Wellness Weekly

Cholesterol: The recent news that questions the efficacy of Vytorin over older generic statins has brought attention to an earlier concern. This is the question of whether or not the use of statins should be as ubiquitous as it is. In fact, this supports the argument against OTC cholesterol lowering drugs. Though I have long been against trying to medicate away every risk factor for disease, I was pleasantly surprised to see that there is some support for this among the medical community. The concern from some doctors is regarding whether or not there is any positive effect from these drugs in persons who are not at the high risk end of the high cholesterol, previous heart attack spectrum. These doctors seem to get a lot less airplay then the docs who do support the use of the drugs however. Their message remains important. Besides the lack of effectiveness we are beginning to hear about there is also the false sense of security people may embrace while on the drugs. In other words, it is unwise to continue the high risk lifestyle and expect normal cholesterol levels. The patient must assume some responsibility and the physician ought to be the one saying so.

Prudent: As I’ve said, when determining the amount of faith to place in the latest health related claim it is important to consider replication. Here then is another study in a growing pool of research that relates a western diet …."the Western diet was heavy on refined grains, processed meat, fried food, eggs, red meat, and soda, but skimpy on fish, whole grains, and fruits and vegetables…” to risk factors for heart disease. Risk factors that are classified as the Metabolic Syndrome or Syndrome X include large waists, high blood pressure, high blood sugars, increased blood fats and lower good cholesterol. The study included something else, for a second time that I’d rather hoped would NOT resurface. That is the association of diet soda with an increase in the metabolic syndrome. The reason that this may occur is still unknown as there is no sugar or calories involved. The main hypothesis are these, 1) a chemical in the soda is effecting blood sugars or 2) people who drink the sodas may also consume extra sugar thinking that they have made allowances for it. I do hope it’s the latter! The study author did recommend that people follow the recommended eating style of the American Heart Association. You can find it on their website. If you are wondering, the study did compare the western diet eaters to those that consume what is called a prudent diet.
“Those categorized as adhering to a prudent diet ate plenty of vegetables, including cabbage, radish, broccoli, carrots, pumpkin, red peppers, and spinach, as well as fruit, fish, seafood, poultry, whole grains, and low-fat dairy products.” [also known as the deedee diet]
Lutsey PL, Steffen LM, Stevens J. Dietary intake and the development of the metabolic syndrome. Circulation. 2008;DOI:10.1161/circulationaha.107.716159. Available at: http://circ.ahajournals.org.


H20 and Weight Gain: You may have expected a little note about how water can help you suppress your appetite, or flush your system, or how it is possible to blame a few pounds on water weight, but No, I really mean, gaining weight from drinking water, real weight. Weight that can become stored fat. How? Well, I may have my best spokesperson in the new Propel water ads which advise against drinking other water based sports or fitness drinks as they are loaded in calories, mostly sugar cals. I have offered this caution many times; however, you may be more likely to listen to the TV. Fair enough, Propel at 20 calories a serving (not necessarily per bottle!) is better than 150. I still prefer my elete water additive. There you get the electrolytes you may need without the calories you may not need. This information is meant for the average person who does exercise but not the athlete, that’s a whole different ball game. By the way, most of us are NOT athletes.

TESH not Best: Ok, I do myself offer you much advice, opinion and admonition. I like to think that my education and certification as a health education specialist allows me to do that with some authority. What exactly qualifies John Tesh to offer health related advice on his radio show? Anyone?

Mpower: There is a new effort underway from the World Health Organization which has been made possible by a grant from the Bloomberg Foundation. Mayor Bloomberg’s philanthropic organization may actually be named something different from that, but he is behind it. (oh please run for president, please please please) The WHO is addressing the effect of tobacco use on the world and is especially concerned about the increase in marketing efforts towards nations that are becoming more developed and having increasing incomes. These include China and India where billion dollar profits are expected. We of course, having had our surge in tobacco use some forty plus years ago, know exactly what is going to happen to those smokers and to the governments who will have to pay for those health consequences. The WHO notes that 2/3 of the world’s smokers live in just ten countries. The US is one of them. Twenty percent of the annual deaths in the USA are related to cigarette smoking. Worldwide there are 8 leading causes of death, six are related to smoking. The WHO expects over a billion deaths from cigarettes within this century. The letters in the WHO endeavor, mpower, stand for different strategies to combat the problem, including policy, monitoring efforts and offering services to treat the dependence. I, being a tobacco treatment specialist in the trenches, offer this. With regard to tobacco over other lifestyle risk factors, I believe the efforts to address it should be 90% policy. I also believe that among tobacco users there is a select group for which the access to quit smoking services is NOT the answer. For this group the only action that will lead to smoking cessation is to prevent access to the product. In other words, cut off the supply!


Wishing you wellness and fresh air to breathe