Cynthia A. Janak
Keeping Americans sick
By Cynthia A. Janak
Recently in the news little known doctors are informing the public that anti-oxidants are bad for you and that free radicals are good. I have not heard anything said about Dr. Lester Packer's 700 scientific papers or the 70 books that he authored on anti-oxidants.
What a curiosity. I decided to do what I do best and research why the medical community is saying this. I wanted to know.
On the website, About, I found an interesting article about heart disease and anti-oxidants.
http://heartdisease.about.com/cs/riskfactors/a/antiox.htm Here are some excerpts from that article.
In this trial, patients with coronary artery disease who also had low levels of HDL cholesterol were randomly assigned to one of 4 groups: 1) low-dose statin and niacin therapy; 2) low-dose statin and niacin therapy plus a cocktail of antioxidants; 3) a cocktail of antioxidants without statin and niacin, and 4) placebo. The cocktail of antioxidants consisted of vitamin E, vitamin C, beta-carotene, and selenium. The study results showed that the increase in HDL levels seen in patients receiving statin-niacin therapy was eliminated when they also received the antioxidants. That is, in these patients the antioxidants were potentially harmful.
As it turns out, this "negative" finding is less than statistically perfect. (The finding that antioxidants would reduce HDL levels was not postulated ahead of time by the investigators, but instead was discovered in a routine review of their data, bringing up the possibility that the reported finding was a random data error instead of an actual physiologic phenomenon.) But the primary endpoints of the study also suggest that antioxidants blunt the benefits seen with statin-niacin therapy. (While patients receiving statin-niacin had a 4% reduction in coronary artery blockage, those who received antioxidants in addition to statin-niacin had a 7% increase in blockage. In contrast, those receiving antioxidants alone had a 15% increase in blockage, and those receiving placebo had a 34% increase in blockage.)
I am going to reference several different publications in regards to heart disease and these drugs because I think it is prudent for everyone to know that eating a diet rich in anti-oxidants and taking a vitamin supplement that is guaranteed to get to the cell level and not be flushed down the commode is important to understanding of this topic.
This came from the International Diabetes Foundation.
http://www.cvd.idf.org/Studies_of_Diabetes_and_Cardiovascular_Disease/
Cholesterol and Recurrent Events Trial (CARE)
The objective of the CARE study was to assess the effect of a statin on the risk of a fatal or non-fatal heart attack in people with coronary heart disease and high cholesterol levels. 14% of the participants had diabetes. The study demonstrated a 25% reduction of major coronary events in people with diabetes being treated with the statin. Total cholesterol levels were cut by 19%, LDL cholesterol by 27%, triglycerides by 13%, and HDL cholesterol was increased by 4%.
MONICA Project
The WHO MONICA Project is the largest community-based study on heart disease ever undertaken. The results show that heart disease rates are related to changes in major coronary risk factors and to the introduction of new medical treatments. More than seven million men and women aged between 35 and 64 years of age were monitored to examine if and how certain coronary risk factors and new treatments for heart disease contribute to the rise or fall of heart disease rates in these communities.
Risk factors such as cigarette smoking, blood pressure, blood cholesterol and body weight were studied by MONICA. Treatments taken into consideration included aspirin, beta blockers, ACE-inhibitors, clot dissolving agents and coronary artery surgery. Heart disease rates fell in most of the populations studied, as did cigarette smoking in men, blood pressure and blood cholesterol. Smoking in women showed a mixed picture and weight rose in both men and women in most populations.
Taking all populations as a whole, the decline in smoking seems to have contributed most to the reduction in the risk of heart disease in men. In women, the decrease in blood pressure emerged as the strongest determinant. Overall, it was found that the relation between the fall in heart disease rates and the change in risk factors was more apparent in men than in women.
Here are some excepts from an article at American Family Physician web site. It is excellent because the information that it gives is understandable by the average person.
http://www.aafp.org/afp/20010115/309.html
Effective Use of Statins to Prevent Coronary Heart Disease
MICHAEL A. CROUCH, M.D., M.S.P.H.,
Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
Despite multiple randomized trials showing that a reduction in an elevated LDL level lowers cardiovascular morbidity and mortality,3-5 most patients with high LDL levels remain unidentified or untreated.2 In addition, many physicians are uncertain about when to start preventive treatment. Although dietary change can be effective in reducing the LDL level,6 most patients are unwilling or unable to modify their eating habits sufficiently enough to achieve LDL treatment goals. In addition, patients who have no symptoms of CHD often do not perceive the need for or do not want to begin long-term drug therapy, sometimes lasting decades, to prevent future cardiovascular problems. Some are concerned about possible drug side effects, and the cost of lipid-lowering medication can also be a factor that discourages treatment.
