Spacedoc Newsletter
April 21, 2009
Stephen Sinatra MD - How to Determine if You Really Need a Statin
The standard lipid tests that most doctors order for you belong to the age of the dinosaurs.  They tell you the level of your total cholesterol, LDL and HDL.  Since 2007 I have been writing about a new generation of tests - one is called the VAP test, the other the Lipoprotein Particle Profile (LPP) test. 

These tests break cholesterol down into fractions, appearances, and patterns, giving a much more accurate picture of what may or may not be a problem.  

LDL particles, for instance, can be large or small.  It is the small, dense LDL particles that can readily enter into compromised arterial walls and stoke the inflammatory process.

With advanced testing, two people with the same total measurement of LDL cholesterol may be at opposite ends of risk. One, with a predominance of small, dense LDL particles, may have three times the risk of someone with mostly large, buoyant LDL.

Read More from Dr Sinatra on How to Determine if You Need a Statin
 
Stephen Sinatra, M.D., F.A.C.C., F.A.C.N.
Dr. Sinatra is a board-certified Connecticut cardiologist who integrates conventional medical treatments for heart disease with complementary nutritional, anti-aging, and psychological therapies. 
 
Statins Prevent Thromboembolism
On 25 March, 2009 the New England Journal of Medicine announced that statins prevent thromboembolism in an article by Glynn and others titled, "A Randomized Trial of Rosuvastatin in the Prevention of Venous Thromboembolism".

We hardly needed a new paper to tell us what was true for all statins, not just Crestor. They are a glorified super-aspirin having an effect on platelet activation not unlike aspirin.

Naturally statins are going to prevent venous thromboembolism. The only surprise would be if they did not.

Duane Graveline MD MPH
Former USAF Flight Surgeon
Former NASA Astronaut
Retired Family Doctor

 
More next week from Dr Sinatra

Dr Stephen Sinatra has written three articles for the spacedoc.net site.

The first article was titled "From Cholesterol Choirboy to Non-Believer."

The second article - the lead in this week's newsletter - is:
"How to Determine if You Really Need a Statin."

The third article is scheduled for the April 28 newsletter and is titled:
"Statins, CoQ10, and Carnitine - What Doctors Don't Tell Patients."
 
Books by Dr Duane Graveline MD MPH
"The Statin Damage Crisis" by Dr Duane Graveline M.D.

BooksDr Graveline's third book on statins called "The Statin Damage Crisis" will be available in April.
 
Originally planned as a new edition to "Statin Drugs Side Effects," it will instead be released as a stand alone title so that the highly relevant material in "SDSE" will still be available.

Dr Graveline wrote the following introduction to this latest title:
 
Early on my NASA doctors told me my amnesia response to statins was nothing but a coincidence but I persevered to write my first book, "Lipitor, Thief of Memory" and now find that over 1,000 cases of amnesia and memory loss have been reported to the FDA, just from Lipitor alone.
 
Then I learned of statin damage to nerves and muscles and profound behavioral and personality changes, demanding I write a second book, "Statin Drugs Side Effects." Even this broadly encompassing book was insufficient to describe what I have learned more recently of the truly dark side of statins - their ability to alter the very fabric of our makeup.
 
I had long wondered why muscle and nerve damage seemed permanent and even progressive like my own ALS-like condition. Now I have found that the ultimate effect of statins on CoQ10 and dolichols is to damage the DNA of the mitochondrial life - force within our cells - mitochondrial mutation masquerading as premature old age. 
 
Duane Graveline MD MPH
Former USAF Flight Surgeon, Former NASA Astronaut, Retired Family Doctor 
 
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Duane Graveline MD MPH
Former USAF Flight Surgeon, Former NASA Astronaut, Retired Family Doctor
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