Cholesterol

If you have high blood cholesterol - like an estimated 100 million Americans - then chances are you're trying to change the way you eat. Your blood cholesterol level has a lot to do with your risk of getting heart disease, which is the country's No. 1 killer. Diet often is the first defense before a doctor turns to drugs to lower cholesterol levels. Losing weight, exercising and cutting down on "bad" fats are the cornerstones of a cholesterol-lowering lifestyle. WHAT TO EAT The four types of food that help lower "bad" cholesterol.

CHICAGO -- Hailed for effectiveness at lowering cholesterol, the family of drugs known as statins in recent years has been the most costly U.S. brand-name prescription group for U.S. consumers and employers. Retailing between $2 and $5 a pill, statins accounted for $16 billion in U.S. sales last year, the leading class of brand-name drugs, representing 6.4 percent of U.S. prescription sales, according to research firm IMS Health. Now cholesterol pills are going on sale. The second-most widely prescribed statin, Zocor, is expected to be available late next month as a generic.

I have been using a nasal spray (such as Afrin) for at least six years. I cannot break this cycle of congestion. If I don't use the spray, I can't sleep and can't eat. My doctor prescribed a steroid nasal spray, but it wasn't enough. If you have any helpful suggestions for breaking my addiction, I would be grateful. Others who have gone through a similar predicament have come up with some suggestions that might be worth trying. Here's one: Buy two bottles of nasal spray. Use one full-strength in one nostril.

A study published this week raises hopes that a common anti-cholesterol drug can reduce the artery deposits that play a crucial role in heart attacks and strokes. How that translates into treatment isn't clear, and it doesn't mean you should eat more doughnuts. But the research provides further evidence that statins -- powerful anti-cholesterol drugs used for two decades -- can significantly improve the physical changes associated with heart disease. Although doctors already prescribe statins to lower cholesterol and prevent the deposits -- known as plaques -- the study may encourage even more use, particularly at higher doses.

HARTFORD, CONN. -- Statins are good for the heart, but the popular cholesterol-lowering drugs - including Lipitor, Zocor and Pravachol - do not appear to prevent cancer, pharmacists at the University of Connecticut report in today's Journal of the American Medical Association. The researchers at the UConn School of Pharmacy reviewed 26 heart disease studies involving more than 73,000 subjects to determine whether statins helped prevent cancer. They found that no type of cancer was affected by statin use and that no type of statin reduced cancer risk, said C. Michael White, associate professor of pharmacy at UConn.

Healthy eaters long ago embraced spray-on butter, but will they do the same for spray-on bacon? Renowned chef David Burke is betting consumers will. He is the inventor of the David Burke Flavor Sprays marketed as containing zero calories, zero fat, zero cholesterol and zero carbohydrates. The flavorings, approved by the Food and Drug Administration, fall under three categories: classic, exotic, and sweet and sinful. The offerings range from smoked bacon to chocolate fudge and are being billed as an alternative for those desiring to shed pounds but hesitant to surrender taste.

CHICAGO -- Not since aspirin has a class of drugs come along that does so much more than originally intended that it could end up being used as a preventive against many major diseases. Statins, which lower cholesterol, have been proved in clinical trials to reduce heart attacks and strokes by 30 percent to 50 percent. They are the most widely prescribed drugs in the United States; one in 10 adults takes them. But their full value in improving the nation's health rests with research attempting to establish the ability of statins to prevent cancer, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, high blood pressure, multiple sclerosis and macular degeneration.

LOS ANGELES -- Lovastatin, a widely used cholesterol-lowering drug, reverses common learning disabilities in mice, offering the first hope for a treatment of the problem in humans, University of California, Los Angeles researchers reported yesterday. Three human trials in children and adults will begin at UCLA and other U.S. and European locations within weeks, said Dr. Alcino J. Silva, a neurobiologist at UCLA and the lead author of a paper appearing in the journal Current Biology. Lovastatin, trade-named Mevacor, is one of a family of drugs known collectively as statins that have revolutionized the treatment of high cholesterol.