Lifestyle versus drugs
Posted: Tue Mar 14, 2006 10:02 pm
Hi all,
Here's a very nice article about some of the fallacies of our (US)
"medical drug culture", and some *very interesting* remarks about
cholesterol drugs!
Shannon
* * * *
...
March 14, 2006
----------
In This Issue...
America by the Medical Industry
Any Age-Related Ailment
Drugging Ourselves to Death
The other day, my friend came home from the doctor with a cholesterol
reading of 220 and a prescription for Lipitor. Deborah is 36, exercises
like a demon, is in great shape, eats a healthful Mediterranean diet,
has no heart disease in her family and doesn't smoke. But her doctor
read her the riot act -- she left his office convinced that the only
thing standing between her and an imminent heart attack was this little
pill.
What's wrong with this picture? Why does it seem that so many people
(doctors and patients alike) believe that drugs are the answer to all
our health problems? The statistics after all are dismal -- health-care
spending has gone up by 73% over the past five years. We're now
spending more than twice as much per person as the 21 other
industrialized countries, but we are last in healthy life expectancy.
What gives? To find out more, I interviewed Harvard professor of
medicine John Abramson, MD, author of Overdosed America: The Broken
Promise of American Medicine (Harper Perennial). Dr. Abramson believes
that health care in America is going in the wrong direction, and that
much of the reason has to do with the drug companies.
"FREE" EDUCATION
"The first thing people can do to improve their health and protect
themselves from distorted health care is to understand that information
about drugs and health is being brought to them and to the doctors by
the drug companies, because of its commercial value," Dr. Abramson told
me. "The fundamental purpose of that information is to improve
corporate profits, not to improve our health."
Dr. Abramson is hardly saying that all drugs are useless. He simply
believes that many are way overprescribed and that the focus on
specific measures, such as high cholesterol, deprives doctors of a real
opportunity to dialogue with their patients about practices that have
been repeatedly shown in research to improve health and reduce risk for
heart disease and other killers. In many cases, such practices are far
better and cheaper than drugs.
THE ODD CASE OF STATINS
"Look," Dr. Abramson told me, "there's not a single randomized
controlled study that shows that statin drugs (i.e., Lipitor and Zocor)
decrease the risk for heart disease or improve the health of women that
don't already have heart disease. But consider this -- there are five
behaviors that produce an astonishing 83% reduction in the incidence of
cardiovascular disease in women, yet only 3% of American women do these
five basic things. I think that concentrating on cholesterol reduction
is very misplaced, and is largely fueled by drug company marketing."
The five behaviors that reduce the risk for cardiovascular disease by
83% are...
1. Eat a healthy Mediterranean diet (olive oil, fish, fruits,
vegetables, whole grains). For more on the Mediterranean diet, see
Daily Health News, January 13, 2005.
2. Exercise regularly.
3. Don't smoke.
4. Consume alcohol only in moderation.
5. Maintain a healthy body weight.
Dr. Abramson continued, "The impression we get from the media is that
we need to depend on expensive new technologies to be healthy when in
fact most of our health is determined by how we live our lives. And
that is a tremendously liberating concept. There are things we can
control right now that will dwarf the health benefits of most of the
drugs we're being sold left and right."
To beat the drums on cholesterol and heart disease a little longer... a
recent article in the Journal of the American Medical Association on a
study that followed 7,300 women for 31 years showed that the overall
contribution of high cholesterol to mortality is zero. "It had zero
effect on mortality and it did not make a significant contribution to
heart disease," Dr. Abramson told me.
Continued below...
----------
A False Sense of Blood Pressure Security
You may have a false sense of security when it comes to health risks
associated with high blood pressure, according to surprising new
research from Mayo Clinic.
Most doctors only focus on two blood pressure numbers: diastolic and
systolic pressure.
But now, a Mayo Clinic doctor says that the difference between systolic
and diastolic pressure can indicate heart disease risk more
accurately... because the bigger the difference, the stiffer your
arteries.
Read on...
Drugging Ourselves to Death -- Continued
RESEARCH COMPARISONS
Then why are statin drugs pushed so relentlessly? "Let's take a study
like WOSCOP (a famous study used to support the use of statin drugs).
