is self-fulfulling: If you believe it, it will happen.

But it's not true for everybody. If readers of this blog, for instance, were to view the conversations we have in our Track Your Plaque Forum, you would immediately recognize that we have a following that is more sophisticated and knowledgeable about coronary heart disease than 90% of cardiologists. That is really something. Perhaps they can't put in a stent or defibrillator, but they understand an enormous amount about this disease we are all trying to control and reverse, sufficient to seize control over much of their own healthcare for this process and related conditons.

Anyway, self-directed health is already here. And it's happening on an incredible scale.

Witness:

--Nutritional supplements--Now a $21 billion (annual revenues) phenomenon, booming sales of nutritional supplements are a powerful testimonial to the enthuasiasm of the public for self-directed health treatments. Sure, there are plenty of junk supplements out there, but there are also many spectacularly effective products. Information, not marketing, will help tell the difference. Over the long-run, the truth will win out.

The 1994 Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act has allowed the definition of “nutritional supplement” to be stretched to the limit. "Nutritional supplements" includes obviously non-nutritional (though still potentially interesting) products like the hormones pregnenolone, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), and melatonin to be sold on the same shelf as vitamin C. There are also amino acids, polysaccharides, minerals and trace minerals, herbal preparations, flavonoids, carotenoids, antioxidants, phytonutrients.

In fact, I believe that the nutritional supplement pipeline is likely to yield far more exciting and effective products than the drug research pipeline! And you will have access to all of it--without your doctor's involvement.

--Self-ordered laboratory testing--In every state except New York and California, an individual can obtain his or her own laboratory testing. New services are appearing to service this consumer segment. As more people become frustrated with the silly gatekeeping function of their primary care physician and as more people gain more control over some of their healthcare dollars through medical savings accounts, flex-spending, and high-deductible health insurance, more are shopping for cost-saving, self-ordered lab testing. Even at-home lab tests are becoming available, such as ZRT Lab tests we make available through Track Your Plaque.

(In California, a doctor's order, or an order from a health professional allowed to prescribe, is still required which, for most people, is just a formality. Just ask your doctor to sign the form with the tests you'd like. Only the most cretinous of physicians will refuse, in which case you should say goodbye. New York is the only state in the U.S. that still dunks women to see if they float, divines the entrails of sacrificial cows, and prohibits lab self-testing.)

--Self-ordered medical imaging--Heart scans, full body scans; ultrasound screening for abdominal aneurysms, carotid disease, osteoporosis such as that offered by LifeLine Screening (who does a great job). There's plenty of room here for entrepreneurial types to develop new services, though there will also be battles to fight with hospitals, radiologists, and others invested in the status quo. But it is happening and it will grow.

(By the way, since I've previously been accused of making bundles of money from medical imaging: I have never--NEVER--owned and do not currently own any medical imaging facility.)


So the question is not "will it happen?" It is already happening. The question is how fast will it grow to include a larger segment of the public? How much more of conventional healthcare can it include? How can we develop better unbiased information sources, untainted by marketing, that guide people through the maze of choices?
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Comments (12) -

  • Anna

    4/12/2009 6:03:00 PM |

    I can add few more examples.  The same was said for at-home pregnancy tests.  Now we can buy pregnancy tests in any supermarket, pharmacy, 99 cents store, mass merchandiser, probably even at a the corner 7-Eleven.  No one who suspects they are pregnant goes to a doctor's office first to find out anymore, they go for confirmation.  LH-ovulation kits are commonly available too, also, and the business of planning one's family has never been the same...

    Blood glucose monitoring is another example.    Dr. Richard Bernstein, a Type 1 diabetic for more than half a century, pioneered the use of self-glucose monitoring decades ago when he used his wife's medical license to purchase a glucose test machine commonly used in ERs, but there was significant resistance  by the medical establishment to allow diabetic patients to use this technology to manage their own BG control (the manufacturer was supportive, however).  Dr. Bernstein was originally an engineer, but he wrote many articles about self-monitoring for better glucose control, but he couldn't get the papers published in the medical journals, despite the tremendous potential for real benefit.  He went to medical school in his 40s to establish the credentials necessary to get his findings published, to the great benefit of diabetes patients everywhere.  Now witness the explosive growth in personal glucose monitors; one can buy them OTC without a prescription even.  While insurance companies are too stingy with test strips, glucose meters are a standard part of conventional diabetes management.

    I think I've seen at-home tests for A1c hemoglobin, cholesterol, etc. on drug stores shelves, too.

    But you're right, overall, they think we're too stupid to manage or understand our own health so they often suppress the development of such tools.  Public Health is turning into Public Health Control.  The only time TPTB  loosen their grip on control of health care is if there's money to be made or saved (for Big Medicine and Big Pharma, not for the patients) or if there is a huge public outcry (sending post-surgical patients right home after major surgeries like mastectomies and c-sections, for example).  Yeah, I'm a bit cynical overall about medicine lately, yet  I'm very encouraged and empowered to not give up, especially by places such as the Heart Scan blog and other highly credible internet sources.  What is the saying, when one door closes, another opens some where else?  This is a great "open door" you have here, Dr. Davis.  Thanks.

