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Inflammation: Medicine's burning question

newyorker.com

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Re: Inflammation: Medicine's burning question

#61

Post by calebm »

coldtea wrote: post #31
boothead wrote: post #2

It's great to read things like this... I wish my GP would do the same. I recently had a really high cholesterol reading (both total cholesterol and LDL). Everything else (blood pressure, blood glucose etc) seems fine. I'm 38, fit and healthy and nothing that suspect in my family history. I found the attitude of my doctor in all this quite surprising. It amounted basically to "You definitely have familial hypercholest…

On the other hand your GP examined you and has an actual medical degree while you just read some articles on the internet...

I've got some friends who do medical research, and from what they say, "translational research" (getting the latest research into the hands of the doctors actually practicing medicine) is a HUGE problem.

I have been advised that if I (or a family member) ever gets some medical condition, that if I do a few hours of reading up on the latest research on that condition, chances are that I will be better informed on that condition than my GP.

Re: Inflammation: Medicine's burning question

#62

Post by medymed »

boothead wrote: post #49
medymed wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When the "system" becomes an adversary in one's fight for health, as a result of cost, restricted access to doctors and their time, and when an ocean of credible (and non-credible) information is available relating the mechanistically uncertain world of medication, it is not surprising to see many people feel as if they have looked behind the curtain in a wizard of Oz sense and begin reaching for alternatives. Statin…

I had a long reply to your previous comment written out but you deleted before I could post and it got lost. But I guess what I was saying does boil down to this. I don't have a great deal of faith in the shallow, one size fits all, drug based approach I was offered. I do intend to look at wider options, and you're right that there's a lot of information available. However, I don't intend to do a Steve Jobs. If it lo…

After I read your other comments I deleted the first post because I realized you are knowledgable about many issues I brought up and it was non-contributory, apologies. I wish you the best in keeping healthy!

Re: Inflammation: Medicine's burning question

#63

Post by calebm »

boothead wrote: post #2

It's great to read things like this... I wish my GP would do the same. I recently had a really high cholesterol reading (both total cholesterol and LDL). Everything else (blood pressure, blood glucose etc) seems fine. I'm 38, fit and healthy and nothing that suspect in my family history. I found the attitude of my doctor in all this quite surprising. It amounted basically to "You definitely have familial hypercholest…

I have a friend who is a pharmacist, and she warned strongly against statins. Among other drawbacks, statins kill sex drive.

Re: Inflammation: Medicine's burning question

#64

Post by bsilvereagle »

coldtea wrote: post #31
boothead wrote: post #2

It's great to read things like this... I wish my GP would do the same. I recently had a really high cholesterol reading (both total cholesterol and LDL). Everything else (blood pressure, blood glucose etc) seems fine. I'm 38, fit and healthy and nothing that suspect in my family history. I found the attitude of my doctor in all this quite surprising. It amounted basically to "You definitely have familial hypercholest…

On the other hand your GP examined you and has an actual medical degree while you just read some articles on the internet...

> read some articles on the internet...

There is a difference between reading something on WebMD and reading something on Google Scholar.

Re: Inflammation: Medicine's burning question

#65

Post by satx »

jeremyswank wrote: post #32
satx wrote: post #23

statins-for-cholesterol is a hugely profitable business pushed hard for decades by BigPharma, going back to a single faulty "study" in the 1950s, after Eisenhower's heart attack. My opinion is that statins-for-cholesterol, obsession with cholesterol is as big of a medical scam, a BigPharma misdirection-for-profit, as BigFood's "low-fat" and "whole grain", and gluten scams. Cholesterol is essential, so much so 90% is…

What are your credentials for making these statements?

I can read, and I read a lot

Re: Inflammation: Medicine's burning question

#66

Post by gmarx »

boothead wrote: post #2

It's great to read things like this... I wish my GP would do the same. I recently had a really high cholesterol reading (both total cholesterol and LDL). Everything else (blood pressure, blood glucose etc) seems fine. I'm 38, fit and healthy and nothing that suspect in my family history. I found the attitude of my doctor in all this quite surprising. It amounted basically to "You definitely have familial hypercholest…

I'm an M.D. and let me first say this is not medical advice :). I long ago called bunk on the mainstream view on cholesterol and cholesterol lowering drugs. I think there will be a time in the future when doctors look back on it with a "what the heck were we thinking" kind of retrospective smugness.