Dietary Modification
Dietary modification is usually the first intervention in patients with borderline-high or moderately elevated LDL levels. However, patients with elevated LDL levels despite a low-fat intake have little room for dietary change. They frequently have type IIa or IIb dyslipidemia.
A fasting lipid profile should be obtained four to six weeks after the start of dietary therapy. The change in the LDL level as a result of a reduction in the average daily intake of saturated fat and cholesterol occurs in the first few weeks after the initiation of dietary modifications.14 With a given amount of dietary change, lipid levels do not show further improvement as the patient continues to adhere to the low-fat diet for a longer period. Although the NCEP recommends a six-month trial of dietary therapy before drug therapy is considered in patients without CHD, patients seldom maintain dietary changes for as long as six months without receiving feedback on the response of their lipid levels to the dietary changes.
(NCEP — National Cholesterol Education Program)
In all the documents that I have read concerning the finding that anti-oxidants are not good for you the people that were studied were patients with coronary artery disease. How is this a balanced study? Personally, I would like to see a study performed on individuals that did not have coronary artery disease but were high risk of having the disease because of family history. I believe that would be a more balanced study into whether a balanced diet and supplements rich in anti-oxidants lower the chance of heart disease.
One of the interesting items that I kept reading was diet and body weight in relation to heart disease. People that were overweight usually had a diet that was high in saturated fat and cholesterol two of the major causes of heart disease. Many of the people referenced also had diabetes as a secondary disease because of this diet.
The American Heart Association released a statistical source book called "A Nation at Risk: Obesity in the United States" You can find it at http://www.americanheart.org/downloadable/heart/1114880987205NationAtRisk.pdf
It is a very sobering read especially how obesity in children and obesity in general is on the rise in the United States. After reading this document I am glad that I raised my children away from the fast food culture. I did not realize the seriousness this is to the United States citizen. I am only going to reference the first three paragraphs of the introduction in this book.
Overweight and obesity, especially among children, have emerged as serious threats to our nation's health. They have risen rapidly among women, men and children of all racial and ethnic groups. And this trend is projected to continue.
Obesity is a major modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease. It also increases the potential for high book cholesterol, high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes, which are each major risk factors for cardiovascular disease and other serious health problems. Recent research suggests that obesity shortens the average lifespan by at least four to nine months, and if childhood obesity continues to increase, it could cut two to five years from the average lifespan. That could cause our current generation of children to become the first in American history to live shorter lives than their parents.
Besides its toll on health, obesity also significantly impacts healthcare costs. The World Bank has estimated the cost of obesity at 12 percent of the nation's healthcare budget. Individuals, businesses and the government all bear the cost for obesity.
Here is a statement from Dr. Lester Packer about anti-oxidants.
Why should you take Antioxidants ?
As we get older, the incidence of heart disease, cataracts, strokes, diabetes, Alzheimer's, and some cancers, all increase sharply.
Controlled medical studies of people suffering from or at risk of each of these age-related illnesses have shown substantial, measurable benefits from supplementation with antioxidants.
There is compelling scientific evidence that the right antioxidant supplements will significantly reduce the risk of the debilitating illnesses of old age.
In my lab, we have discovered synergetic relationships between certain natural antioxidants. Some of them, vitamins C and E, will be well-known to you. But less familiar antioxidants such as Alpha Lipoic Acid, Coenzyme Q10 and Tocotrienols are vital.
These antioxidants interact in a network to recycle and regenerate each other and to counteract the age associated decline in gene functions which can leave us vulnerable to infection and disease.
Antioxidant cocktails are markedly more effective than single antioxidants.
...The choices you make about diet, smoking, exercise and antioxidant supplementation will substantially influence how long, and how well you live.
Claim the bonus years you can earn by making good choices now!
Dr. Lester Packer. June 12 1999
http://www.thaiwave.com/networkantioxidants/overview.htm
What I have gathered by all that I have read is that anti-oxidants do not work if you already have coronary heart disease. It is also a fact that anti-oxidants counter the effects of statin drugs and a type of niacin therapy that is used to lower LDL. What this does not tell me is that anti-oxidants are harmful to the healthy individual. Everything that I have read actually goes to the contrary. A healthy individual that eats a diet rich in anti-oxidants and takes a vitamin supplement rich in anti-oxidants that is proven via numerous studies will have a longer healthier life.
I would rather believe in the studies that were done by Dr. Lester Packer than any other source. If someone can show me definitive studies that were conducted with the object being to disprove all of Dr. Lester Packer's findings I would be happy to read all of them.
Until then I am going to take my vitamin supplement and watch my diet.
The only people that are getting rich from heart disease and obesity are the drug companies. I would like to see advertising on television about a healthy diet and lowering the risks of disease. What a concept to preventative medicine. The only problem I see with that is people will be healthier and would not be spending money on drugs and/or seeing their doctors as often except for a yearly physical. Personally, I would love to see that.
