E-news broadcast - 12 October 2006 No.300 WDDTY

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News content

 

 

 

HIGH CHOLESTEROL: It can protect against heart failure, not cause

it, new study finds

LYME DISEASE: Of myth and men

 

GRILLED CHICKEN: So that can cause cancer too

 

CANCER: Vitamin E can stop it (in mice, anyway)

 

VITAMINS: They can make you healthier (and grass may be green in a

double-blind placebo study)

 

DOCTORS: OK, so just some are bullies

 

 

 

HIGH CHOLESTEROL: It can protect against heart failure, not cause

it, new study finds

 

 

The idea that high cholesterol levels cause heart failure and

disease may be one of the greatest myths of modern medicine, a new

study has suggested. In fact high cholesterol levels may protect

some people from a fatal heart attack.

 

And the widespread use of statins, the cholesterol-lowering drugs,

may have little or no benefit, the same study finds.

 

These conclusions are supported by a separate study, which

criticises the new low levels of LDL (low-density lipoprotein)

cholesterol being recommended by heart specialists. Researchers say

that the drive to reduce LDL levels to just 70 milligrams/decilitre -

the lowest-ever recommended levels for patients at highest risk -

may be a wild goose chase, and that they would be better off by

making lifestyle changes.

 

Researchers have discovered that patients with high levels of C

reactive protein - which is generated during periods of acute

inflammation such as with rheumatoid arthritis and lupus - are

protected if they also have high cholesterol levels. Those who had

low cholesterol levels were almost twice as likely to die from heart

failure.

 

This discovery throws into question the use of statins, one of the

most frequently d drug groups in the world, as they may be

putting at risk many people who are being protected by their high

cholesterol levels.

 

Paradoxically, the only people who may benefit from statins are

those who already have low LDL cholesterol levels.

 

Dr Andrew Clark, from Hull University and one of the research team

members, said: " In contrast to what you might imagine, having a high

level of cholesterol might be good for you. "

 

In the same week, researchers from the University of Michigan have

concluded that the new low levels for cholesterol have no scientific

validity, but instead were perhaps arbitrary.

 

Rather than focusing on cholesterol levels, patients at risk should

be advised to eat a healthier diet, and exercise more.

 

(Sources: World Congress of Cardiology, Barcelona (statins study);

Annals of Internal Medicine, October 2, 2006, on line version (low

cholesterol levels study)).

 

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LYME DISEASE: Of myth and men

 

 

 

It's long been the stuff of urban myth that Lyme disease was

deliberately put into the human population as part of a bio-

terrorist experiment, but a chance comment by a US government

official gives some weight to the idea.

 

Apparently the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has

identified Lyme disease - along with anthrax, cholera and

tularaemia - as " potential bio-terrorism agents " .

 

Lyme disease is caused by the bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi, which

is carried by ticks. It's certainly true that Japanese soldiers

used the Borrelia genus on prisoners during the Second World War,

and it makes an ideal agent because it is virtually undetectable,

and can mimic diseases such as chronic fatigue and ME, rheumatoid

arthritis and multiple sclerosis.

 

Conspiracy theorists claim that the medical establishment is in

denial about the disease, and any doctor who tries to treat it is

threatened with the loss of his licence.

 

Those who try to take a more balanced view point out that Lyme

disease was first identified in Britain in 1883 as an infection

caused by the wood tick. Symptoms included a rash and nervous

system problems. In the USA, a similar infection called tick

relapsing fever was first identified back in 1905. It became known

as Lyme disease when a cluster of cases was identified in Lyme and

Old Lyme in south-east Connecticut.

 

Never mind. Still makes a great myth.

 

(Source: MSN and Portland Independent Media Center).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GRILLED CHICKEN: So that can cause cancer too

 

 

 

Fast-food chains such as McDonald's, Burger King and TGI Friday are

being sued by a group of doctors in America for serving grilled

chicken that contains the carcinogen PhlP.

 

The Physicians' Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) is trying

to force the restaurants to warn diners that the grilled chicken may

cause cancer.

 

The group bought grilled chicken meals from seven fast-food

restaurants in California, and analysed them in a laboratory. Each

contained the compound PhlP, which is one of the carcinogens known

as heterocyclic amines (HCAs) found in grilled meats.

 

" Even a grilled chicken salad increases the risk of breast cancer,

prostate cancer and other forms of this lethal disease, " said PCRM

president Neal Barnard.

 

Back to the finger-lickin', double dunkin' humungous McWhopper, just

to be on the safe side.

 

(Source: PCRM website).

 

 

 

 

 

CANCER: Vitamin E can stop it (in mice, anyway)

 

 

 

A form of vitamin E kills cancer in mice, researchers have found.

Researchers from Arizona University added the chemically-altered

vitamin E into mouse food. The mice that ate the super-chow had a

4.8 times reduction in the number of tumours that spread to the

lungs compared with those who were given standard food.

 

OK, that's the mice sorted. Now how about us humans?

 

(Source: Cancer Research, 2006; 66: 9374-8).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

VITAMINS: They can make you healthier (and grass may be green in a

double-blind placebo study)

 

 

 

The understanding of nutrition plays a tiny part in a doctor's

education - in fact, it's around one day out of a five-year

programme - and so any study that discovers vitamin supplements can

actually keep you well is usually met with astonished wonder.

 

The latest startling piece of evidence is that elderly patients who

are given supplements " rich in protein and vitamins " while in

hospital are far less likely to be re-admitted within the next six

months.

 

Researchers tested the theory on 445 patients with an acute

condition. Half were given a nutritional drink, while the rest had

a 'placebo' drink, which was presumably poor in protein and vitamins.

 

Those who drank the real thing were far less likely to be re-

admitted to hospital, the researchers discovered.

 

Some of the elderly died during the six-month follow-up period, but

researchers said it was nothing to do with the nutritional drink.

No, probably not.

 

(Source: American Journal of Medicine, 2006; 119: 693-9).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DOCTORS: OK, so just some are bullies

 

 

 

As it's our 300th E-news bulletin (hooray), we thought it was

appropriate to make a timely apology. A few doctors, who are sick

and tired of being tarred with the same brush, have taken us to task

for our heavy-handed approach.

 

We did it last week when we pointed out that doctors are bullies.

In fact, we do it most weeks.

 

But, they say, not all doctors are bullies. Some are, for sure, but

they're not (the ones writing in, that is), and nor are their

friends.

 

To be serious for a moment, they are right. There are some doctors

who are seeking out better healing paradigms than the drug-based one

they've been taught.

 

To those, therefore, we unreservedly apologise, and hope they keep

fighting the good fight. To the rest, well, you know who you are.

 

(Source: Apologies department, second drawer on the left, can't

miss it, no, no, not that one, that's where I keep the travel

tickets for Merck's 'educational' seminars in the Caribbean).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BROADCAST PROBLEMS

 

 

 

Our E-news broadcasts were badly disrupted last week when a server

we use caught on fire (don't ask). Our emergency back-up measures

produced gremlins in the works. Some of you didn't get the E-news

at all, while one poor woman complained to us that she received 12

copies. We apologise for the feast and the famine, and hope that -

as they say - normal service has now been resumed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Listen to Lynne

 

 

On the radio: Hear Lynne McTaggart on Passion the innovative DAB

Digital Radio Station focusing on your health and your environment -

http://www.wddty.co.uk/passion_main.asp

 

On demand: Select and listen to any of Lynne's archived broadcasts

on Passion, there's a new one each week -

http://www.wddty.co.uk/passion_archive.asp

 

 

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