  • Jenny

    4/12/2009 9:41:00 PM |

    Unfortunately, this self-directed model works for the "worried well." When you are ill with something painful, debilitating, or brain impairing, a system where you have to figure everything out yourself does not work. And sadly that is where we seem to be heading.

    I agree with the comment on the previous post that what we need is a different health delivery system. My belief is that it needs to be built on an engineering model rather than the medieval guild model within which doctors are currently trained.

    I have seen many very bright people go through medical training and emerge with their curiosity and ability to think and research completely stamped out. They end up hating what they do, but they have to keep doing it because of what they've sacrificed to become doctors.

    The all or nothing medical model with godlike MDs and everyone else subservient and poorly trained is inefficient and keeps us from having bright people functioning independently at every step of the process as is characteristic in other disciplines.

  • Tim-

    4/13/2009 12:09:00 AM |

    I talk to oncologists all the time. When I try and have an intelligent discussion about disease, they quickly ask of my credentials and dismiss any thought I may have when they discover I have none. Whats even more interesting is that very few of them have any idea what nuclear receptors are, and most of them don't see what relationship they might have with cancers. I usually say... "you're right, being that they are part of the nucleus what could that possibly have to do with our dna changing."

  • Trinkwasser

    4/13/2009 1:00:00 PM |

    You only have to look at almost any diabetes forum to see this on a grand scale.

    The ADA Position Statement gives "medical nutrition therapy" the potential to decrease A1c by 1 = 2%. Since they reduced their minimum carb requirement to 135g they have improved this to 1 - 2.9%

    Yet on their very own forum we routinely see people making 5 - 8% improvements, losing scads of weight, hugely improving their lipids etc. Almost none of these successes are achieved by following the ADA's official protocols. What's wrong with this picture?

    The answer leaps out at you when you see their list of Corporate Sponsors, which is also true of many other Authoritative sites: carbohydrate suppliers and drug manufacturers.

  • Anne

    4/13/2009 1:05:00 PM |

    Another home test is a stool test for gluten sensitivity from www.enterolab.com In addition, Enterolab also tests for sensitivity to dietary yeast, cow's milk, chicken egg, and soy sensitivity. Kenneth Fine, the physician who developed these tests, offers them directly to the public. This test cannot tell you if you have villous atrophy(celiac disease). It identifies immunologic reactions to dietary proteins.


    I have met many people who tested negative for celiac disease through blood and biopsy, but were positive on Enterolab tests and Health improved after eliminating gluten. This is the test I used to confirm my gluten sensitivity.

  • Jessica

    4/13/2009 6:40:00 PM |

    You are exactly right about Self-directed health care.

    The number of physicians going into primary care is shrinking and they aren't being replaced. The lack of primary care may very well be the catalyst that drives more self-directed care.

    You can get a mammogram without an order (at least in IL you can). A mammogram doesn't prevent cancer; it detects it.

    But, you can't get a simple blood test to measure your 25-OH levels (without an order)and take OTC supplements to optimize your D levels...which can PREVENT cancer.

    I truly admire your desire to educate patients and encourage them to take charge of their own care.

    You're one in a million. Literally.

  • Anna

    4/13/2009 10:20:00 PM |

    I've used Enterolab,too.  I'm quite satisfied with the tests they perform.

  • Dr. B G

    4/14/2009 3:59:00 AM |

    Tim,

    Fantastic!! This is why Dr. Davis deserves a Nobel...!!!! He optimizes all the NRs, for CAD, CANCER and LONGEVITY protection!

    I have a post scheduled in 1-2 days regarding NRs. Looking to hearing your thoughts  Smile

    -G

  • Dr. B G

    4/14/2009 3:59:00 AM |

    Tim,

    Fantastic!! This is why Dr. Davis deserves a Nobel...!!!! He optimizes all the NRs, for CAD, CANCER and LONGEVITY protection!

    I have a post scheduled in 1-2 days regarding NRs. Looking to hearing your thoughts  Smile

    -G

  • Joelle Reizes

    4/20/2009 6:22:00 PM |

    Dr. Davis: Thank you for your kind words about Life Line Screening. We do indeed hope that our services help individuals who are interested in being proactive about their health care. We would like to take this opportunity to remind people that a Life Line screening, even when self-ordered, is one component of a person’s overall health care.  And while many of our screenings are in fact self-ordered, many are not. Doctors and hospitals across the country work with us and refer patients to us.  Of course, we also recommend individuals who are tested share their results with a physician, even if they show no risk of heart disease, osteoporosis, etc.  This can help improve a person’s medical record and can help doctors recommend the best course of action in the prevention of a medical emergency.  Thank you again for your nice words about Life Line Screening.  It is very much appreciated.

  • Michal

    9/19/2010 7:35:55 AM |

    Nice blog !
    Kamagra Oral Jelly Some patients struggle to swallow medicine in tablet form A new popular form of Kamagra is now available in Oral Jelly sachets The.

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    11/3/2010 10:21:16 PM |

    Just ask your doctor to sign the form with the tests you'd like. Only the most cretinous of physicians will refuse, in which case you should say goodbye. New York is the only state in the U.S. that still dunks women to see if they float, divines the entrails of sacrificial cows, and prohibits lab self-testing.)

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