The medical drug-pushers are at it again: Wald still pressing for his polypills to be routinely prescribed to over-55s

In this BBC News report Professor Sir Nicholas Wald makes the dubious claim that when assessing the risk of heart problems, offering drugs to lower cholesterol and blood pressure to all over-55s has the same results as testing for cholesterol or blood pressure problems. He also says it would be simpler and cost effective. Well it might be simpler, and it might very well be cost-effective for Wald himself (see some discussion here of possible conflict of interest, since Wald and Law own a patent on the idea of the polypill) but I strongly doubt that there would be any gain for the NHS.

Statins are drugs that lower cholesterol and Wald wants statins to be part of the polypills. Statins are extremely profitable for drug manufacturers, but they do more harm than good to most of the people who take them. - Click on the STATINS label below this post to see lots of information about this.

There is a simple, safe, cost-free, drug-free way to lower high blood pressure, improve heart health and reduce heart attacks and strokes and many other degenerative illnesses for the over-55s - or indeed for any other age. - That is for GPs and other healthcare professionals seriously to explain to patients and the general public the huge health benefits from eating less salt and salty food. An even more effective measure would be to have a Secretary of State for Health with the guts and sense and decency to push through statutory upper limits for the amount of salt/sodium permitted to be added to processed foods, and especially to bread, which is usually high in salt and yet is a large part of most people's diet. He should also ban the food industry's use of synthetic transfats as additives to biscuits, cakes etc. And he should remove the food and drink manufacturers from the Dept of Health committee that advises on what to do about obesity.

Here's another good idea: tell the truth about Saturated Fats. - You may like to spare 2min 35secs to watch the excellent little video on this page.

Lipitor linked to raised risk of Diabetes

More evidence has linked the cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor to an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, especially in patients who have multiple diabetes risk factors, according to a study published on Monday.
Read article at redorbit.com (USA)

A person not taking statins is like a fish not riding a bike.

A person not on statins is like a fish not riding a bike. By which I mean that statins are as much use to a person (with or without high cholesterol) as a bike is to a fish. What's the use of lowering or preventing high cholesterol - just one symptom of heart disease - and by no means the most serious symptom, if indeed it is serious or significant at all? Especially as statins are quite expensive and for far too many people also have painful, long-lasting side-effects.

If you want to improve your heart health overall, not just one symptom, and want to do it safely, without unpleasant, harmful side-effects, then you can do that simply, swiftly and very effectively without statins or other drugs. You just need to avoid salt and salty food. When I say that you 'just' need to do this, I must admit that this is not as easy as taking pills. You have to avoid most processed food, since most processed food has had a lot of salt added to it by the manufacturers. This means you'll need to buy more fresh food and you'll need to cook it yourself. But the health benefits that accrue from sodium reduction are very much worth the effort: lowered high cholesterol, lowered high blood pressure, reduced excess weight, more energy and vitality, greater mental alertness, improved sleep, reduced risk of heart attack, stroke, type 2 diabetes, most cancers, depression, dementia, etc.

See Associated health conditions

How to lose weight

And see Sodium in foods

and FAT RETENTION

This article is by Margaret Wilde

AstraZeneca’s statin drug, Crestor, has been approved by the US FDA for people who don’t have high cholesterol.

That's another sinister victory for the drug industry. Those who take statins risk painful and incurable side-effects from the drugs. - Click on my 'statins' label directly under this blogpost to read further about reasons to be wary of taking statins.

The fastest, safest, most effective way to lower high cholesterol levels is to minimise your salt intake. - Avoid salt and salty food. Read here about one guy's experience of doing this: http://rayhayden.us/ete_insights/lowsodium.php

You can reduce your risk of most degenerative diseases by
1) avoiding prescription drugs unless they are really necessary
2) minimising your intake of salt/sodium and salty food
3) avoiding dieting

See Sodium in foods

Lose weight safely.

amitriptyline

prescribed steroids and HRT

Fat retention and fat excretion: the importance of getting enough calcium.

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

Further info about drug company financial inducements to doctors to prescribe statins

See http://www.healpain.net/articles/DoesDoctor.html

If you want a drug-free way to reduce cholesterol problems you just need to avoid salt and salty food. This will benefit your health in a host of other ways too.

Lose weight, reduce your risk of most cancers, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, heart attack, vascular dementia, stroke, osteopenia, osteoporosis, hypercholesterolaemia, depression, liver and kidney problems, and improve your health in many other ways without drugs, hunger or expense by eating less salt! - Try it!

See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.

Sodium in foods

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/socio.html - social and economic considerations

amitriptyline

prescribed steroids and HRT

See advice for pregnant mothers

Children and Obesity

Associated health conditions

and FAT RETENTION

Statins are being touted again. They certainly manage to get a lot of publicity. - But reducing salt intake is safer and is likely to do you more good

They're banging the drum again for statins. - They seem very popular drugs with researchers. They're not so popular with the people who take them.

You can read in the Telegraph that the latest research is again calling for wider prescribing of these drugs and claiming that, by their cholesterol-lowering effect, this would reduce by a fifth the risk of stroke.

Many people embark on these drugs and give them up because of the multitude of unpleasant side-effects, which include "muscle aches, fatigue, liver problems, sleep disturbance, headaches, sexual dysfunction, amnesia and in rare cases lung disease," according to the Telegraph article.

I can't say I regard this as a big deal. - Consider this instead, taken from the BBC News website BBC News health item

"Professor Graham MacGregor, of the Action On Salt campaign, says recent studies have confirmed that cutting salt intake will cause an immediate and important fall in blood pressure.

A three gramme reduction in intake has been predicted to reduce strokes in the UK by a quarter and heart attacks by 16%"

So - without taking drugs for the rest of your life, and without putting up with many unpleasant and serious side-effects, and without visits to the doctor and the chemist - you could just reduce your salt intake and have an even greater reduction in your risk of stroke! - It's a no-brainer...(o: - Go on! Try it! - You will feel so much better!

Lose weight, reduce your risk of most cancers, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, heart attack, vascular dementia, stroke, osteopenia, osteoporosis, hypercholesterolaemia, depression, liver and kidney problems, and improve your health in many other ways without drugs, hunger or expense by eating less salt! - Try it!

See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

And see Sodium in foods and

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/socio.html - social and economic considerations

amitriptyline

prescribed steroids and HRT

See advice for pregnant mothers

Children and Obesity

Associated health conditions

and FAT RETENTION

Are there links between cancer and the cholesterol drug Vytorin?

The House Energy and Commerce Committee wants the Food and Drug Administration to turn over the results of an analysis looking into the potential links between cancer and the cholesterol drug Vytorin.
Read article in the Wall Street Journal (USA)

A safe, drug-free way to lower high cholesterol levels is to minimise your salt/sodium intake. This benefits health in many other ways too, including lowering your risk of developing cancer.

Lose weight, reduce your risk of most cancers, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke, heart disease, angina, vascular dementia, osteopenia, osteoporosis, hypercholesterolaemia, depression, liver and kidney problems, and improve your health in many other ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

See Sodium in foods