Let the truth be known.
© Cynthia A. Janak
Recently in the news little known doctors are informing the public that anti-oxidants are bad for you and that free radicals are good. I have not heard anything said about Dr. Lester Packer's 700 scientific papers or the 70 books that he authored on anti-oxidants.
What a curiosity. I decided to do what I do best and research why the medical community is saying this. I wanted to know.
On the website, About, I found an interesting article about heart disease and anti-oxidants.
http://heartdisease.about.com/cs/riskfactors/a/
In this trial, patients with coronary artery disease who also had low levels of HDL cholesterol were randomly assigned to one of 4 groups: 1) low-dose statin and niacin therapy; 2) low-dose statin and niacin therapy plus a cocktail of antioxidants; 3) a cocktail of antioxidants without statin and niacin, and 4) placebo. The cocktail of antioxidants consisted of vitamin E, vitamin C, beta-carotene, and selenium. The study results showed that the increase in HDL levels seen in patients receiving statin-niacin therapy was eliminated when they also received the antioxidants. That is, in these patients the antioxidants were potentially harmful.
As it turns out, this "negative" finding is less than statistically perfect. (The finding that antioxidants would reduce HDL levels was not postulated ahead of time by the investigators, but instead was discovered in a routine review of their data, bringing up the possibility that the reported finding was a random data error instead of an actual physiologic phenomenon.) But the primary endpoints of the study also suggest that antioxidants blunt the benefits seen with statin-niacin therapy. (While patients receiving statin-niacin had a 4% reduction in coronary artery blockage, those who received antioxidants in addition to statin-niacin had a 7% increase in blockage. In contrast, those receiving antioxidants alone had a 15% increase in blockage, and those receiving placebo had a 34% increase in blockage.)
I am going to reference several different publications in regards to heart disease and these drugs because I think it is prudent for everyone to know that eating a diet rich in anti-oxidants and taking a vitamin supplement that is guaranteed to get to the cell level and not be flushed down the commode is important to understanding of this topic.
This came from the International Diabetes Foundation.
http://www.cvd.idf.org/
Cholesterol and Recurrent Events Trial (CARE)
The objective of the CARE study was to assess the effect of a statin on the risk of a fatal or non-fatal heart attack in people with coronary heart disease and high cholesterol levels. 14% of the participants had diabetes. The study demonstrated a 25% reduction of major coronary events in people with diabetes being treated with the statin. Total cholesterol levels were cut by 19%, LDL cholesterol by 27%, triglycerides by 13%, and HDL cholesterol was increased by 4%.
MONICA Project
The WHO MONICA Project is the largest community-based study on heart disease ever undertaken. The results show that heart disease rates are related to changes in major coronary risk factors and to the introduction of new medical treatments. More than seven million men and women aged between 35 and 64 years of age were monitored to examine if and how certain coronary risk factors and new treatments for heart disease contribute to the rise or fall of heart disease rates in these communities.
Risk factors such as cigarette smoking, blood pressure, blood cholesterol and body weight were studied by MONICA. Treatments taken into consideration included aspirin, beta blockers, ACE-inhibitors, clot dissolving agents and coronary artery surgery. Heart disease rates fell in most of the populations studied, as did cigarette smoking in men, blood pressure and blood cholesterol. Smoking in women showed a mixed picture and weight rose in both men and women in most populations.
Taking all populations as a whole, the decline in smoking seems to have contributed most to the reduction in the risk of heart disease in men. In women, the decrease in blood pressure emerged as the strongest determinant. Overall, it was found that the relation between the fall in heart disease rates and the change in risk factors was more apparent in men than in women.
Here are some excepts from an article at American Family Physician web site. It is excellent because the information that it gives is understandable by the average person.
http://www.aafp.org/afp/20010115/309.html
Effective Use of Statins to Prevent Coronary Heart Disease
MICHAEL A. CROUCH, M.D., M.S.P.H.,
Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
Despite multiple randomized trials showing that a reduction in an elevated LDL level lowers cardiovascular morbidity and mortality,3-5 most patients with high LDL levels remain unidentified or untreated.2 In addition, many physicians are uncertain about when to start preventive treatment. Although dietary change can be effective in reducing the LDL level,6 most patients are unwilling or unable to modify their eating habits sufficiently enough to achieve LDL treatment goals. In addition, patients who have no symptoms of CHD often do not perceive the need for or do not want to begin long-term drug therapy, sometimes lasting decades, to prevent future cardiovascular problems. Some are concerned about possible drug side effects, and the cost of lipid-lowering medication can also be a factor that discourages treatment.
Dietary Modification
Dietary modification is usually the first intervention in patients with borderline-high or moderately elevated LDL levels. However, patients with elevated LDL levels despite a low-fat intake have little room for dietary change. They frequently have type IIa or IIb dyslipidemia.
