Statin are one of the most widely prescribed medications out there. They are used to lower high cholesterol levels. If you are on it, you should take a look at this CBC article and video. Researchers are starting to question its risks and benefits for cardiovascular disease prevention. It seems to help those who have had a heart attack, but not so much for those who have yet to have any health problems. After about 5 yrs of use, it seems to reduce risk by about one percent. But one also has to weigh that against the possible side effects such as kidney disease, muscle pain, type 2 diabetes, etc.
Luckily, if you read my previous blog post about how effective naturopathic medicine is for cardiovascular disease, you will find that there are much more effective treatment strategies out there.
FYI:
Speaking of statins, make sure that you're not mixing it with any macrolide antibiotics. These are common antibiotics such as clarithromycin & erythromycin. It could lead to a number of nasty side effects, namely kidney and muscle damage. See the article below for more information.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2013/06/17/statin-antibiotic-interaction.html
Yours in Health,
Ian Koo, ND
Visit us on our Facebook page!
www.NaturopathicEssentials.com
"The care you want, the health you need."
Showing posts with label cardiovascular disease. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cardiovascular disease. Show all posts
Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease using Naturopathic Therapies vs. Conventional Treatment
I didn't think this would happen for at least a decade more, but it did. The Canadian Medical Association's Journal (CMAJ) published a journal study comparing the treatment of Canada Post workers in Edmonton, Toronto & Vancouver using conventional treatment of cardiovascular disease versus naturopathic treatment.
And lo and behold, naturopathic treatment was more successful in reducing the 10 year risk of cardiovascular disease and mortality risk. In addition, the patients who were treated by a naturopathic doctor reduced costs to the health care system and the employer (Canada Post) by a whopping $1025 in the first year alone.
The study also analyzed naturopathic care vs. statins. Statins are a class of medication used to lower cholesterol and have been shown to decrease mortality risks. Naturopathic care resulted in a 2 fold improvement in benefit + a 2 fold reduction in cost. Therefore, that means naturopathic care was 4x more cost effective.
Dr. Brian Goldman, MD who hosts a show on CBC radio and is an emergency room doctor at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto discusses this study and naturopathic medicine in this interview. Take some time to listen to it and you'll be surprised at how positive he is regarding naturopathic medicine's role in Ontario and Canada's health care system.
http://www.cbc.ca/player/Radio/Local+Shows/Saskatchewan/ID/2382402569/
Yours in Health,
Ian Koo, ND
Visit us on our Facebook page!
www.NaturopathicEssentials.com
"The care you want, the health you need."
And lo and behold, naturopathic treatment was more successful in reducing the 10 year risk of cardiovascular disease and mortality risk. In addition, the patients who were treated by a naturopathic doctor reduced costs to the health care system and the employer (Canada Post) by a whopping $1025 in the first year alone.
The study also analyzed naturopathic care vs. statins. Statins are a class of medication used to lower cholesterol and have been shown to decrease mortality risks. Naturopathic care resulted in a 2 fold improvement in benefit + a 2 fold reduction in cost. Therefore, that means naturopathic care was 4x more cost effective.
Dr. Brian Goldman, MD who hosts a show on CBC radio and is an emergency room doctor at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto discusses this study and naturopathic medicine in this interview. Take some time to listen to it and you'll be surprised at how positive he is regarding naturopathic medicine's role in Ontario and Canada's health care system.
http://www.cbc.ca/player/Radio/Local+Shows/Saskatchewan/ID/2382402569/
Yours in Health,
Ian Koo, ND
Visit us on our Facebook page!
www.NaturopathicEssentials.com
"The care you want, the health you need."
Effects of a healthy meal on your body! (Must see Video)
Here's a video from ABC News of actual physical changes that occur to your body after eating a healthy meal vs. an unhealthy one. A must see!!!
I find that a lot of patients that come to me for weight loss or have cardiovascular diseases like diabetes, hypertension or high cholesterol know which foods are bad for them. There is a lot of information out there and I find that people just need someone that can put all of that into a doable plan that is easy to implement. And I am happy to say that we have excellent outcomes and success rates here at the clinic.
Yours in health,
Ian Koo, ND
Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine
Naturopathic Essentials Health Centre
"The care you want, the health you need"
I find that a lot of patients that come to me for weight loss or have cardiovascular diseases like diabetes, hypertension or high cholesterol know which foods are bad for them. There is a lot of information out there and I find that people just need someone that can put all of that into a doable plan that is easy to implement. And I am happy to say that we have excellent outcomes and success rates here at the clinic.
Yours in health,
Ian Koo, ND
Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine
Naturopathic Essentials Health Centre
"The care you want, the health you need"
In The News: Prostate Test Unnecessary & Red Meat Kills
PSA Testing Unnecessary?
The Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) test is routinely touted to men and every year more and more men ask their medical doctors or naturopathic doctors to write them a script for the test. Recent research on the PSA test reveals that "a high proportion of cancers actually found by PSA testing would never have become clinically apparent in that individual's lifetime" and that means many men are unduly subjected to the possible complications of the treatment, namely incontinence and impotence. The researchers state believe that the risks of large-scale PSA testing outweighs the benefits because many prostate cancers are slow growing and many men die of other causes instead of the cancer.
I believe that the PSA test is still useful and health care practitioners need to use their clinical judgement as to when to prescribe the test. For example, an 80 year old man in most cases probably wouldn't benefit too much from getting this test.
Red Meat Kills
Half a million people were tracked in a study looking at intakes of red and processed meats. The results are not startling to health care practitioners knowledgeable in nutrition. Naturopathic doctors have long advocated that North Americans cut their consumption of red meats. Now the Canadian Cancer Society is recommending limiting red meat to 500 grams or 18 ounces per week to reduce the risk of cancer.
The study found that men and women who eat four ounces per day - the equivalent of a small steak or "Quarter-Pounder" from McDonalds - had a higher risk of dying from heart disease & cancer than those who ate less than one once of red meat per day. Men who were heavy meat eaters had a 22% increased risk of dying from cancer and 27% increased risk of dying from cardiovascular disease. Women had a 20% increased risk of dying from cancer and 50% increase for heart disease.
Red meat includes bacon, beef, cold cuts, ham, hamburger, hot dogs, liver, pepperoni, pork, sausage and steak.
My recommendation to my patients stays the same, meat should be treated as a "side" rather than the main course. In many restaurants and households, we are often served "a steak with a side of veggies". Let's reverse that folks!!! Make vegetables the star of your dish.
Other Recommendations:
Ian Koo, ND
Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine
Naturopathic Essentials Health Centre
"The care you want, the health you need"
The Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) test is routinely touted to men and every year more and more men ask their medical doctors or naturopathic doctors to write them a script for the test. Recent research on the PSA test reveals that "a high proportion of cancers actually found by PSA testing would never have become clinically apparent in that individual's lifetime" and that means many men are unduly subjected to the possible complications of the treatment, namely incontinence and impotence. The researchers state believe that the risks of large-scale PSA testing outweighs the benefits because many prostate cancers are slow growing and many men die of other causes instead of the cancer.
I believe that the PSA test is still useful and health care practitioners need to use their clinical judgement as to when to prescribe the test. For example, an 80 year old man in most cases probably wouldn't benefit too much from getting this test.
Red Meat Kills
Half a million people were tracked in a study looking at intakes of red and processed meats. The results are not startling to health care practitioners knowledgeable in nutrition. Naturopathic doctors have long advocated that North Americans cut their consumption of red meats. Now the Canadian Cancer Society is recommending limiting red meat to 500 grams or 18 ounces per week to reduce the risk of cancer.
The study found that men and women who eat four ounces per day - the equivalent of a small steak or "Quarter-Pounder" from McDonalds - had a higher risk of dying from heart disease & cancer than those who ate less than one once of red meat per day. Men who were heavy meat eaters had a 22% increased risk of dying from cancer and 27% increased risk of dying from cardiovascular disease. Women had a 20% increased risk of dying from cancer and 50% increase for heart disease.
Red meat includes bacon, beef, cold cuts, ham, hamburger, hot dogs, liver, pepperoni, pork, sausage and steak.
My recommendation to my patients stays the same, meat should be treated as a "side" rather than the main course. In many restaurants and households, we are often served "a steak with a side of veggies". Let's reverse that folks!!! Make vegetables the star of your dish.
Other Recommendations:
- Select lean meat and alternatives
- Trim visible fat from meats
- Remove the skin from poultry
- Use cooking methods such as roasting, baking or poaching that require little or no added fat.
Ian Koo, ND
Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine
Naturopathic Essentials Health Centre
"The care you want, the health you need"
South Asians at an Increased Risk of Cardiovascular Diseases
Studies have shown people native to India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka can die from heart disease five to 10 years earlier than those from other ethnic groups.
Atherosclerosis in S. Asians is unlike the classical picture. It is diffuse in nature and doesn't just occur at the top of the arteries which is what is normally seen in other ethnic groups.
Reasons why:
- South Asians may have smaller than avg blood vessels in the heart. Therefore fat deposited on the blood vessel walls will shrink the available space for blood to flow.
- Abnormality in glucose and insulin signalling is seen much earlier in life in this segment of the population.
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