Kowalski calls himself a “journal junkie.” He reads all the world’s most prestigious and informative medical and nutrition journals. Bob also attends numerous annual scientific sessions and maintains a dialog with the world’s top researchers. Here he shares new developments with us.

You Want This Cholesterol to Be High

By now just about everyone knows that to keep our hearts healthy we want our cholesterol levels to be low, well under 200. The bad form of cholesterol, LDL, should be low as well, ideally under 100. But within the past few years, medical researchers have come to recognize the tremendous importance of getting our good cholesterol, the HDL, as high... You Want This Cholesterol To Be High!

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Lyc-O-Mato shown to reduce blood pressure (BP)

The tomato extract sold as Lyc-O-Mato by a number of different companies has been shown to reduce blood pressure (BP) for treated but not completely controlled hypertensive individuals, as well as for never-treated men and women in the category of “prehypertension” with readings between 120/80 and 139/89. Two studies have been conducted at the University of the Negev in Beer Sheva, Israel, by Dr. Esther Paran and her associates.

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Eat. Drink, Be Merry, and Healthy

In Woody Allen’s classic film “Sleeper” a doctor in the future laughingly notes how they once thought hot-fudge sundaes were bad for you and now they’re a healthy staple. Well, we haven’t gotten quite that far, but it turns out that a healthy diet is a whole lot easier to achieve than we thought not too many years ago.

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A Revolutionary Way to Enjoy Eggs Again!

Block Cholesterol in the Foods You Eat!For years, certain foods have been labeled "bad for the heart" because they are rich in cholesterol. Eggs, shrimp, liver and other foods are extremely nutritious, but loaded with the artery-blocking cholesterol.But now you can enjoy all those foods without the cholesterol getting into your bloodstream. Yes, you... A Revolutionary Way to Enjoy Eggs Again!

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Frosting on the Folic Acid Cake

The evils of homocysteine, the amino acid formed during the metabolism of proteins, at high levels in the bloodstream keep multiplying. We now have medical consensus that elevated homocysteine is an independent risk factor for heart disease. That risk probably extends to stroke as well. And an article in the March 2002 issue of Stroke points an accusing... Frosting on the Folic Acid Cake

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Heart Attacks, Sudden Death, and Trans Fats

The majority of cardiac deaths in the U.S. are sudden, and nearly half happen outside a hospital setting. In other words, for many people every year, a heart attack is the first sign of heart disease, and that first heart attack results in sudden death. Those are the grim statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in... Heart Attacks, Sudden Death, and Trans Fats.

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Definitive Study Debunks Chelation Therapy

The theory behind chelation therapy makes this approach appealing to more than 500,000 American men and women each year. As atherosclerotic plaque builds up in the arteries, calcium hardens the blockage. That's the calcium that shows up on those body scans advertised so much on the radio. Chelation therapy is said to remove the calcium from the arteries.All... Definitive Study Debunks Chelation Therapy

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Diabetics, LDL, and Heart Disease

We know that diabetic patients have up to four times the risk of developing coronary heart disease when compared to those without diabetes. But why? It turns out that those with type I diabetes (the sort that requires insulin injections because the pancreas does not produce enough to metabolize blood sugar) have more tendency for LDL to become oxidized.... Diabetics, LDL, and Heart Disease

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Aspirin and Ibuprofen Don't Mix

Though reported in the mass media, this one bears repeating. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania reported in the December 20 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine that ibuprofen blocks the benefits of aspirin in protecting against heart disease in two ways.When ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) was given to patients prior to a daily dose of... Aspirin and Ibuprofen Don't Mix

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Double-Edged Sword of Statin Drugs: How to Protect Yourself

The "statin" cholesterol-lowering drugs prescribed in the millions by physicians across the nation can do harm as well as good. These include the heavily advertised Lipitor (atorvastatin), Pravachol (pravastatin), Zocor (simvastatin), the newest and most potent--and dangerous--Crestor (rosuvastatin) and others.

Sure, those drugs effectively lower LDL cholesterol and have a modest effect on raising protective HDL counts. But they can also result in liver problems, muscle aches and pains, and sometimes permanent muscle damage.

Researchers at the University of California at San Diego are looking at a way to protect against that muscle damage. The statins deplete a naturally occurring substance in the body called CoenzymeQ10, found in virtually all cells and involved in energy production. The investigators feel that this Q10 depletion from statin usage is a cause of the muscle damage and they are recommending Q10 supplementation for all statin users.

The best of the Q10 products is made by the Kaneka company of Japan, and the best source of the Kaneka Q10 here in the U.S. is Healthy Origins. Recommended dosage is 100 mg to 200 mg three times daily. Visit Healthy Origins.com for more information and to order product.

