9th October 2019
But not by me
Following a podcast by Ivor Cummings, where I bored him for an hour and a half on what causes CVD*, a journalist that I know well, Jerome Burne, had a go at summarising the ‘thrombogenic’ hypothesis. I thought this was brave of him. I consider him a friend and an ally.
Of course, this is the Readers Digest version and, by necessity, misses out a great deal of the detail. However, I would be grateful if readers of this blog, go have a look on Jerome’s site and see what you think. Leave comments if you feel the urge.
I told him that I could not really comment on it, because I know this whole are so well that I cannot look at it the way a naïve reader could. Or, to put it another way, does it make any sense to an interested and intelligent reader coming across these ideas for the first time.
The blog can be found here: http://healthinsightuk.org/2019/10/08/cholesterol-is-innocent-how-the-real-killers-were-tracked-down/
*Ivor Cummings/Fat emperor podcast:
Or you can view it on Ivor’s site here
Dr. Malcolm Kendrick 
Thank you
Malcolm, did you see the new movie “The Games Changers” all about strong benefits of plant based diet and mentions a fair bit on CVD? https://youtu.be/iSpglxHTJVM
Chris, about thirteen years ago I bought a glucose meter. After meat and spinach, my glucose was 4.9. A few days later, I tested after beans, grains and fruit. 11.2. I retested. 11.1.
Jill. Oh, if only life were as simple as measuring glucose levels after ingesting certain foods, and suggesting one category outshines another. I am presuming that the lower the reading, the better, and I certainly aim to achieve a regular, middling reading, without extreme spikes and troughs. But…..having years of experience of pricking my poor finger ends, believe me, I can get surprises and disappointments. Lots of meat/protein can cause an unexpected spike, whereas low glycaemic carbs and resistant starches produce a very welcome stability. The examples I have pleasantly discovered are authentic sour dough wheat bread, and the use of gram flours. Both would apparently be unacceptable for those wanting to follow a low carb regime.
Also, the way foods are cooked, and served in various combinations, can affect results.
If ever there was a case of trial and error to achieve personal acceptable results, this is it. I think there is an over dependance on the rules of nutrition, causing people to unnecessarily omiting some food categories.
And to further complicate the issue….the glucose meters and strips have a degree of inaccuracy, which must be factored in. Far better to rely on HcA1c for a truer indication.
Thank you for this post.
I bought a year’s supply of the Free Style Libre CGM (continuous glucose monitor), out of pocket. What I found was that meat produces zero blood sugar rise for me. Protein also causes zero blood sugar rise. I have eaten 150, 200 grams protein (low fat) in single meals, zero blood sugar rise. (NOTE: I am on a low carb/keto diet.) Eggs with spinach and meat = zero blood sugar rise. Add a small amount of potatoes, I’ll get 20+ (US units, divide by 18 for European units) rise, just by that. Real pizza causes a high and sustained blood sugar rise. My blood sugar rises when eating high carb only last about an hour, from “zero” to peak back to zero. So, all those tests I did with pinprick monitors are suspect, considering everyone says to test 1-2 hours after a meal. Homemade popcorn, for how we make it and split it between 4 people, causes a zero blood sugar rise.
Things I thought had few carbs in them from restaurants caused my blood sugar to shoot up.
I did not test fruit, though I have seen a lot of tests on Twitter of apples in particular, causing massive blood sugar increases. Rice also.
This is the one thing I think should be used more often. If CGMs can get to say $20 (US) per month or less, they should give them to everyone. With these, there is no guessing. You KNOW what your blood sugar is and what does and does not affect it.
I agree with Jennifer that post-meal measurements of blood glucose can be very unpredictable, but one does slowly learn how one’s own body responds to different combinations of food. I think this must be due to wide variations in the speed of digestion and absorption, both between individuals and from day to day for the same person.
For me, usually, 25 g of low glycaemic index carbs will delay, not abolish, the inevitable glucose spike for several hours and subsequently prevent the return to a normal fasting level before the next meal. It also rules out any further weight loss for at least a couple of days.
