Cholesterol Levels

My face looked like a dry, glazed doughnut for eight years, until I read your column about using milk of magnesia on the face and scalp. My dermatologist had been treating my scalp, but I got nowhere. Both problems disappeared after one application of MoM. Milk of magnesia (magnesium hydroxide aka MoM) has been used for more than a century as an oral laxative. More recently, we have heard from readers that if this chalky liquid is applied to underarms, it acts as a deodorant. Someone else told us that topical applications of milk of magnesia on the face while showering could be effective for flakes.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Women who eat dried apple every day for a year see a persistent decrease in their cholesterol levels, according to a new study. In comparison, women who ate prunes daily maintained steady levels over a year, suggesting that the fruit could keep cholesterol numbers from rising.

Adults who eat a large bowl of oat bran cereal every day can reduce their blood cholesterol levels by a moderate amount, an analysis of 10 studies has found.Cholesterol levels fell an average of 2 percent to 3 percent in the 1,278 adults studied. There were larger drops in people with higher blood cholesterol levels.The study, being published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association, was conducted by Cynthia M. Ripson and Dr. Joseph M. Keenan of the department of family practice at the University ofMinnesota.

Keith Miller leads what doctors call a healthy, active lifestyle. The suburban Baltimore teenager has always loved sports and plays soccer competitively. He avoids eating pizza and junk food. But despite all that, Miller had cholesterol levels nearly five times his average peer and underwent a double bypass surgery to repair his heart two years ago when he was 15. Though open-heart surgery remains unusual in young patients, medical experts fear that cholesterol levels are rising at an alarming rate.

I heard that there was a study about possible bad effects of low cholesterol in children. I am concerned about this because my teenagers have cholesterol levels of 103 and 110. What were the problems? I would like to know where this was published so I can share it with their pediatrician. For years, there have been puzzling reports that low cholesterol levels may be associated with impulsive and violent behavior in adults. Animal studies (in dogs and monkeys) have also found a link between low cholesterol and aggressive behavior.

WASHINGTON -- Blood cholesterol levels among adults dropped significantly over 12 years, and about half of all Americans now have readings in the desirable range, experts said today.Results from a new national health survey showed a 4 percent decline in the average cholesterol level, from 213 milligrams per deciliter of blood in 1978 to 205 milligrams in 1990. A level below 200 milligrams is considered desirable. The survey also found that the proportion of adults with very high blood cholesterol levels fell to 20 percent from 26 percent.

The anti-cholesterol bandwagon has been picking up steam for decades. People have been bludgeoned into believing that margarine is better than butter, eggs are evil and that beef is a bad word. Everyone was encouraged to get total cholesterol below 200. If diet didn't work, drugs were often prescribed.But now a new study has created confusion. Researchers have discovered that in older people, cholesterol doesn't seem to count. Their subjects were over 70 and had not had a heart attack. Cholesterol levels were not associated with rates of heart attack or risk of death.

Americans have a passion for trying to fix things with a pill. Many millions take pills daily to lower their blood pressure or their cholesterol levels.Millions more swallow vitamins and minerals and "nutritional" supplements in the hope of remaining healthy or slowing the progress of disease. And many believe that the pills will somehow render them immune to the damage wrought by unhealthy habits.But others have an aversion to medications or fear their current and possible future side effects, especially drugs that must be taken daily for decades to prevent a health problem that may or may not develop.

My cholesterol has ranged from 240 to 300 for years. My doctor finds these numbers unacceptable and has insisted I take medication. First I was put on Lescol. My muscles hurt so much I could barely walk. Then I was put on Zocor. The muscle pain came back. The same pattern repeated with Lipitor. Is there any way to get my cholesterol down without one of these drugs? A multifaceted approach to lowering cholesterol naturally can be successful. A recent study reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that consuming a "dietary portfolio" of vegetarian foods lowered cholesterol nearly as well as the prescription drug lovastatin (Mevacor)

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Women who eat dried apple every day for a year see a persistent decrease in their cholesterol levels, according to a new study. In comparison, women who ate prunes daily maintained steady levels over a year, suggesting that the fruit could keep cholesterol numbers from rising.

Health risks abound in modern life. But are the decisions we make to preserve our health supported by solid science? Not always. As a result, it's become more challenging than ever to make informed choices about prevention and treatment. Consider the recent clinical trial demonstrating that the cholesterol-lowering drug Zetia (and a drug that contains it, Vytorin) does not effectively reduce fatty deposits in arteries. These findings raise doubts and concerns about a basic tenet in medicine: Lowering cholesterol will lower the incidence of heart disease.