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A Men with High Lp(a) at Increased Heart Risk

Lp(a) is a nasty form of LDL cholesterol. Sometimes even those with otherwise normal cholesterol levels have elevated Lp(a), which has been identified as an independent risk factor. The November, 2003, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine shows that men over 65 with the highest levels of Lp(a) compaed with those with low counts, had triple the risk of stroke, more than twice the threat of vascular death, and almost twice the risk of death from all causes.

The only proven way to reduce Lp(a) is with niacin. It can bring levels down from 20 to 50 percent. Doctors are testing patients more frequently for Lp(a), but unfortunately many are not aware of the potency of niacin to deal with the problem.

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Bad News About Policosanol

For the past few years, policosanol tablets containing a derivative from the waxy outer coating of sugar cane have been touted as being as effective as the statin drugs in lowering LDL cholesterol. Virtually all the research came from Cuba, where the sugar cane was grown and the policosanol processed. There was some skepticism in the medical community because the results of more than 20 Cuban studies were virtually identical. That’s not typical for any substance tested, even those with absolutely proven effectiveness. Now carefully controlled clinical studies done in major medical centers around the world have demonstrated that policosanol is, in fact, totally ineffective.

The first study was done by German medical researchers with 143 patients. It was a strictly placebo-controlled, double-blind (neither doctors nor patients knew who got the policosanol or sugar-pill placebo) trial. Expecting positive results, the investigators gave either the standard dosage or a double-strength dosage and also tried extending the trial period for a far longer time than would be required to show benefit. Sorry. Policosanol showed zero LDL-reducing capability.

Subsequently, additional studies in Denmark, Canada, and the U.S. were performed, all with the same sadly negative results. I say “sadly” because I, like the researchers, was disappointed that this natural approach proved of no value.

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Better News About Pantethine

I've reported some promising information on pantethine, derived from pantothenic acid, in the past. This one has been used by physicians for years in Japan, where it is sold only as a prescription drug. Here in the U.S. it is available over the counter as a dietary supplement. Now we finally have solid evidence that pantethine really works.

Researchers at the University of Minnesota have released data on the first U.S. study on pantethine. Subjects included both men and women between the ages of 20 and 70. They were generally healthy, typically overweight, nonsmokers. Participants were asked to follow a diet reducing saturated and trans fats (from partially hydrogenated oils in processed foods) during the four-week start-up period, and for the 18 weeks of the study.

Blood tests were done following the first four weeks to measure cholesterol and triglycerides as well as other parameters of health such as blood cell counts and liver function. At the end of the 18-week study, measurements were repeated.

Participants were given either a placebo, 600 mg of pantethine, or 900 mg of pantethine. As expected, placebo had no impact on any measurements. The 600 mg daily dosage produced significant changes: triglycerides down by 19 percent, LDL down by 9 percent, HDL up 2 percent. Those taking 900 mg per day saw triglycerides fall by 33 percent, with 14 percent drops in LDL and four percent increases in HDL, on average. No side effects or adverse reactions were reported by the study subjects.

Pantethine is distributed in the U.S. by Daiichi Fine Chemicals of Japan, trademarked as Pantosin. It is available through a variety of companies including Endurance Products Company, which produces a unique sustained-release formulation thought to provide maximum benefit. Click to visit the website or call (800) 483-2532.

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Lower Than Low LDL is Good, But Mega-Statin Dosages Pose Dangers

There have been numerous reports showing how very high dosages of statin drugs, particularly the potent Lipitor, can drive LDL counts well below 100 mg/dl and stop the progression of plaque build-up in the arteries. The research (no surprise) has been sponsored by Pfizer, maker of Lipitor.

While there's no doubt that the lower one can get LDL levels the better, increasing statin dosage can be a dangerous way to do it. The higher the dose, the greater the risk of liver problems, muscle pain, and the permanent muscle damage known as rhabdomyelosis.

Instead of jacking up the statin prescription, many thoughtful authorities advocate combination therapy, adding other agents that work in different ways. University of Washington studies have definitely proven than combining a low dosage of Zocor (average only 10 mg) with niacin (2000 mg of immediate release formulation) can stop CHD progression dead in its tracks. A study reported at the February meeting of the American College of Cardiology shows how combining a new, very safe, drug called Zetia with statins achieves as low or even lower LDL than gotten by doubling statin dosage, without the risks.

For that matter, I personally prefer to avoid the statin drugs entirely. I like to combine natural approaches: niacin to stop the liver's excess production of LDL and to increase amounts of the protective HDL, phytosterols to block the absorption of dietary cholesterol, pantethine to further drop LDL and increase HDL, and soluble fiber from foods such as oat bran, figs, barley, and dried beans of all sorts to literally flush cholesterol out of the blood. That combination has been a winner for me and for thousands of men and women around the world.

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©2007 Robert E. Kowalski. All rights reserved.