Heart Health

LDL Cholesterol & Frustration

By Tammera J. Karr, PhD., BCHN ©2012

The old adage “if you wait long enough they will change their mind” is certainly true when it comes to medicine. The problem is how many of us have 75 years on average to wait for the Medical system to catch up on their own research and change their minds?

For years we have been being bombarded with information on how bad LDL cholesterol is for us – it leads to heart disease and makes diabetics risk factors higher. Now at last the media is reporting on what those of us in the Natural health world have believed all along. Now a new discovery adds to the growing list of health benefits of LDL Cholesterol.

Researchers are finding a link between low levels of “bad” low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol—that is, not enough of it—and increased cancer risk. Scientists at Tufts University looked at 201 cancer patients and 402 cancer-free patients. They found cancer patients who never took cholesterol-lowering drugs on average had lower LDL cholesterol levels for an average of about 19 years prior to their cancer diagnosis. In other words, they were “healthier” according to the LDL demonizers in today’s medicine.

Previous studies, which looked at patients who did take cholesterol-lowering drugs, also suggested a strong link between low LDL cholesterol levels and higher cancer risk.

The “HDL cholesterol is good and LDL is bad” message of mainstream medicine is at the very least an oversimplification. LDL is needed by the body to build new muscle, which is important as we age. LDL can protect the brain as we age, and low levels of it can escalate problems such as dementia and memory loss.

So why does mainstream medicine demonize LDL cholesterol? Could it be because it benefits the billion-dollar cholesterol drug industry? Statin drugs are taken by one in four Americans over age of 45, and if patients stopped buying cholesterol drugs, Big Pharma would be in a serious financial crisis. In fact, as soon as the study’s cancer findings were published, a heart “expert” immediately warned that “statins used for LDL reduction shouldn’t be stopped if there is an appropriate use to lower heart disease risk.”

So mainstream medicine’s advice is to hang onto these “miracle drugs” even though they have been linked to nerve damage, muscle damage, liver enzyme derangement, tendon problems, anemia, acidosis, cataracts, sexual dysfunction, depression and increase in type 2 diabetes of 50% in women, and now cancer.

Now I can’t tell you to stop taking any prescription medication such as statin drugs – in my mind the evidence is piling up against the use of these drugs however, and I will not use them or allow my family members to use them.  And if a medical provider said to me, and I quote a client of mine – “take the medication and live or don’t take it and die”, you can bet not only would I fire them as my provider but they would hear the door shut as I left them and their cavalier attitude behind.   Oops did I say that in writing.

Unfortunately this is only a small part of the current problem with in our medical system. Not only are patients being treated as idiots by some providers, but when you read through provisions in the OBAMA care, you see a growing list of services being denied to older patients, and Insurance companies dictating even more to providers what services to order.

It isn’t all county clubs and golf for rural health care providers:

Now in healthcare practitioner’s defense – there are many providers that are gifted caring people who spend hours digging through patient records when not seeing clients, researching medications, reading studies, protocols and efficacy. They are frustrated over patient non-compliance with everything from exercise, smoking, food consumption to proper medication use.  They patiently listen to all your complaints, make suggestions and write prescriptions – only to find out 30 days later you did nothing including fill the prescription. Day in and Day out they are greeted by clients who only want the silver bullet or medical cure so they do not have to take responsibility for what is going on in their body’s.

Every year the medical providers you see are flooded with increasing paper work for insurance companies and government regulation, mandatory computer records and growing discrimination against providers who are not part of local medical groups or programs. An example of this is the new ICD-10 procedure codes needed for Medicare billing. Currently ICD-9’s are used to code what your provider has seen you for and that program or book is no little system.  Every day I thank God it is the Nurse Practitioner or Doctor who have to use this colossal fine print headache. The new ICD-10 requirements for Medicare just quadrupled the number of codes, complication, time, cost and inefficiency for dedicated practitioners.

So be proactive about your health, after all you live in your body not your doctor, and develop a relationship with your providers that encourages open communication. Be willing to stand up for your health, and don’t think your doctor is always right – they may be wrong, and willing to hear you out. We may very well be facing a time where healthcare providers can’t afford to work within the government dictated guidelines, and to keep good ones within our communities, we pay cash, chickens, potatoes, meat and maybe even a roof over their heads.

Just like in your great grandparents day.