My face looked like a dry, glazed doughnut for eight years, until I read your column about using milk of magnesia on the face and scalp. My dermatologist had been treating my scalp, but I got nowhere. Both problems disappeared after one application of MoM. Milk of magnesia (magnesium hydroxide aka MoM) has been used for more than a century as an oral laxative. More recently, we have heard from readers that if this chalky liquid is applied to underarms, it acts as a deodorant. Someone else told us that topical applications of milk of magnesia on the face while showering could be effective for flakes.

In a season of ritual overeating, Johns Hopkins researchers have come up with another reason for men to watch their diets: Low cholesterol might protect them from the most aggressive form of prostate cancer. This isn't the first time medical researchers have linked fats to cancer and its consequences. Recent studies have linked obesity to higher death rates from several types of cancer, and a previous Hopkins study found that men on cholesterol-lowering drugs were less likely to develop fast-growing prostate tumors.

I heard that there was a study about possible bad effects of low cholesterol in children. I am concerned about this because my teenagers have cholesterol levels of 103 and 110. What were the problems? I would like to know where this was published so I can share it with their pediatrician. For years, there have been puzzling reports that low cholesterol levels may be associated with impulsive and violent behavior in adults. Animal studies (in dogs and monkeys) have also found a link between low cholesterol and aggressive behavior.

I took Lipitor for about eight months. One morning, I awoke to pain in my neck, upper back, shoulders and arms. In addition, my arms are much weaker than before. The pain has been diagnosed as peripheral neuropathy. The only time I feel good is when I lie in a tub of hot water. Most of my life, I had a great memory, but I've become very forgetful. I start a sentence and then forget what I want to say. I also feel depressed, just the opposite of my usual demeanor. I cannot tolerate these side effects and would like some other way to lower my cholesterol.

THE BENEFITS OF BARLEY For the sake of your health, go with the grain. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's new food guidelines urge Americans to eat more whole grains, and a new study by USDA scientists in Beltsville finds that eating foods made from barley can help reduce cholesterol levels. The study by researchers at the Human Nutrition Research Center found that men and women who ate as little as 3 grams of barley a day could see drops in their cholesterol levels. Those who ate as much as 9 grams a day saw their cholesterol levels drop more than 13 percent.

Wouldn't you know it -- just as cholesterol is established as a dietary no-no, along comes word that too little cholesterol may be just as dangerous.Coronary disease is still the No. 1 killer of Americans. The link between high cholesterol levels and heart problems is so strong that medical policies in this country are now heavily biased toward lowering cholesterol levels. Americans have, on average, cholesterol counts of around 200 units, and blanket policies geared toward lowering those levels would inevitably push some people below 160.New large-scale studies (including both men and women)

Q: Is it true that there is a surgical procedure to lower cholesterol?A: A surgical procedure, partial ileal bypass, does reduce cholesterol, and has been used on a small number of people with an elevated cholesterol for more than 25 years.In this operation the continuity of the final part of the small intestine (ileum) is interrupted by cutting it and attaching it to the large intestine (colon). As a result, intestinal contents bypass the last third of the ileum, the site of most of the absorption of cholesterol and bile acids.

When does a diet supplement become a medication? Sometimes, it's hard to tell. Consider red yeast rice, the supplement Celeste Wright uses to lower her cholesterol. "It works," says Wright, a 66-year-old mother of two from Dripping Springs, Texas, who has been taking it since 2001. Wright had high cholesterol levels five years ago, when she began taking Pravachol, a popular prescription drug known as a statin that reduces cholesterol levels. Prone to allergies, she suffered a reaction to the drug that made her throat swell, her eyes burn and her skin break out in rashes.

WASHINGTON - Scientists have shown they can reduce cholesterol levels in mice by shutting off a disease-causing gene with a technique called RNA interference. The RNA approach has been the subject of great hope, and hype, since it was first discovered in studies of roundworms starting in 1998. It ultimately could lead to a drug-like treatment for hereditary disorders such as Huntington's disease by injecting tailored snippets of RNA, DNA'S molecular cousin, to silence a specific gene. The approach also has promise for treating a range of diseases, including heart disease and cancer, that have genetic factors, specialists said.