cholesterol

Carnitine: A New Reason to Cut Back on Red Meat?

Posted on 04/9/2013 by | Personal Health and Well-being | Comments

Bulletin Today | Personal HealthMaybe it’s not really cholesterol from that big, juicy steak that’s linked to heart disease. Instead, it could be a compound in red meat called carnitine, which does a number on our gut bacteria if we eat too much meat too often, suggests intriguing new research. Carnitine seems to have a profound effect on certain bacteria in the intestine; these in turn produce a chemical linked to clogging of the arteries and heart disease. The more meat we eat, the …

Apple-a-Day Drops ‘Bad’ Cholesterol 40 Percent

Posted on 10/12/2012 by | Personal Health and Well-being | Comments

Bulletin Today | Personal HealthStatins, schmatins. Just eat one whole apple a day and you can cut your cholesterol. By a lot. Or so a new study from Ohio State University suggests. A group of healthy older adults ages 40 to 60 who ate an apple a day for four weeks ended up lowering their levels of LDL — called the “bad” cholesterol because it gums up the arteries — by a whopping 40 percent. Wow, we thought, that old saying really is true. …

Statin Benefits Outweigh Diabetes Risk

Posted on 08/10/2012 by | Brooklyn, NY | Comments

News Roundups | Personal HealthOne in four Americans over age 45 take the cholesterol-lowering drugs collectively known as statins. Recently, some researchers have raised concern that these drugs could increase diabetes risk, especially among post-menopausal women or people taking high statin doses. But a large new analysis shows that the cardiovascular benefits of statins outweigh diabetes concerns, even for high-risk groups.

An Anti-Cholesterol Shot Plus Why You Should See Your Heart Damage

Posted on 03/26/2012 by | Personal Health and Well-being | Comments

Bulletin Today | Personal HealthMonthly injections of an experimental drug that can reduce cholesterol, as well as evidence that images of clogged arteries can motivate people to lose weight, were among the new studies presented at the American College of Cardiology’s annual scientific sessions in Chicago this past weekend. First up — those scary scans of your coronary arteries. Apparently, seeing really is believing when it comes to convincing reluctant patients to get serious about their heart disease. Two new studies found that patients …

Statins Linked To Diabetes In Older Women, Study Finds

Posted on 01/11/2012 by | Personal Health and Well-being | Comments

Bulletin Today | Personal HealthOne in four Americans over age 45 take a statin to lower their cholesterol, but a new study says the popular drugs may increase the risk of diabetes. An analysis of postmenopausal women who were taking statins found they had almost a 50 percent greater risk of diabetes than those who weren’t on the cholesterol-lowing drug. The study, published online in the Archives of Internal Medicine, looked at nearly 154,000 women, average age 63, who didn’t have diabetes when the …

Could Fast Food With A Side Of Statins Be Next?

Posted on 08/5/2011 by | Personal Health and Well-being | Comments

Bulletin Today | Personal HealthShould you be able to get a free statin pill for your cholesterol when you order that big, fat cheeseburger and fries at Mickey D’s or  some other fast food joint? Absolutely, say British researchers.  Statins are safe, cheap — why, the fast food giants could give them away free, like they do ketchup packets for your fries, to help protect customers’ heart health, they wrote. The British idea, presented in a paper last year from Imperial College London, surfaced again when …