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Cholesterol-Lowering "Statin"Drugs Are They Bad For Your Gums?
Research shows that these drugs, which include Mevacor, Zocor, Pravachol, and Lipitor, lower the levels of Co-Q-10 by interfering with the body's production of this vital substance.
This is bad for the heart (strange, since these drugs are supposed to reduce risk of heart attack), but since Co-Q-10 is an essential nutrient for the gums, these drugs can't be good for them either.
Also, periodontal (gum) disease has been implicated in heart disease.
Holistic practitioners are very successful at lowering blood cholesterol without drugs. The vast majority of people using them could avoid them. These natural methods improve the health of the whole body, including the gums.
Clearly, anyone on these drugs should take a supplement of Co-Q-10.
Jerry Mittelman, DDDS, FAPM (Retired)
see: www.zeevkolman.net/friends.shtml
In Reply to: Statin drugs and CoQ10. Archive in cholesterol. posted by Walt Stoll on September 21, 2003 at 05:49:40:
What about cholesterol?
And what about cholesterol? Here, too, the public has been misinformed. Our blood vessels can become damaged in a number of ways—through irritations caused by free radicals or viruses, or because they are structurally weak—and when this happens, the body’s natural healing substance steps in to repair the damage. That substance is cholesterol. Cholesterol is a high-molecular-weight alcohol that is manufactured in the liver and in most human cells. Like saturated fats, the cholesterol we make and consume plays many vital roles:
Along with saturated fats, cholesterol in the cell membrane gives our cells necessary stiffness and stability. When the diet contains an excess of polyunsaturated fatty acids, these replace saturated fatty acids in the cell membrane, so that the cell walls actually become flabby. When this happens, cholesterol from the blood is "driven" into the tissues to give them structural integrity. This is why serum cholesterol levels may go down temporarily when we replace saturated fats with polyunsaturated oils in the diet.46
Cholesterol acts as a precursor to vital corticosteroids, hormones that help us deal with stress and protect the body against heart disease and cancer; and to the sex hormones like androgen, testosterone, estrogen and progesterone.
Cholesterol is a precursor to vitamin D, a very important fat-soluble vitamin needed for healthy bones and nervous system, proper growth, mineral metabolism, muscle tone, insulin production, reproduction and immune system function.
The bile salts are made from cholesterol. Bile is vital for digestion and assimilation of fats in the diet.
Recent research shows that cholesterol acts as an antioxidant.47 This is the likely explanation for the fact that cholesterol levels go up with age. As an antioxidant, cholesterol protects us against free radical damage that leads to heart disease and cancer.
Cholesterol is needed for proper function of serotonin receptors in the brain.48 Serotonin is the body's natural "feel-good" chemical. Low cholesterol levels have been linked to aggressive and violent behavior, depression and suicidal tendencies.
Mother's milk is especially rich in cholesterol and contains a special enzyme that helps the baby utilize this nutrient. Babies and children need cholesterol-rich foods throughout their growing years to ensure proper development of the brain and nervous system.
Dietary cholesterol plays an important role in maintaining the health of the intestinal wall.49 This is why low-cholesterol vegetarian diets can lead to leaky gut syndrome and other intestinal disorders.
Cholesterol is not the cause of heart disease but rather a potent antioxidant weapon against free radicals in the blood, and a repair substance that helps heal arterial damage (although the arterial plaques themselves contain very little cholesterol.) However, like fats, cholesterol may be damaged by exposure to heat and oxygen. This damaged or oxidized cholesterol seems to promote both injury to the arterial cells as well as a pathological buildup of plaque in the arteries.50 Damaged cholesterol is found in powdered eggs, in powdered milk (added to reduced-fat milks to give them body) and in meats and fats that have been heated to high temperatures in frying and other high-temperature processes.
High serum cholesterol levels often indicate that the body needs cholesterol to protect itself from high levels of altered, free-radical-containing fats. Just as a large police force is needed in a locality where crime occurs frequently, so cholesterol is needed in a poorly nourished body to protect the individual from a tendency to heart disease and cancer. Blaming coronary heart disease on cholesterol is like blaming the police for murder and theft in a high crime area.