Yet, despite all the many obstacles, I’m getting there, if only very slowly. After nearly three years, I have definitely lost over five stones in weight and probably over six. I am only halfway to my (admittedly vague) target, but I am down to what I was 25 years ago. My general health has improved and I’m hoping my various annual blood tests have also improved when they are tested again later this month.
Time of day mat be important too. When I started I could remain more or less euglycemic with 15g carbs at breakfast, rising to 30g by evening. Now fifteen years later I am down to 10g carbs at breakfast but can put away 50 – 80g and sometimes 100g by evening. Not that I do, but I can – generally except for eating out I stick to around 50g/day, mostly in the evening. Compare and contrast to the 230 – 300g recommended by the Government (some dieticians recommend even more) and the EAT-Lancet diet of 232g carbs. A LOT of people can’t do that. Little wonder so many people are fat, diabetic and otherwise ill – but PROFITABLE.
chris williams, saw the trailer. Someone with the digestive system of a herbivore would be ideally suited for a plant based diet. Cows do not get fat eating grass. Feed a cow with corn and beans and see what happens. We humans are considered omnivores, when faced with starvation. Hope that a plant based diet works for Arnold.
Chris Williams, have you taken the trouble to read up on lectins?
😉
Would Dr. Kendrick please comment on the Pauling-Rath protocol which claims to not only reverse but prevent the inflammation and subsequent plaque scarring, leading to atherosclerosis? Linus Pauling said that this is really a low grade form of scurvy! He claimed he never met anyone with CHD who took megadoses of C (5- 10 grams daily).
The protocol used Vit C + L-lysine + L-proline).
You can make your own mix, or buy it pre-mixed as Cardio-C. (much more expensive)
Please see https://vitamincfoundation.org/heart.php or https://www.dr-rath-foundation.org/
It would appear we already have much of the Holy Grail, but since Big Pharma can’t make $$ off this, this published information has been swept under the carpet as usual.
Thank you
Great summary and analysis I think. The part about lack of Vitamin C “damaging the endothelium” could use a bit of unpacking I feel. As vitamin C has two major roles – one to combat inflammation, the other to build collagen, it follows that inflammation depletes the body of Vitamin C, therefore also inhibiting collagen formation, and therefore arterial wall integrity. Chronic sublinical scurvy…. Starts with the balance between antioxidants one one hand (electron donors), and pathogens/toxins on the other (electron thieves). Vitamin C is also the body’s primary redox agent…
Dr Shawn Baker is someone on a carnivore diet. Meat only, no fruit, veg, or carbs. On a podcast with Joe Rogan he was asked about vitamin C. How come he doesn’t get scurvy? He replied that he’s not sure, but pointed out that vitamin C and glucose are almost identical. Since many sources of vitamin C are also sources of sugar, e.g.orange juice, maybe the one cancels out the other, and the real need for vitamin C is quite low.
I must say Dr Baker looks in terrific shape — big and fit, and much younger than his 50 yrs,. He holds a few age group world athletic records. I’d try a carnivore diet myself if I could afford it, and someone else did the washing up. ;o)
You should ask him to write a summary of all your blogs for the thickos like me.
Dear Dr. Kendrick,
I took at look at Jerome Burne’s book, Hybrid Diet, and it seems laden with poor information re: emphasized foods, as well as being a highly-medicalized diet plan. I couldn’t recommend his work or that of his co-author for those reasons. However, his blog summation seems to reflect what you’ve talked about over time. Amounts of recommended supplements might be a good idea for those who don’t have information about that.
I know that you are not able to respond directly or individually, but if you could in a future post perhaps talk about what can be done for people who, like me, are severely limited as to their daily physical activity, that would be so appreciated.
Whatever my outcome, statins most certainly will not be part of the “journey.” I don’t believe I’ve written before, but five years ago, my husband had a stroke followed by open-hear surgery to repair the ascending aorta discovered thanks to his stroke. The first thing I discussed with him was getting off statins, entirely due to my having just begun to read your work at that time. He did so and no regrets. His most recent physical exam showed him to be in better health than he has ever been, at age 66, with the (admittedly repaired) ticker of a man in his twenties.
