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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsCommon cholesterol drug reduces risk of COVID death by 40%, study finds
https://amp.miamiherald.com/news/coronavirus/article252816303.htmlThe most common cholesterol-lowering drugs may improve hospitalized COVID-19 patients chances of survival and reduce their risks of progressing to more severe disease, a new study suggests.
An analysis of more than 10,000 people admitted to more than a 140 hospitals across the nation found that a class of medications called statins, together with blood pressure drugs, reduced in-hospital COVID-19 death by 40% among those who took them prior to being admitted.
The reduced risk of death was slightly higher for those taking statins alone (46%) compared to people only taking high blood pressure medication (27%).
Snip
Researchers say the drugs benefits may stem from their ability to reduce inflammation in the body, which is known to cause many of the severe outcomes in COVID-19 patients with serious cases.
More at link.
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)SheltieLover
(57,073 posts)But the next day a warning came out that this specific drug class doubles risk of dementia.
So I've been holding off filling rx. I guess I'll ask for a different one.
Stupid cholesterol is >300. 😞
Scrivener7
(50,773 posts)that if you drink unfiltered coffee, like coffee made in a french press, there is an oil in it that really increases your cholesterol. If you use a paper filter, it takes the oil out almost entirely.
I switched from a french press to a drip coffeemaker, and my cholesterol came down A LOT.
SheltieLover
(57,073 posts)But I do smoke. 😞😢
So hard to quit.
And I'm an O blood type, so vegetarian doesn't work for me.
Ty for info!
Any other tips would be much appreciated!
Scrivener7
(50,773 posts)Here are some other things: substitute oat milk for regular milk or cream. It tastes great and it has soluble fiber. (Most of what I do is try and pack on the soluble fiber. It picks up the cholesterol and carries it out of the body. Unlike regular fiber, which doesn't.) Also, a couple teaspoons of Metamucil have a ton of soluble fiber I toss a little into a smoothie most mornings.
Also, I was all excited when eggs came back into vogue and everyone was saying they don't increase cholesterol. But sadly for me they do so I had to give them up again.
Red meat only once a month, 3 meatless days per week. Exercise 5 days a week for an hour or more.
SheltieLover
(57,073 posts)Scrivener7
(50,773 posts)SheltieLover
(57,073 posts)Thinking of lookong into Linus Pauling's work. 😉
area51
(11,868 posts)Mayo Clinic: Foods that reduce cholesterol.
Cleveland Clinic: How much oatmeal do you need to reduce cholesterol.
Kali
(54,990 posts)it is not based in any real evidence so you could do different food choices just fine, and as you noted smoking is worse for you than a wrong "diet."
as long as you are eating mostly real food, especially good protein and plenty of colorful vegetables and getting a little exercise the "style" of diet is not really that important.
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/diet-not-working-maybe-its-not-your-type-201705122498
High-quality studies about the blood type diet had not been published in peer-reviewed medical literature. Even now, a search in the medical literature for the authors name reveals no research pertaining to this diet. Studies published in 2013 and 2014 about the blood type diets are worth noting. The 2013 study analyzed the worlds medical literature and found no studies demonstrating benefit from a blood type diet. The 2014 study found that while people following any of the blood type diets had some improvement in certain cardiometabolic risk factors (such as cholesterol or blood pressure), those improvements were unrelated to blood type.
Does it make any sense?
The theory behind this diet is that blood type is closely tied to our ability to digest certain types of foods, so that the proper diet will improve digestion, help maintain ideal body weight, increase energy levels, and prevent disease, including cancer and cardiovascular disease.
Type O was said to be the original "ancestral" blood type of the earliest humans who were hunter-gatherers, with diets that were high in animal protein. Group A was said to evolve when humans began to farm and had more vegetarian diets. Group B blood types were said to arise among nomadic tribes who consumed a lot of dairy products. And since Group AB blood was supposed to have evolved from the intermingling of people with types A and B blood, type AB recommendations were intermediate between those for people with types A and B blood.
Each of these theories has been challenged. For example, there is evidence that type A was actually the first blood group to evolve in humans, not type O. In addition, there is no proven connection between blood type and digestion. So, in addition to a lack of evidence that the diet works, serious questions remain about why it should work in the first place.
liberal_mama
(1,495 posts)I will mention this to him.
Scrivener7
(50,773 posts)Dream Girl
(5,111 posts)Scrivener7
(50,773 posts)Google is your friend.
luv2fly
(2,475 posts)Is that what you mean and if so, where was that reported if you can share?
SheltieLover
(57,073 posts)I was horrified to see that!
Brb!
SheltieLover
(57,073 posts)multigraincracker
(32,531 posts)I have fewer side effects. My total is Dow to 127, but my HDL is boarder line, too low.