They used high-risk men -- almost half of these men smoked and 8%
already had vascular disease. Using a statin drug, they got a 31%
reduction in heart disease, which translates to one death prevented for
every 100 men treated over five-and-a-half years. Fair enough. But look
at what happened in the LYON Diet Heart Study, which studied people who
had already had a heart attack. Instead of giving any drugs, they just
gave diet advice: One half was counseled to eat a Mediterranean diet,
the other half to eat a prudent post-heart attack diet -- one that is
low in fat and cholesterol. The Mediterranean diet was three times more
effective than the prudent diet at reducing heart disease, and two
times as effective in reducing death. And that happened even though
cholesterol levels stayed the same!" Dietary modification worked far
better than the statins.
Dr. Abramson also said that the women in the Nurses Health Study showed
the very same 31% reduction in heart disease just by eating fish once a
week that the high-risk men in the WOSCOP study got by going on drugs.
The point isn't that drugs are "bad." The point is that focusing
exclusively on cholesterol numbers squanders an important opportunity
for doctors to help their patients by giving them lifestyle advice that
makes far more of a difference to their health with no side effects
than bringing down cholesterol with medications.
IT'S NOT JUST CHOLESTEROL
Dr. Abramson and I talked a lot about the use of cholesterol-lowering
medication since it is such a prominent example of excessive drug use.
However, according to Dr. Abramson, stroke, heart disease, diabetes,
osteoporosis, depression, lung disease and breast cancer all respond
powerfully to lifestyle interventions, yet the cost and frequency of
drug usage to treat these issues is also skyrocketing.
"We know how to prevent about 70% of illness," Dr. Abramson concluded.
"We ought to be focusing on the things we can do right now in our lives
to accomplish that rather than focusing on what expensive drug we've
been told we need to take. Those drugs don't work nearly as well as the
lifestyle choices."
Plus, the lifestyle choices are free and carry no side effects. Oh,
there's one possible side effect: Reduced profits at the drug
companies. Oh well.
Be well,
----------
Carole Jackson
Bottom Line's Daily Health News
----------
Say Good-Bye to Weak Bones, Low Energy and Any Age-Related Ailment
Major new studies prove that you have the power to ward off heart
disease, stroke and cancer -- the three biggest threats to your health.
Did you know that...
under your own control? That's right: Weight, blood pressure,
cholesterol and five other disease-deciders are up to you.
the American Heart Association's simple guidelines on fatty foods?
stroke... and doubles your chance of surviving a heart attack? All for
pennies.
Details...
Source:
Drugging Ourselves to Death
Medical School, Boston. He has appeared frequently on national TV,
including two appearances on The Today Show and several appearances on
the Lou Dobbs Show. He is author of Overdosed America: The Broken
Promise of American Medicine (Harper Perennial).
You received this free E-letter because you have requested it. You are
on the mailing list as shannonnelson@tds.net.
Or... a friend forwarded it to you. You can easily subscribe at this
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Important: Help your friends live more healthfully -- forward this
E-letter to them. Better: Send it to many friends and your whole
family.
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Boardroom Inc.
281 Tresser Boulevard
Stamford, CT 06901-3229
ATTN: Web Team
Privacy Policy:
http://www.bottomlinesecrets.com/simple ... e_id=16004
Required Disclaimer: The information provided herein should not be
construed as a health-care diagnosis, treatment regimen or any other
prescribed health-care advice or instruction. The information is
provided with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in
the practice of medicine or any other health-care profession and does
not enter into a health-care practitioner/patient relationship with its
readers. The publisher does not advise or recommend to its readers
treatment or action with regard to matters relating to their health or
well-being other than to suggest that readers consult appropriate
health-care professionals in such matters. No action should be taken
based solely on the content of this publication. The information and
opinions provided herein are believed to be accurate and sound at the
time of publication, based on the best judgment available to the
authors. However, readers who rely on information in this publication
to replace the advice of health-care professionals, or who fail to
consult with health-care professionals, assume all risks of such
conduct. The publisher is not responsible for errors or omissions.
Bottom Line's Daily Health News is a registered trademark of Boardroom,
Inc.
Copyright (c) 2006 by Boardroom Inc.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Here's a very nice article about some of the fallacies of our (US)
"medical drug culture", and some *very interesting* remarks about
cholesterol drugs!
Shannon
* * * *
...