Thank you so very much for all your work. You may feel like a lone voice, but you are helping so many people.
Respectful regards, (Ms.) Adrian Koesters, Ph.D. United States
On Wed, Oct 9, 2019 at 8:53 AM Dr. Malcolm Kendrick wrote:
> Dr. Malcolm Kendrick posted: “9th October 2019 But not by me Following a > podcast by Ivor Cummings, where I bored him for an hour and a half on what > causes CVD*, a journalist that I know well, Jerome Burne, had a go at > summarising the ‘thrombogenic’ hypothesis. I thought this was” >
Most mammals, unlike humans and many other primates, make Vitamin C from glucose, (and in large amounts when stressed or ill). Any glucose not required immediately for energy, is first used to replenish glycogen stores, next to make Vitamin C and only then turned into fat for storage.
So the modern human, often with a sedentary way of life and a mainly carbohydrate diet, must be at particular risk from the effects of unwanted glucose during his/her entire lifetime.
People are generally unaware of the large amount of Vitamin C that is incorporated in the diet of great apes in Zoos. (In the region of 5 to 10 grammes per day).
This is because of research done in the 1960s and 70s, Unlike humans, apes in zoos are worth a lot of money, so it was financially worthwhile to do this research. Unfortunately there is no ‘PubMed’ for veterinary research, so the relevant documents are not easy to find.
Interesting Chris. I will follow up on this. MAy be a way to get people to believe they need far more than 1 gram a day. Though that may put the price up.
A great post today, Dr Kendrick, especially as I have commenced Ramipril and have now purchased The Hybrid Diet. I like Jerome’s work; I have Patrick’s books lining my bookshelf; and I sincerely trust your posts, Dr Kendrick, over the years. I glean much from all three but find every instalment of this blog encourages me to hone in on important aspects of diet and lifestyle, in a non-faddy way.
Just to mention…..absolutely NO mention whatsoever today by my GP regarding statins, as neither did my endocrinologist a couple of months ago. I think we are winning.
Vitamin A damages the endothelium throughout the body. It may even be the root cause of scurvy! The 2 recent articles by Judy are well worth perusing. https://www.carbwarscookbooks.com/eureka__trashed/ https://www.carbwarscookbooks.com/eureka-part-2/
I have a copy of the book “Fat and Cholesterol Don’t Cause Heart Attacks and statins are Not the Solution”. It has your nice write up on the likely cause of heart disease. I’ll probably watch the video this weekend. There will be time as I’m to be a captive audience it appears with 50,000 or more visitors to the area for a boat race.
At first glance it looks good, though I probably don’t know enough to be critical. I have a lot more of it to read, so will post more later It would help to have more comments from others, but not what appears to be off-topic. My brain is too small to cope with the clutter.
“I consider him a friend and an ally.” Which makes me wonder, doc: have any of your opponents treated your arguments with intellectual respect, and tried to answer them with evidence? Or do they all shout, rave, or airily dismiss?
Shouting and raving and airily dismissing would be a pretty good description of the main activities.
I hope you can make some headway against the blob. The very least we can take people with memory loss off the wretched statins. Perhaps a high profile lawsuit would do it
Sent from my iPhone
Dr. K, what diseases or syndromes result in non calcified, clear arteries?
philalethes2368
“Would Dr. Kendrick comment on the Pauling-Rath protocol…”
Put Vitamin C into the search engine on this site and settle down for plenty of reading.
Here’s a good place to start:
There is one mistake in Jerome Burns’s article. “A thick endothelium has several beneficial effects including expanding blood vessels,…” ‘endothelium’ should be ‘glycocalyx’
While it is a fair summary of the interview, I don’t think it’s a good first introduction to Dr Kendrick’s ideas for those unfamiliar with them. It jumps around too much, and doesn’t develop a clear, logical argument.
I’m afraid I agree with Martin Back. The article is okay, but I can’t say I found it an easy or enjoyable read.
It’s kind of amazing that many journalists are not good writers. Mr Burns could learn a thing or two from Dr K, who happens to be a very good writer.
