Posts Tagged ‘brain health’

Do Statins Lower Cholesterol Too Much? Memory Loss, Hormone Decline and Diabetes Can Follow

Thursday, March 22nd, 2012

Statins

Statins

You need it to make every cell in your body, hormones such as estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, cortisol and DHEA , as well as, Vitamin D and bile acids. Wouldn’t you say that these are essential to life? Not having enough cholesterol to make these essential hormones, bile and vitamins can put you in danger. Many of the diseases that middle-aged persons begin experiencing including depression, abdominal weight gain, prostate, breast and heart disease are directly related to hormone imbalances.

The recommendations have been to keep cholesterol low to protect you from heart disease. It is questionable whether it has had the desired effect on heart disease since that has many factors besides cholesterol as its cause. There are at least 14 independent risk factors that cause arteries to narrow as we age. While high LDL (low-density lipoprotein) and total cholesterol are two of these causes, the other 12 factors also have to be controlled to maintain lifelong healthy blood flow. What the medical community and media are finally recognizing is that levels that are too low can cause harm.

The most popular drug class that is used to lower it, statins, can have some harmful effects. While I don’t recommend stopping your medications completely, I do recommend finding the underlying cause, correcting it and using some lifestyle and natural means to get it to a reasonable level with or without the use of drugs. If you must take a drug, use the lowest dose to achieve the desired result.

Cholesterol can become elevated due to a variety of factors:

  • Genetic
  • Inflammation
  • Oxidation
  • Sedentary Lifestyle
  • Diet
  • Smoking
  • Hormone imbalance

Correcting the underlying factors stated above, may allow you to stop or lower your dose. If you don’t have many risk factors for heart disease, your cholesterol levels may not need to be too low., If you have many risk factors for heart disease keep your LDL level around 100 but not less than 70 and a total cholesterol level between 200 and 180. Consult your doctor for the levels that are right for you.

Cholesterol levels that are too low can increase:

  • Overall increased rate of death or mortality
  • Suicidal behavior
  • Depression
  • Stroke due to bleeding
  • Cancer

Statin drugs

  • Brand names ending in “or” such as:  Crestor, Lipitor, Zocor, etc
  • Generic names ending in “statin” such as:  rosuvastatin, atorvastatin, simvastatin etc.
  • Some not so well known side effects of statin drugs:
    • Memory loss
    • Increased risk of diabetes
    • Depletion of coenzyme Q 10 (otherwise known as ubiquinone, ubiquinol, CoQ10)
    • Fatigue, decreased exercise endurance
    • Muscle pain, muscle breakdown, cramps
    • Liver and kidney toxicity
    • Low thyroid function

Lifestyle, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory food and supplements, low saturated fat diet, increasing Omega 3 fatty acids,exercise and hormone replacement and balance can dramatically lower your cholesterol. It’s more work than just taking a pill, however the benefits are longevity with a quality of life that can keep you slim, sharp, sexy, strong and supercharged. Learn more from my blogs, newsletters, books and programs at www.vibranceforlife.com

Lorraine Maita, MD is an award winning physician, speaker and author of “Vibrance for Life: How to Live Younger and Healthier”. She is an expert in anti aging medicine, bioidentical hormone replacement, weight loss, nutrition, supplements and executive health.  She has a private practice in Anti Aging Medicine www.howtoliveyounger.com in Short Hills, NJ.  You can live younger and healthier; Click Here to Get my Best 7 Tips on How to Live Younger and Healthier!

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Posted in HDL cholesterol, brain health, cardiovascular disease, good health, good nutrition, healthy body | Comments Off

Fishing for Brain Health – reduce depression and other disorders by eating more fish

Thursday, February 25th, 2010

Improving mental health may be a fish story. Fat….it should all be in your head. Data suggests that populations that consume large amounts of fish appear to have relatively low rates of major depression. Rates of depression are high and increasing in parts of the world (eg, United States and Western Europe) where changes in agriculture and food technology have shifted diets away from omega-3 fatty acids toward omega-6 fatty acids (from commercial and processed vegetable oils). Studies have shown improvements in depression, bipolar disorders, mood, ADHD, schizophrenia and may hold promise for other inflammatory disorders such as Alzheimer’s, cancer, cardiovascular disease, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis and asthma as well as spinal cord and traumatic brain injury.

The brain is largely made up of fat and fatty acids. Fish oil has EPA and DHA and the brain is largely made up of the DHA component as well as other phospholipids. Inflammation has been shown to be present in a host of brain disorders and fish oils have an anti-inflammatory effect. Inflammation causes cell excitation, increased oxidative stress and cell death. We were designed to have a 2 to 1 ratio of Omega 3 to Omega 6 fatty acids and the Standard American Diet (SAD) has shifted that ratio to 25 to 1 with the balance shifted towards fatty acids that are more inflammatory. There are many compelling studies that indicate Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) have therapeutic potential in neurology and psychiatry. Enrichment of cell membranes in DHA can lead to subtle changes in plasma membrane which is the cells “doorman” allowing signals and nutrients to get through and waste to be removed.

While fish oil with emphasis on the DHA component shows promise in improving or managing these conditions, there is no substitute for a healthy lifestyle of exercise, good nutrition, reduction of toxins such as herbicides, pesticides and heavy metals known to affect neurological conditions, a good nights sleep and stress management, as well as other supplements that improve nerve transmission and circulation. The good news is that if you are deficient, a good quality supplement may improve your condition and you can have tests to measure the balance of fats as well as oxidative stress. Have a fatty acid profile done to look for balance of inflammatory versus anti-inflammatory fats and seek expert advice on how to improve your mental health.

Dr. Lorraine Maita has expertise in nutrition and supplements and is a Diplomate in The American Academy of Anti-Aging and Regenerative Medicine and Internal Medicine. She specializes in lifestyle, exercise, nutrition, supplements, executive physicals, bioidentical hormone replacement, neurocognitive function and stress management in Short Hills, NJ

From Clinical Lipidology Omega-3 Fatty Acids: Their Neuroprotective and Regenerative Potential in Traumatic Neurological Injury Posted: 11/18/2009; Clin Lipidology. 2009;4(3):343-353. © 2009

Behavioral Health Matters: Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Mental Health http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/409997

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Posted in brain health, eating healthy, good health, longevity | 7 Comments »