March 14, 2006
----------
In This Issue...
America by the Medical Industry
Any Age-Related Ailment
Drugging Ourselves to Death
The other day, my friend came home from the doctor with a cholesterol
reading of 220 and a prescription for Lipitor. Deborah is 36, exercises
like a demon, is in great shape, eats a healthful Mediterranean diet,
has no heart disease in her family and doesn't smoke. But her doctor
read her the riot act -- she left his office convinced that the only
thing standing between her and an imminent heart attack was this little
pill.
What's wrong with this picture? Why does it seem that so many people
(doctors and patients alike) believe that drugs are the answer to all
our health problems? The statistics after all are dismal -- health-care
spending has gone up by 73% over the past five years. We're now
spending more than twice as much per person as the 21 other
industrialized countries, but we are last in healthy life expectancy.
What gives? To find out more, I interviewed Harvard professor of
medicine John Abramson, MD, author of Overdosed America: The Broken
Promise of American Medicine (Harper Perennial). Dr. Abramson believes
that health care in America is going in the wrong direction, and that
much of the reason has to do with the drug companies.
"FREE" EDUCATION
"The first thing people can do to improve their health and protect
themselves from distorted health care is to understand that information
about drugs and health is being brought to them and to the doctors by
the drug companies, because of its commercial value," Dr. Abramson told
me. "The fundamental purpose of that information is to improve
corporate profits, not to improve our health."
Dr. Abramson is hardly saying that all drugs are useless. He simply
believes that many are way overprescribed and that the focus on
specific measures, such as high cholesterol, deprives doctors of a real
opportunity to dialogue with their patients about practices that have
been repeatedly shown in research to improve health and reduce risk for
heart disease and other killers. In many cases, such practices are far
better and cheaper than drugs.
THE ODD CASE OF STATINS
"Look," Dr. Abramson told me, "there's not a single randomized
controlled study that shows that statin drugs (i.e., Lipitor and Zocor)
decrease the risk for heart disease or improve the health of women that
don't already have heart disease. But consider this -- there are five
behaviors that produce an astonishing 83% reduction in the incidence of
cardiovascular disease in women, yet only 3% of American women do these
five basic things. I think that concentrating on cholesterol reduction
is very misplaced, and is largely fueled by drug company marketing."
The five behaviors that reduce the risk for cardiovascular disease by
83% are...
1. Eat a healthy Mediterranean diet (olive oil, fish, fruits,
vegetables, whole grains). For more on the Mediterranean diet, see
Daily Health News, January 13, 2005.
2. Exercise regularly.
3. Don't smoke.
4. Consume alcohol only in moderation.
5. Maintain a healthy body weight.
Dr. Abramson continued, "The impression we get from the media is that
we need to depend on expensive new technologies to be healthy when in
fact most of our health is determined by how we live our lives. And
that is a tremendously liberating concept. There are things we can
control right now that will dwarf the health benefits of most of the
drugs we're being sold left and right."
To beat the drums on cholesterol and heart disease a little longer... a
recent article in the Journal of the American Medical Association on a
study that followed 7,300 women for 31 years showed that the overall
contribution of high cholesterol to mortality is zero. "It had zero
effect on mortality and it did not make a significant contribution to
heart disease," Dr. Abramson told me.
Continued below...
----------
A False Sense of Blood Pressure Security
You may have a false sense of security when it comes to health risks
associated with high blood pressure, according to surprising new
research from Mayo Clinic.
Most doctors only focus on two blood pressure numbers: diastolic and
systolic pressure.
But now, a Mayo Clinic doctor says that the difference between systolic
and diastolic pressure can indicate heart disease risk more
accurately... because the bigger the difference, the stiffer your
arteries.
Read on...
Drugging Ourselves to Death -- Continued
RESEARCH COMPARISONS
Then why are statin drugs pushed so relentlessly? "Let's take a study
like WOSCOP (a famous study used to support the use of statin drugs).
They used high-risk men -- almost half of these men smoked and 8%
already had vascular disease. Using a statin drug, they got a 31%
reduction in heart disease, which translates to one death prevented for
every 100 men treated over five-and-a-half years. Fair enough. But look
at what happened in the LYON Diet Heart Study, which studied people who
had already had a heart attack. Instead of giving any drugs, they just
gave diet advice: One half was counseled to eat a Mediterranean diet,
the other half to eat a prudent post-heart attack diet -- one that is
low in fat and cholesterol. The Mediterranean diet was three times more
effective than the prudent diet at reducing heart disease, and two
times as effective in reducing death. And that happened even though
cholesterol levels stayed the same!" Dietary modification worked far
better than the statins.