Still, it’s good that someone is helping to get the word out. Now, if Dr K could only get a writer from Popular Science or The Atlantic to introduce him to the mainstream, he would really hit one out of the park.
For sure a great interview and a good summary 🙂
BTW to my own experience 15 g per day of vitamin C doesn’t hurt.
Vitamin C seems to be risk free and the potential benefits pretty widespread. What’s not to like.
Just be careful of the source. I bought some in a local shop and it turned out to be 1 gram of C embedded in 5 grams of glucose. The stuff I buy online seems to be kosher.
I take 1 gram of vitamin C per day, but I have a suspicion some people here would say that was far too little. I wonder how much vitamin C you had in mind.
I also wonder how the gene for vitamin C got lost from our genome, and whether it would do any harm if it were put back!
I try to take at least 10g a day. Sometimes I fail. If I feel unwell, I should take more, perhaps 50+g a day. If I still unwell I’ll take more, maybe much more. Since I take a fairly large amount, I rarely feel unwell.
I wonder if any of the ‘gene editing’ scientists have experimented with attempting to restore the missing link in the Vitamin-C synthesis chain? Perhaps experiments in this way on C-deficient primates are deemed unethical, but the advantages for humans would be immense.
If what I have written above is nonsense, then let me know. I’m an electronic design engineer, not a bio-chemist!
Chris, I recall seeing something about vitamin C requiring significant energy to make, so it was suggested not producing it and getting it from the wider environment was a more efficient existance.
Re. vitamin C doses: For myself, I can tolerate 12 g per day of pure Sodium Ascorbate in two equal 6 g doses in 250 ml water with both breakfast and supper. I cannot tolerate the same weight of pure Ascorbic Acid because it gives me indigestion. No problems with loose bowels with either substance.
I have, of course, no idea whether it is really doing me any good. But the large amounts of fresh fruit and fruit juice I used to eat contain a lot of starch and sugar which raise my blood glucose far too much. And the vitamin powder bought in bulk does work out cheaper.
What I really do miss are the cooking apples from the ancient, tall, Howgate Wonder tree we have in our garden. For years, we have lived off the windfalls falling on the lawn which still kept until the late spring. I do still make the occasional Apfelstrüdel when my younger son comes to lunch, as it is his favourite and he can take home the surplus, because even a very tiny portion sends my blood glucose haywire.
What about when you eat a fresh apple?
David Bailey: Modifying our genes to produce vitC would not solve anything. Cats and dogs are carnivores and make their own C, and when fed carby foods they develop human diseases.
Sasha.
To answer your question: any apple of any size contains a large amount of starch as well as some sugar. All risk taking me well over my daily carb limit. That said, we also have a small Worcester Pearmain eating apple tree, which produces small, sweet fruit and I do treat myself to the occasional one when they first ripen. Life is to be enjoyed, after all.
shirley3349
Funny!
When we realized that my wife was in a late state of T2D through her serious peripheral neuropathy and her two eye diagnosis we made the drastic decision to “cut all carbs” from one day to the next with amazing and drastic improvement results. Most recovered within one year without any medication.
However as you mention just one sweet plum from our delicious tree was enough to through her back into her nightmare. But with time (now with ten years of improvements) she seems to tolerate “a little” off the road.
I have a diabetic friend who likes apples. She will eat one slowly WHILE walking. That might work.
I think you have probably mentioned before but how do you take 15g?
I have tries ascorbic acid but get reflux issues.
Paul,
Well, I use pure ascorbic acid (bought cheap by the kilo) and take two tea spoons which turns out to be about 15 grams and dissolve that in a glass of hot water and sip on it during the night/day. I have not experienced any stomach upsettings which though seems to be rahter common if you take too much at any one occasion.
Paul, there’s liposomal C from Live-On Labs. There are other supposedly liposomal types but they have different construction. There is sodium ascorbate which is near pH neutral powder and easier for some people, I use ascorbic acid and bought a capsule loading machine from https://www.capsulcn.com/semi-auto-capsule-filling-machine-cn-120scl. Expensive, but after a few thousand capsules, it was worth the cost. Size #0 suits me.