Exercise has really helped.
More than reducing fats in your diet, reducing carbs works better.
Good luck and keep pecking away at it.
SheltieLover
(57,073 posts)Dream Girl
(5,111 posts)Fats. There is a lot of inaccurate information and bad advice on this thread. I just dont have the desire to call it out because many folks including doctors are stuck in decades old thinking about diet and cholesterol. Plus people get really mad if you suggest that sugar and carbs are causing a host of maladies cancer, diabetes, heart and neurological disease. There is a ton a research on ketogenic diets as a promising way to reverse these chronic diseases
SheltieLover
(57,073 posts)👍
appalachiablue
(41,053 posts)pass this along to a few that do.
burrowowl
(17,606 posts)progressoid
(49,825 posts)Lipophilic statins include atorvastatin, simvastatin, lovastatin, fluvastatin, cerivastatin and pitavastatin, while hydrophilic statins include rosuvastatin and pravastatin.
Goonch
(3,551 posts)"Nowadays, statins treatments for the prevention of dementia have been gained lots of attention. Researchers and medical professional have been evaluated the potential beneficial effects of statins treatment on dementia or cognitive risk reduction. Several systematic review and meta-analysis of epidemiological studies have been examined the protective effects of statins treatments [12, 60]. Patients with statins had a significantly lower risk of developing all-type of dementia when compared with patients without statins..........."
© 2019 S. Karger AG, Basel
https://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/503105
niyad
(112,434 posts)JudyM
(29,122 posts)It would be a good OP, too.
SWBTATTReg
(21,859 posts)What are the names of all the statin drugs?
The statin drugs on the market in the US include: Atorvastatin (brand name: Lipitor) Lovastatin (brand name: Mevacor), Simvastatin (brand name: Zocor), Pravastatin (brand name: Pravachol), and Fluvastatin (brand name: Lescol). Rosuvastatin (brand name: Crestor).
SheltieLover
(57,073 posts)At least that I've seen so far.
I made OP on the research..
Ty!
multigraincracker
(32,531 posts)He says some research now shows reduced odds of dementia by use of Flonase(sp) nose spray daily.
Response to multigraincracker (Reply #12)
getagrip_already This message was self-deleted by its author.
totodeinhere
(13,036 posts)that it is intended for occasional use only and overuse is not advised. But if my doctor were to advise me to start taking it regularly I would.
luv2fly
(2,475 posts)Been using two puffs up each nostril for probably two years at least now to help with chronic stuffiness which resulted in my waking up in the AM with a dried out mouth and esophagus from sleeping with my mouth open since I couldn't breathe. Has helped wonders, just finally convinced the pharmacy to let me do 90 days at a time.
totodeinhere
(13,036 posts)Of course your personal physician knows your medical situation and is best qualified to advise you on this.
luv2fly
(2,475 posts)He's malleable 😄
RicROC
(1,202 posts)such that I lost my sense of smell. I find that if I use a combination of Nasacort (Flonase didn't work for me), half a capsule of Sudafed and 1 tablet of Naprosen (Aleve), that I can be quite comfortable. Sense of smell is slowly coming back.
totodeinhere
(13,036 posts)Plus of course I am fully vaccinated.
Grasswire2
(13,564 posts)If a doctor recommends a statin to me, he's fired. Period.
There are other ways to reduce inflammation in the body aside from a statin, which brings complications of its own.
Gee. I wonder if those patients might have also been taking other measures to reduce inflammation? Five foods can do it. Pomegranate juice, walnuts, green tea, ginger, and EVOO.
Tadpole Raisin
(972 posts)Longtime lurker
new member!
When I discussed with my old MD my feelings about statins (primarily muscle weakness and cognitive side effects) I said if I had to I would but Id prefer to try something natural first I found out after the practice closed and I got the records that the only thing written was patient refuses statins and I was not happy. She wasnt even recommending them at the time, it was just a conversation.
Your brain needs cholesterol. Also IIRC the new thought is that laying down cholesterol in your arteries is your bodys way of trying to deal with inflammation so that is where the focus needs to be.
Im still trying to find supplements to help decrease it as part of the overall game plan. None seem to work for me.
SheltieLover
(57,073 posts)Have you tried Linus Pauling's protocol?
Thinking of looking into it again...
Tadpole Raisin
(972 posts)TY SheltieLover!
I do (loosely) follow Pauling and have one of his books.
By the way, how do you find threads that are no longer on the front page w/o scrolling down pages of the latest threads? It took me forever to find this thread again!!
Of course having said that I may never find your response, lol!
SheltieLover
(57,073 posts)Choose a forum or group. Click search in lower left bar at top.