Dr. Abramson also said that the women in the Nurses Health Study showed
the very same 31% reduction in heart disease just by eating fish once a
week that the high-risk men in the WOSCOP study got by going on drugs.
The point isn't that drugs are "bad." The point is that focusing
exclusively on cholesterol numbers squanders an important opportunity
for doctors to help their patients by giving them lifestyle advice that
makes far more of a difference to their health with no side effects
than bringing down cholesterol with medications.
IT'S NOT JUST CHOLESTEROL
Dr. Abramson and I talked a lot about the use of cholesterol-lowering
medication since it is such a prominent example of excessive drug use.
However, according to Dr. Abramson, stroke, heart disease, diabetes,
osteoporosis, depression, lung disease and breast cancer all respond
powerfully to lifestyle interventions, yet the cost and frequency of
drug usage to treat these issues is also skyrocketing.
"We know how to prevent about 70% of illness," Dr. Abramson concluded.
"We ought to be focusing on the things we can do right now in our lives
to accomplish that rather than focusing on what expensive drug we've
been told we need to take. Those drugs don't work nearly as well as the
lifestyle choices."
Plus, the lifestyle choices are free and carry no side effects. Oh,
there's one possible side effect: Reduced profits at the drug
companies. Oh well.
Be well,
----------
Carole Jackson
Bottom Line's Daily Health News
----------
Say Good-Bye to Weak Bones, Low Energy and Any Age-Related Ailment
Major new studies prove that you have the power to ward off heart
disease, stroke and cancer -- the three biggest threats to your health.
Did you know that...
under your own control? That's right: Weight, blood pressure,
cholesterol and five other disease-deciders are up to you.
the American Heart Association's simple guidelines on fatty foods?
stroke... and doubles your chance of surviving a heart attack? All for
pennies.
Details...
Source:
Drugging Ourselves to Death
Medical School, Boston. He has appeared frequently on national TV,
including two appearances on The Today Show and several appearances on
the Lou Dobbs Show. He is author of Overdosed America: The Broken
Promise of American Medicine (Harper Perennial).
You received this free E-letter because you have requested it. You are
on the mailing list as shannonnelson@tds.net.
Or... a friend forwarded it to you. You can easily subscribe at this
link...
http://www.bottomlinesecrets.com/e2/e2_signup.html
You can easily unsubscribe at this link...
http://www.bottomlinesecrets.com/e2/e2_unsub.html
To change your E-mail address, click here...
http://www.bottomlinesecrets.com/cust_s ... combo.html
Important: Help your friends live more healthfully -- forward this
E-letter to them. Better: Send it to many friends and your whole
family.
This is a free E-mail service of BottomLineSecrets.com and Boardroom
Inc.
Need to contact us? Click here:
http://www.bottomlinesecrets.com/cust_s ... ntact.html
Boardroom Inc.
281 Tresser Boulevard
Stamford, CT 06901-3229
ATTN: Web Team
Privacy Policy:
http://www.bottomlinesecrets.com/simple ... e_id=16004
Required Disclaimer: The information provided herein should not be
construed as a health-care diagnosis, treatment regimen or any other
prescribed health-care advice or instruction. The information is
provided with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in
the practice of medicine or any other health-care profession and does
not enter into a health-care practitioner/patient relationship with its
readers. The publisher does not advise or recommend to its readers
treatment or action with regard to matters relating to their health or
well-being other than to suggest that readers consult appropriate
health-care professionals in such matters. No action should be taken
based solely on the content of this publication. The information and
opinions provided herein are believed to be accurate and sound at the
time of publication, based on the best judgment available to the
authors. However, readers who rely on information in this publication
to replace the advice of health-care professionals, or who fail to
consult with health-care professionals, assume all risks of such
conduct. The publisher is not responsible for errors or omissions.
Bottom Line's Daily Health News is a registered trademark of Boardroom,
Inc.
Copyright (c) 2006 by Boardroom Inc.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]