.....So
how do you know if you can benefit from a statin? The
first thing, obviously, is to find out what your lipid
levels are - cholesterol, LDL, HDL, VLDL, and triglycerides
- and if your levels are off, you must march into your
doctor's office, if, that is, you can still march after
having waited so long to see her, and discuss whether
you would benefit from a statin. You're going to find,
I think, that many more of you are going to get the go-ahead
to take a statin. Your homework doesn't stop there, however,
because most people put on a statin don't take enough
of it to improve their cholesterol levels sufficiently,
so you have to stay on top of this and keep having blood
tests until you achieve safe lipid levels.
..... Another issue to take
note of is homocysteine, an amino acid produced by the
breakdown of proteins. We have intriguing evidence that
the higher your homocysteine level, the greater your risk
of heart disease. The good news is that there is also
lots of evidence that increasing your intake of some B
vitamins (folic acid, B6, B12) can lower your level of
homocysteine. So we should all maximize our intake of
vitamin B-rich foods, especially the elderly, who not
only tend to have less healthy diets but who also have
trouble absorbing all the vitamins from the foods they
do eat. Even this may not be enough, however, and to understand
why, I have to tell you about the US, where all grain
products are now supplemented with folic acid. But a recent
study showed that folic acid levels in a significant proportion
of the US population are still low, so think where that
leaves those of us here in Canada where grains are not
supplemented with this vitamin. So what to do? Well, another
good way to get B vitamins is through supplements. I believe
that most of us would benefit from taking folic acid supplements
(all women of child-bearing years who might get pregnant,
for example, should definitely be taking folic acid supplements
because extra folic acid lowers the risk of many fetal
abnormalities), but since there are potential pitfalls
in this, discuss it with your doctor first.
..... Finally, class, we
also have evidence that heart disease is raised by chronic
inflammation, such as gum disease, for example, a condition
I'm plagued with (my dentist, who, like all dentists I've
met, has a terrible sense of humour, used to joke every
time he pried my jaws apart that ³Your teeth are perfect,
Art, but your gums will have to come out. Open wider.²).
In fact, there is intriguing data that heart disease is
not alone as a consequence of inflammation, and that nearly
every chronic health problem afflicting those who live
in the western world - dementia, heart disease, arthritis,
etc., but not please note, western alienation - might
be caused by infections with still undiscovered organisms.
In the case of heart disease, for example, studies have
linked it to infections with chlamydia and other organisms
such as cytomegalovirus, to name just two hard-to-spell
bugs.
..... So what can you do
with this theory? Probably not much yet, alas! because
even in the case of gum disease, we still have no proof
that treating your gum disease with antibiotics will also
lower your risk of heart disease. Still, even if it doesn't
prevent your heart attack, I see no reason not to keep
your gums in good shape with regular dental care because
at the very least it should lower your risk of losing
teeth, although as usual, there is a cost to pay for this
type of intervention, and in this case, it's a huge cost,
I'm afraid, because on those regular dentist visits, you
will be endlessly subjected to those awful jokes those
humour-challenged dentists tell you when you can't really
protest.
Written
by: Dr. Art Hister. who has practiced medicine for over
20 years and is now an accomplished author and radio personality.
Dr. Art Hister can be heard on CKNW and currently hosts
House Calls on the Corus radio network
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