Poor thyroid function (hypothyroidism) will often result in high cholesterol levels. When thyroid function is poor, usually due to a diet high in sugar and low in usable iodine, fat-soluble vitamins and other nutrients, the body floods the blood with cholesterol as an adaptive and protective mechanism, providing a superabundance of materials needed to heal tissues and produce protective steroids. Hypothyroid individuals are particularly susceptible to infections, heart disease and cancer.51
46. Jones, P J, Am J Clin Nutr, Aug 1997, 66(2):438-46; Julias, A D, et al, J Nutr, Dec 1982, 112(12):2240-9
47. Cranton, E M, MD, and J P Frackelton, MD, Journal of Holistic Medicine, Spring/Summer 1984, 6-37
48. Engelberg, Hyman, Lancet, Mar 21, 1992, 339:727-728; Wood, W G, et al, Lipids, Mar 1999, 34(3):225-234
49. Alfin-Slater, R B, and L Aftergood, "Lipids," Modern Nutrition in Health and Disease, 6th ed, R S Goodhart and M E Shils, eds, Lea and Febiger, Philadelphia 1980, 134
50. Addis, Paul, Food and Nutrition News, March/April 1990, 62:2:7-10
51. Barnes, Broda, and L Galton, Hyprthyroidism, The Unsuspected Illness, 1976, T Y Crowell, New York, NY
Taken From: http://www.westonaprice.org/know_your_fats/skinny.html
See also: "The Cholesterol Myths"
http://www.ravnskov.nu/cholesterol.htm
In Reply to: Statin drugs and CoQ10. Archive in cholesterol. posted by Walt Stoll on September 21, 2003 at 05:49:40:
CoQ10 is essential not only for gums, but for energy production in our cells' mitochondria. That's probably why suppression of synthesis of CoQ10 is bad for the heart, not because it damages the gums.
In Reply to: Re: Statin drugs and CoQ10. Archive in cholesterol. posted by R. on September 21, 2003 at 17:29:54:
Wasn't the message that if you have gum disease, you may also have heart disease since they both are helped by this substance?
In Reply to: Statin drugs and CoQ10. Archive in cholesterol. posted by Walt Stoll on September 21, 2003 at 05:49:40:
I had learned in the cholosterol archives that cholosterol levels are not really reliable indicators of how susceptible people are for getting heart disease, but I did want to show how my blood cholosterol went down in 4 yrs w/o Lipotor or other drugs. I used diet changes, essential oils and got my thyroid treated to try to get healthier and I wound up with less cholesterol.
1. 1999: total cholosterol of 300.
2. 2001: Weight had gone up to 196 lbs. While doing diet research to learn how to lose weight, I began to take 2000 mg fish oil every day. I never followed any specific diet plan other than cutting back on sugar, saturated fats, and refined carbohydrates and daily walking. New doctor griped that my cholosterol was 251 and tried to make me take Lipitor, but I told her what it had been in 1999 and she said since I was losing weight, that maybe diet would lower it over time and to keep using fish oil for overall general health. I had also learned of CLA's role in assisting weight loss and started it.
3. 2002-weight at 155 lbs. No test taken that year.
4. 2003-same weight. Cholosterol is 216, triglycerides are 90(at worst, they were 336). LDL is lower at 152, but still needs to come down. LDL is the only number on the blood tests that I do take seriously.
In note 51, I did read Broda Barnes' book and my cholosterol was at its highest level when I went thru 3 yrs of untreated hypothyroidism. I have had thyroid hormone since 2001 and that may have helped bring it down. Diet is not PWFD, but I am not gaining weight either.
I had only learned in general terms that the body must make cholosterol to sustain itself, but Colby's article went into more detail to explain exactly how that works.
Both parents (now dead) had bypass surgery before they turned 60 and in 1999 I knew if I did nothing about my cholosterol I'd probably go the same way. This is what forced me to take diet seriously----I refuse to fund an Ivy league education for some cardiologist's kid or pay for his yacht, mansion, mistress, etc. if I can avoid it.
Since then, I found out there is a lot more to avoiding heart disease than lowering blood cholosterol
and that the path to wellness is more than diet and exercise and conventional medicines so I have to keep expanding it.
In Reply to: Re: Cholesterol is also a "vital substance" posted by Colby on September 21, 2003 at 06:53:50:
Right on, Colby!
Walt
In Reply to: Cholosterol went down w/o statin drugs posted by Mary C on September 21, 2003 at 18:17:29:
Thanks, Mary C.
Would that many others would be so wise.
Namaste`
Walt
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