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Post by jeffolie on Mar 14, 2010 13:20:28 GMT -6
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Post by jeffolie on Mar 14, 2010 13:32:49 GMT -6
Rigorous treatment to bring down blood pressure and cut sugar levels and cholesterol is not beneficial and increases side effects, researchers say. ....lowering either blood pressure or cholesterol levels below current guidelines do not provide additional benefit and, in fact, increase the risk of side effects. A third arm of the study, released two years ago, shows that lowering blood sugar levels excessively actually increases the risk of heart disease. ...the standard care approaches are pretty good. If we try to go beyond them, it doesn't provide additional benefit." Diabetes has become a tremendous problem in the United States, with at least 21 million people now afflicted with Type 2 diabetes -- in which cells do not respond properly to insulin produced by the pancreas -- and millions more at risk because of obesity. Most diabetics also have high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels, factors that bring their risk of heart attack and stroke to the same level as that of people who already have suffered a heart attack. www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-diabetes15-2010mar15,0,1004945.story
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Post by jeffolie on Mar 14, 2010 13:39:41 GMT -6
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Post by unlawflcombatnt on Mar 14, 2010 15:39:23 GMT -6
The title of the LAT article is both deceptive and wrong, regarding lowering cholesterol.
The study did NOT say that lowering cholesterol didn't lower the risk. It said that lowering cholesterol by the addition of a fibrate (as opposed to a statin), did not lower the risk.
That's a critical distinction, since statins and fibrates are entirely different drugs, and work by entirely different mechanisms.
Statins have been shown to reduce atherosclerosis-related events immediately when usage starts, long before they have any measurable effect on cholesterol. As such, statins are believed to have additional anti-atherogenic effects that are completely separate from the cholesterol-lowering effects.
In contrast, fibrates themselves have never been shown to reduce heart attacks or other atheroclerosis-related events.
The hazards of excessively tight control of diabetes is gradually becoming accepted in Medicine (though apparently not universally).
Over-control of blood sugar in diabetics can cause death--immediately. Under-control, in contrast, will not. Under-control of hyperglycemia does cause long-term damage to blood vessels and multiple organs. But this damage occurs over time, whereas death from extremely low blood sugar can occur on the spot.
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Post by jeffolie on Mar 15, 2010 10:56:30 GMT -6
Thank you
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