Articles posted on September 2008 (6)
8 year olds being prescribed statins...
As I have mentioned before I think that the practice of prescribing statins to 8 year old children...and even younger is irresponsible, unethical and downright dangerous to the long term health and well being of the child. It is bad enough adults being 'forced' to take statins when they often don't need them...but, at least they can say NO if they wish.
But, an 8 year old cannot say no!
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) announced in July this year recommendations that statins should be prescribed to obese children as young as 8 years old. This is really quite amazing. There is no evidence to support the use and safety of these drugs in young children. The recommendation is based on those in position of influence thinking that it is a 'good idea'. For whom? The statin manufacturers for sure...but for the children???
More misinformation on the internet...
From time to time some companies and individuals choose to distribute nonsense material on the internet under the guise of ‘safety information’. It tends to be the same old distorted stuff designed to scare people into buying their particular product.
One of these which we have had seen before has just surfaced again as a result of a ‘newsletter’ sent by a company called Quantum Nutrition. This time the bogeyman’ is magnesium stearate which is an excipient commonly used in supplements and drugs alike.
These people are quoting various studies completely out of context and trying to use it to discredit the use of magnesium stearate in supplements, and pharmaceuticals. What they are conveniently neglecting to say is that stearates are essential to our health and are present in substantial quantities in the foods we eat every day, and that every day we ingest much greater quantities of magnesium stearate than you will ever get in a supplement. This applies even if you eat an optimal diet.
Why doesn't Total Balance need to be taken with a meal?
Question: from Barbara
I hope you don't mind if I ask you a question which has been puzzling me for a while.
Total Balance is a very complex supplement with many different ingredients which, if taken separately, would be recommended by other suppliers to be taken at different times of the day (e.g. before meals, with meals, or between meals). How can they all be taken at the same time (as in Total Balance) and still have the desired effect?
Answer: from Warren
The reason why many supplements have to be worked around a meal is because they are released in the stomach and depending on the ingredients they may need to be mixed with food to avoid stomach irritation. But, in the case of Total Balance there are no ingredients released in the stomach. Instead they are protected from the stomach acid by the enteric coating which enables them to be released in the upper intestine which is where they need to get in order to pass through the intestinal walls into the blood stream.
Vitamin K...different types...different results!
The correct form of Vitamin K can be very beneficial to your heart and arteries.
I thought that I would comment further on this interesting Vitamin as I have referred to it in a couple of recent posts. The references were related to Vitamin K1 (phylloquinone) and Vitamin K2 (menaquinone). Vitamin K1 is the form that is most commonly used in supplements although we only use the Vitamin K2 form in our supplements. The reason why we use this form is because it is much more beneficial to the body. Whereas K2 has been proven to be effective in multiple areas the jury is still out on the benefits of K1, although some companies try to 'piggyback' the benefits of K2 and relate it to K1.
Why then doesn't everyone use the K2 version? Simple answer...cost! K1 is only about $300/kg but K2 is around $14,000/kg.
A recent study was published which helps demonstrate not only the effectiveness of Vitamin K2 but also how it compares with Vitamin K1. If you are using any version of Total Balance and/or Cardio-Klenz you may find this article interesting.
What about this for a supplement regime?
Question: from David. What would the effect be of taking a multiple of your products? Apart from popping pills all day, I thought the following regime looked interesting to me; Total Balance Men's Premium Having a family history of late onset diabetes I would look at Dizbet- Eze as well. While obviously a regime such as this would be quite expensive, would there be any reason to avoid such a path or would dosage be different because some ingredients are used across multiple products?
Omega 3 / DHA
Neuro-Natural Memory
Male rejuvenator
Viral Protec...
and possibly but not necessarily as a preventative measure Bone-protec, Cholest-Natural and Cardio-Klenz.
Heart Health...which Doctor is right??
Question: from Dee
I am 48 and have my cholesterol checked due to family history (father died with heart problems at 56, 18 months after his first heart attack). My latest reading is 6.4 (increasing from 5.8 2 years' ago). I am not sure I have enough information re cholesterol breakdown - all I know is that HDL is 2.4. I am semi vegetarian (eat fish occasionally), my weight is in proportion to my height, blood pressure normal.
One Doctor put me on Simvastin 10 mg and 75 mg aspirin but I was so ill with headaches, stomach upsets etc that I came off both meds. A second Dr has advised I do not need any drugs as he states my HDL is very high and counteracts the LDL - however, due to my family history, I am very concerned by the increase over the past 2 years, and feel confused by 2 different sets of advice. Can you advise please?
Answer: from Warren
Your second Doc is right. Your HDL is very high and does indeed offset any elevated LDL, or total cholesterol. Your first Doc was either being lazy or irresponsible by putting you on that medication.
High cholesterol rarely is the cause of death from heart disease. It is only one factor, and unless it is highly elevated it need not be much of a concern.