Paul,
Some people like Goran tolerate straight C well. I don’t, so I buffer it – 2 parts C to 1 part baking soda. I take 4 grams of C 2x/day.
Thank you.
I thought the article was well written, and reflected a concise summary of the salient points that Dr. Kendrick has been making over the 65 posts and “Cholesterol con“.
No disrespect, Dr K, but you need to be careful who you get into bed with IMHO. Both these chaps, Ivor Cummings in particular are peddling books advice and much else and are not medically or scientifically well grounded, again IMHO. If anyone thinks they can “protect the endothelium” by this or that diet or whatever, is missing the point of the complex, and (yes IMHO!) very individual aetiology of IHD. There’s no single cause, no simple cure or preventative strategy, not jolly Cholesterol and statins and not anything else either.
Someone somewhere mentioned Ramapril….that can eff your kidneys right up.
Jonathan BS I see your point but isn’t it amazing that some of those with a grounding in the medical world can be so wrong for so long. Ivor Cummings is no Ancel Keys who as we know was an economist with a Zoology something or other. And how many hundred thousand medical & scientific practioners & “experts” followed his nonsense & still do to this day. It appears to me that ivor Cummings does good research, though is he all about philanthropy ? , the impression he cultivates.
Ivor Cummins is unbelievable. He’s an engineer looking for root causes of disease. He has read thousands of papers.
If anyone thinks Ivor Cummin’s ideas are not grounded in science, then attack with science. Show us why his theories are incorrect using a study. Don’t attack the man simply because he has a book or wants us to get a CAC scan. Show us the science.
BobM, that’s an excellent point. One that critics in many fields should take note of, but since they are mostly on shaky ground, vilifying, ridiculing, or any other form of personal criticism seems to be their only response.
Some of the best doctors were engineers (Richard Bernstein, Michael Eades). Many think like engineers (Malcolm for example). Some engineers (Ivor) are knowledgeable about metabolism and medicine and in a way not being medically “trained” means they don’t know what they aren’t supposed to think.
From what I have learnt from several of his lectures Ivor Cummings understands and can explain our physiology and metabolism better than most MDs who often are hiding their ignorance behind the medical jargon.
Absolutely. The idea that only doctors can discuss/know about medicine is one thing that annoys my hugely. Doctors, in general, are taught facts. They are not taught why those facts may be facts, they just are. Thinking about process and human physiology. Even discussing such things… never happens. Doctors know a vast number of things, things they have been taught. These things are true – end of. Does anyone believe for an instant that the Key Opinion Leaders, such as Rory Collins, have spend a millisecond wondering exactly how LDL may cause CVD. No, it just does. Medicine does not teach curiosity, it stomps it do death. Believe me, I know.
Interesting that you should say that Dr K. When I was a fresher in the British university with the best medical school (so they claimed) the distinction between the medics and scientists stood out a mile. The scientists were more curious. Some of them clearly weren’t as clever as some of the medics but they were conspicuously more interested in “why?”.
Dr. K., How elegantly you phrase your response to my comment 🙂
Great quote I got from Peter at Hyperlipid but cannot attribute
Education teaches you what NOT to think. The failures become scientists.
Jonathan, here is another chap that is not medically well grounded that has figured out what the purpose of an LDL particle is:
Dave Feldman – ‘It’s About Energy, Not Cholesterol’
Glycated/oxidized LDL particles are part of the problem and there is a simple preventative strategy.
Jonathon,
The whole problem is that if we could rely on medical experts being scrupulously careful with the truth, and always ready to reassess their theories in the light of evidence, we could all relax and treat doctors as the only source of medical knowledge and advice – as we used to do.
I don’t know if you have a medical degree, but you yourself seem to be diverging from standard medical ideas.
Given the reality, that you even seem to half acknowledge, that medical science has become horribly distorted, what is the point in using phrases like “peddling books advice and much else and are not medically or scientifically well grounded” – that is just rhetoric.