I will pm to you so you don't miss this.
To find reies to your posts, when "My posts" us yellow, it means someone has replied to your post.
Tap or click that tab, then the post showing a response. Scroll down & your post will be highlighted in yellow.
Scroll a tad further & you will se replies to your post indented under yours. Click on those to read & reply.
Glad you found your way to DU!
Have you tried Pauling's protocol for lowering cholesterol?
I'll pm all this to you to ensure you can find info.
You might need to be a star member to use search function, I can't recall. But star status occurs with any donation to help support the site. 😉
marble falls
(56,358 posts)... we only get about 10% of cholesterol from diet. Cholesterol is also used by the body to repair damage.
We're eating less saturated fats than ever, maybe 1/2 of what we ate in 1900, but heart disease has increased. Maybe the stress of modern society is why Cholesterol rates are higher.
I'm not a doctor. And I've never played one on TV.
gopiscrap
(23,674 posts)Grasswire2
(13,564 posts)It is not cholesterol that causes heart disease, it is inflammation. Reducing cholesterol is a red herring. We actually need a certain level of cholesterol for proper bodily function.
A statin is not the best way to reduce inflammation.
The top board-certified cardiologist whose work I follow only will prescribe a statin for a certain population. Otherwise, NO.
SheltieLover
(57,073 posts)My cholesterol level just came back well over 300.
Tyia for any links or info you have to share.
Hekate
(90,189 posts)
to try to control it: more exercise and rigorous control of fat in the diet (Weight Watchers had me at 3 tsp/day) . Lost weight, too. Doc gave me some B-vitamin (Niacin??) prescription that had horrible side effects. At the end of all those months of effort my cholesterol rose to 350.
As my doctor said, some cases are genetic. So Ive been taking a statin for 30 years now, and my numbers are always in the mid-200s no matter what I do or do not eat. The first statin gave me leg cramps, so early on I ended up with Crestor (Rosuvastatin) and have had no trouble with it.
Do your best with diet and exercise, but if that does not work, do not feel like a failure.
Best wishes.
Grasswire2
(13,564 posts)Here's the expert's article about that.
[link:https://spacedoc.com/articles/dr-sinatra-do-you-need-a-statin|
SheltieLover
(57,073 posts)Does this dr. Do online consults?
moonscape
(4,664 posts)beneficial for men who have had a prior cardiac event. Is that the category you mean?
Who is the cardiologist you follow?
Grasswire2
(13,564 posts)Dr. Stephen Sinatra, board certified cardiologist and top metabolic cardiologist and pioneer in the matter of cholesterol. I've been using his protocol for twelve years now, with excellent results for my cardiac status. He has personally answered questions for me and I trust him.
SheltieLover
(57,073 posts)Is he using Linus Pauling's protocol?
Off to research!
Grasswire2
(13,564 posts)SheltieLover
(57,073 posts)Grasswire2
(13,564 posts)"Patients who died were more likely to have CVD and to have hypertension than those who survived (S1 Table). They were also more likely to be male, older, non-Hispanic White, with public insurance, and were more likely to have a history of diabetes, cancer, CKD, dyslipidemia, and pulmonary disease. They also were significantly more likely to be on statins (odds ratio 1.24, 95% CI 1.13 to 1.37). Use of statins alone and anti-hypertensives alone were each a marker for increased risk of death, which occurred in 18% and 22%, respectively. Among patients on both classes of medications, 24% died, compared with only 17% of those on neither class of medication (Pearsons chi i square test, p
Response to Grasswire2 (Reply #29)
Grasswire2 This message was self-deleted by its author.
Grasswire2
(13,564 posts)so here's the link.
[link:https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0254635#sec019|
appalachiablue
(41,053 posts)SheltieLover
(57,073 posts)I've read eating 1 apple per day can lower cholesterol by up to 40%!
I wonder if that's true for baked apples, applesauce, etc.
Bernardo de La Paz
(48,788 posts)But I take the 40% figure in the OP seriously. There is a mechanism (inflammation).
Grasswire2
(13,564 posts)Grasswire2
(13,564 posts)And the foods that will help with that are pomegranate juice, green tea, extra virgin olive oil, walnuts, and ginger.
SheltieLover
(57,073 posts)Danascot
(4,664 posts)wryter2000
(46,016 posts)I take both. I didnt realize they fight inflammation. Thats beneficial.
SheltieLover
(57,073 posts)KentuckyWoman
(6,666 posts)People don't understand Covid attacks the cardiovascular system and can cause any fats and plaque adhering to artery walls to "pop". That in turn blocks arteries and causes stroke or heart attack. Statins help stabilize the existing fats and plaque in the arteries.