Naturopathic Newsletter July 2009: CHOLESTEROL

July 2009

Saturday August 22nd from 10am-4pm is the 2nd annual Initiative: Community Wellness Day. The event will be held on the main street in Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue in front of the clinic/city hall. We look forward to seeing you there where you can learn how to increase the well-being of yourselves, your families and your communities.

Starting Wednesday September 23rd at 7pm, I will be giving a 4 week lecture series on Naturopathic Nutrition at John Abbott College, as part of their Continuing Education Program. For more information adn to register, pls contact the college.

Please note that as of July 15th, the naturopathic consultation fees will be as follows:

$130+tx for 1.5 hour initial consultations, and

$85+tx for 1 hour follow-up consultations.

I am also available for consultation in Cornwall, Ontario, on Fridays. As a licensed profession in Ontario, I am able to provide my patients with a greater level of care, including blood tests, complete physical exams, and PAP tests. For more information, please visit the clinic's website: 

www.millenniumhealthcenter.com

As the principal cause of death in North America, heart disease has stimulated a great deal of research and drug development over the past few decades. As a result, the focus of heart disease has been limited to several factors, mainly blood pressure and cholesterol levels. In today's article, we will focus on how the conventional understanding of cholesterol may be incomplete, or even misleading.

 

In 2006, 23.6 million prescriptions for statins were dispensed in Canada at a cost of $2 billion (1). Statins are a class of drugs that lower cholesterol by inhibiting its synthesis in the liver (by inhibiting the rate limiting enzyme HMG-CoA reductase). These drugs have been claimed to decrease and even prevent heart disease. But is that really the case?

 

For the past few years, more independent and forward thinking doctors and researchers have been asking themselves the same question. This question came for many after the 1996 Framingham Study revealed that half of all heart attacks occur in people with "normal" cholesterol levels. This fact demanded for a closer investigation of the development of heart disease and its relationship to cholesterol. 

 

A deeper examination of heart disease lead to the understanding that heart disease starts with damage to the arteries, which serve as the highways of the cardiovascular system transporting blood from the heart to organs and tissues. This damage creates inflammation, which signals the body to repair the arterial tissue by creating an atherosclerotic plaque. This plaque is composed of several ingredients, including collagen, calcium, and inflammatory cells. 16% of the plaque is made of a fat rich core; 74% of this core is made of unsaturated fat, while the remaining 26% is made of saturated fat and cholesterol. (2) Therefore, we can see that cholesterol plays a role in heart disease, but by no means does it play the main part. I enjoyed Dr. Stephen Sinatra's analogy that cholesterol is found at the scene of the crime, but is not the perpetrator. 

 

Based on the above understanding of the development of heart disease, the most important question is: what damages the artery in the first place? The triggers of inflammation can be found both in our external and internal environments, such as: heavy metals, environmental pollutants, viruses and bacteria, free radicals, elevated blood sugar, sedentary lifestyles, poor eating habits, etc ...

 

But instead of looking at the possible triggers and sources of the arterial damage, the conventional medical model has poised that the best solution is to bring down those cholesterol levels, in order to decrease plaque formation. But if these plaques are a protective measure put in place by the body, and if cholesterol only makes up a small portion of these plaques, then is this truly the best solution? This question becomes even more important to ask ourselves when we look at the potential side effects and risk factors associated with statin drug use.

As described above, statin drugs inhibit the liver's synthesis of cholesterol. But, cholesterol is a NECESSARY raw material made by almost every cell in the body, especially the liver and the brain. It is used as the backbone of vitamin D, steroid hormones (including estrogen, progesterone, testosterone), and bile salts needed for digesting and absorbing fats. 

 

This importance of cholesterol to our biochemistry and physiology makes it clear as to how and why statins come with such a long list of side effects. Many patients associate side effects with negative reactions that begin within the first days to months of starting a new drug. However, keep in mind that the side effects of drugs can occur years later, as their cumulative effects damage the body. Such side effects include (4):

Muscle inflammation (known as rhabdomyolosis),

Kidney damage (secondary to rhabdomyolosis),

Nerve damage,

Mood and behavioral changes, including depression, short temper, violent behavior,

Liver damage,

Heart failure (as a result of Co-enzyme Q10 depletion),

Parkinson's disease,

Memory loss, and

Fetal malformation if used during pregnancy.

The increasing body of research questioning the conventional understanding of both heart disease and cholesterol, along with the often "automatic" statin prescription as the "solution", we should be looking at alternatives in heart health. What better place to turn than towards Naturopathic Medicine. As part of your individualized assessment, your local Naturopathic Doctor will be able to make lifestyle recommendations, including both dietary and exercise, to minimize inflammation by attaining and maintaining a healthy body mass index and waist to hip ratio. These are 2 important objective markers indicative not only of heart disease, but also of blood sugar levels and blood pressure. 

 

Also, as part of the holistic approach of Naturopathic Medicine, your Naturopathic Doctor has the expertise to explore other possible causes of arterial damage, such as heavy metals and environmental pollutants. Both assessments are done through specialized urine tests at our clinic, allowing both the patient and the practitioner to identify possible causes of dis-ease. 

 

With a divers and well researched tool kit, your Naturopathic Doctor can also recommend supplements to bring about healthier cholesterol levels. Whether it be through vitamins, minerals, herbs, or a combination of all three, naturopathic recommendations based on the individual patient's needs have shown time and time again to be effective at restoring cholesterol balance and maintaining heart health. A key advantage to this approach is that it does not carry the burden of side effects seen with the statin drugs. This allows for greater wellbeing today, as well as for tomorrow. 

 

REFERENCES

 

(1) Rosenberg, Harriet G, Allard, D. Women and Statin Use. Women and Health Protection.

 

(2) Enig, Mary, Dr. Know Your Fats: The Complete Primer for Understanding the Nutrition of Fats, Oils and Cholesterol. Bethesda Press, May 2000.

 

(3) Sinatra, Stephen MD. Clearing Up the Cholesterol Confusion. Townsend Letter. 2009(311):60-62.

 

(4) Campbell-McBride, Natasha MD. Beyond Cholesterol: The Orthomolecular Approach to Cardiovascular Disease. 38th Annual International Conference of Orthomolecular Medicine Today, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, May 1st - 3rd, 2009.