A fasting lipid profile should be obtained four to six weeks after the start of dietary therapy. The change in the LDL level as a result of a reduction in the average daily intake of saturated fat and cholesterol occurs in the first few weeks after the initiation of dietary modifications.14 With a given amount of dietary change, lipid levels do not show further improvement as the patient continues to adhere to the low-fat diet for a longer period. Although the NCEP recommends a six-month trial of dietary therapy before drug therapy is considered in patients without CHD, patients seldom maintain dietary changes for as long as six months without receiving feedback on the response of their lipid levels to the dietary changes.
(NCEP — National Cholesterol Education Program)
In all the documents that I have read concerning the finding that anti-oxidants are not good for you the people that were studied were patients with coronary artery disease. How is this a balanced study? Personally, I would like to see a study performed on individuals that did not have coronary artery disease but were high risk of having the disease because of family history. I believe that would be a more balanced study into whether a balanced diet and supplements rich in anti-oxidants lower the chance of heart disease.
One of the interesting items that I kept reading was diet and body weight in relation to heart disease. People that were overweight usually had a diet that was high in saturated fat and cholesterol two of the major causes of heart disease. Many of the people referenced also had diabetes as a secondary disease because of this diet.
The American Heart Association released a statistical source book called "A Nation at Risk: Obesity in the United States" You can find it at http://www.americanheart.org/downloadable/heart/
It is a very sobering read especially how obesity in children and obesity in general is on the rise in the United States. After reading this document I am glad that I raised my children away from the fast food culture. I did not realize the seriousness this is to the United States citizen. I am only going to reference the first three paragraphs of the introduction in this book.
Overweight and obesity, especially among children, have emerged as serious threats to our nation's health. They have risen rapidly among women, men and children of all racial and ethnic groups. And this trend is projected to continue.
Obesity is a major modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease. It also increases the potential for high book cholesterol, high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes, which are each major risk factors for cardiovascular disease and other serious health problems. Recent research suggests that obesity shortens the average lifespan by at least four to nine months, and if childhood obesity continues to increase, it could cut two to five years from the average lifespan. That could cause our current generation of children to become the first in American history to live shorter lives than their parents.
Besides its toll on health, obesity also significantly impacts healthcare costs. The World Bank has estimated the cost of obesity at 12 percent of the nation's healthcare budget. Individuals, businesses and the government all bear the cost for obesity.
Here is a statement from Dr. Lester Packer about anti-oxidants.Why should you take Antioxidants ?
As we get older, the incidence of heart disease, cataracts, strokes, diabetes, Alzheimer's, and some cancers, all increase sharply.
Controlled medical studies of people suffering from or at risk of each of these age-related illnesses have shown substantial, measurable benefits from supplementation with antioxidants.
There is compelling scientific evidence that the right antioxidant supplements will significantly reduce the risk of the debilitating illnesses of old age.
In my lab, we have discovered synergetic relationships between certain natural antioxidants. Some of them, vitamins C and E, will be well-known to you. But less familiar antioxidants such as Alpha Lipoic Acid, Coenzyme Q10 and Tocotrienols are vital.
These antioxidants interact in a network to recycle and regenerate each other and to counteract the age associated decline in gene functions which can leave us vulnerable to infection and disease.
Antioxidant cocktails are markedly more effective than single antioxidants.
...The choices you make about diet, smoking, exercise and antioxidant supplementation will substantially influence how long, and how well you live.
Claim the bonus years you can earn by making good choices now!
Dr. Lester Packer. June 12 1999
http://www.thaiwave.com/networkantioxidants/overview.htm
What I have gathered by all that I have read is that anti-oxidants do not work if you already have coronary heart disease. It is also a fact that anti-oxidants counter the effects of statin drugs and a type of niacin therapy that is used to lower LDL. What this does not tell me is that anti-oxidants are harmful to the healthy individual. Everything that I have read actually goes to the contrary. A healthy individual that eats a diet rich in anti-oxidants and takes a vitamin supplement rich in anti-oxidants that is proven via numerous studies will have a longer healthier life.
I would rather believe in the studies that were done by Dr. Lester Packer than any other source. If someone can show me definitive studies that were conducted with the object being to disprove all of Dr. Lester Packer's findings I would be happy to read all of them.
Until then I am going to take my vitamin supplement and watch my diet.
The only people that are getting rich from heart disease and obesity are the drug companies. I would like to see advertising on television about a healthy diet and lowering the risks of disease. What a concept to preventative medicine. The only problem I see with that is people will be healthier and would not be spending money on drugs and/or seeing their doctors as often except for a yearly physical. Personally, I would love to see that.
Let the truth be known.
© Cynthia A. Janak
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(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)