That stated, familial hypercholesterolemia is a different thing and it's no joke. It's been a long time since med school but I think in this case the cholesterol gets high enough that it actually is a plumbing problem. That is your arteries will get gummed up with all that extra cholesterol.

By all means do your research but don't let denial prevent you from treating this properly. Listen to your doc or get a second opinion

Re: Inflammation: Medicine's burning question

#67

Post by boothead »

atomical wrote: post #56
dspillett wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Recent research suggests that cholesterol directly in food isn't a major problem because most of it passes through the digestive system untouched. The problem is actually cholesterol produced by the body using other substances. 80% or more of the cholesterol in your body is produced by your body, no more than 20% of it comes from your diet unless your diet is particularly unbalanced in that manner. The reason cholest…

http://nutritionfacts.org/video/how-the-egg-board-designs-mi... "The cholesterol in eggs not only worsens the effects of saturated fat, but has a dramatic effect on the level of cholesterol and fat circulating in our bloodstream during the day." I can't reply to the comment below me, but he does cite all the studies in his videos.

I just had a click round that website. It's just the kind of place that I avoid like the plague. It seems hopelessly biased, as does the author. I didn't come across one link to an scientific study, and it was immediately obvious that there's a serious anti animal products agenda going on and no disclaimer.

Avoid.

Re: Inflammation: Medicine's burning question

#68

Post by atomical »

boothead wrote: post #10
tkyjonathan wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Take matters into your own hands and change your diet. Nothing beats a high anti-inflammatory whole-foods plant-based diet. Check the research.

Indeed, that's what I've done. I've completely eliminated sugar and I've increased my veg intake. As of the end of last week urine strips indicate that I'm in ketosis. I'll have another set of bloods done this week before I go to see a specialist probably after xmas. I intend to take a very self experimental approach with this. At the same time, if it does turn out that I'm one of those people who doesn't metabolize…

"A plant-based diet is a diet of any animal (including humans) based on foods derived from plants, including vegetables, whole grains, legumes and fruits, but with few or no animal products."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plant-based_diet

Re: Inflammation: Medicine's burning question

#69

Post by boothead »

gmarx wrote: post #66
boothead wrote: post #2

It's great to read things like this... I wish my GP would do the same. I recently had a really high cholesterol reading (both total cholesterol and LDL). Everything else (blood pressure, blood glucose etc) seems fine. I'm 38, fit and healthy and nothing that suspect in my family history. I found the attitude of my doctor in all this quite surprising. It amounted basically to "You definitely have familial hypercholest…

I'm an M.D. and let me first say this is not medical advice :). I long ago called bunk on the mainstream view on cholesterol and cholesterol lowering drugs. I think there will be a time in the future when doctors look back on it with a "what the heck were we thinking" kind of retrospective smugness. That stated, familial hypercholesterolemia is a different thing and it's no joke. It's been a long time since med schoo…

Thank you for your perspective. I am very wary of treading the "mainstream medicine doesn't know shit and drugs are bad" path, and for that reason I very much appreciate a contrary view. My plan is to give it a few months and see if fixing some of my sub optimal lifestyle makes a difference or not.

I figure if I fix my sleep, cut the sugar and other crap and if necessary change my SFA to PUFA ratio and it doesn't get much better in 6 months then I'll have to take the pills. But I owe it to myself to try first.

Re: Inflammation: Medicine's burning question

#70

Post by atomical »

boothead wrote: post #37
dualogy wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> if I turn out to metabolize SFA poorly Is that a thing? Humans metabolizing Saturated Fats badly? I mean, I know of gall-bladder deterioration after maybe years of very-low-fat eating, but other than that. Would these people also weirdly burn their own body fat (saturated) "badly"? ;)

It would seem so: http://eatingacademy.com/cholesterol-2/random-finding-plus-p... I think that's essentially what a diagnosis of familial hypercholesterolemia means. Likewise people seem to vary widely in their ability to handle high carb diets. I guess a cookie cutter approach doesn't really work across the board.

It's curious you don't find this author biased.
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