With the exception of my time taking statins, and one infectious disease in childhood, I have enjoyed excellent health, so I don’t come here out of need, but rather because I am fascinated (in a rather grisly way) by the way modern institutional science is simply falling apart under the influence of external forces.
Off-topic, but readers may like to read Bill Bryson’s latest book: ‘The Body’. I found it an entertaining and informative read for those of us without a medical education.
Discounted in large UK supermarkets as well!
I thought it was great of him to summarise a very complicated topic, especially for us who do not have a biochemistry or medical background. I’ve sent to some of my friends to pique their interest in, and get them thinking about, the cholesterol myth
Great Vid, It provided me with a summary of the factors that give the endothelium a hard time. It was good to see the great Dr Malcolm in person.
What do we think of the profound medical intervention known as CRISPR?
Well, we know about sickle cell disease because of Dr Malcolm’s graphic description of what those vicious cells do to decimate the vessels of people who consequently know what they’re going to die of.
CRISPR to the rescue? Will it work?? Too much $$$ for the mass of those effected???
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/10/10/766765780/after-a-life-of-painful-sickle-cell-disease-a-patient-hopes-gene-editing-can-hel
JD,
A couple of years ago I was “in” the study of molecular biology and then I also dug into the CRISPR-CAS story and to my skeptical mind it all turned into a “wet dream” of the medical community.
For sure you can use this technology to inplant a desired gene through a virus carrier. The problem is that you don’t have an idea about the “collateral damage” you at the same time create in your genom. The talk about “precision” is part of the dream.
Yes, the outcome of this particular experiment is up in the air. It’s now an open ended waiting period for Victoria and all concerned. The goal is “safe and effective”. It could be years before effects and side effects are recognized.
That said, how easy might it have been for Victoria to look down the short painful road to the certain end of her life and decide on the CRISPR alternative and its own risks?
Also, without the brave Victorias to participate, little progress could possibly be made.
Who knows, we might even learn more about CVD.
Very interesting read and a good summary of the video. It does seem strange that on the one hand NHS are promoting the concept of patient choice and informed consent but on the other fail to give all the facts. In the case of statins what would happen if people start to sue for harm caused from side effects from taking them who feel they were not adequately informed? Possible the same as with vaccines, will government protect the companies against civil action? Also who is going to pay for the care of potentially many more people who may develop the possible side effects of diabetes or dementia to name only two? Given the team at Oxford do not release the original data on side effects to enable independent review who knows what the true rate of this could be. If I were the government I would take steps to facilitate that independent review sharpish!
Question?
Can anyone help with information re taking low dose aspirin in secondary prevention following cabg along with ppl which is nitric oxide inhibitor v taking low dose aspirin alone or avoiding low dose aspirin altogether? Thnx
To answer my own question, the evidence of potential benefits over risk of harm with Co administration of low dose aspirin and PPIs is unclear see
Int J Clin Pract. 2015 Oct;69(10):1088-111. doi: 10.1111/ijcp.12634. Epub 2015 Apr 6.
Should patients prescribed long-term low-dose aspirin receive proton pump inhibitors? A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Tran-Duy A1,2, Vanmolkot FH3, Joore MA1, Hoes AW2, Stehouwer CD3,4.
at 01:22:45 the transcript from Ivor’s show says: if you get the offspring of parents that got familial hypercholesterolemia, one of them has got the high cholesterol, the other one doesn’t, the risk of heart disease is the same. It’s got nothing to do with the cholesterol level.
Malcolm, this is not too surprising given how FH patients are usually found (based on family history), but could you please elaborate on the source of this idea?
Do FH specialists and FH associations/registries discuss/know about this? This seems like something that would give them reasons to treat more people, but also would make it hard to explain treatment goals for the siblings – one with high cholesterol, one with normal. (OK, this would make any treatment for cholesterol levels difficult to explain, which is why this fact seem particularly noteworthy).
Try this paper (abstract only I am afraid) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30396495
Thank you! I had saved the full paper back when you linked to it during its first 30 days public access. I dug through the paper and the references, and I think the closest I could find was this:
“In accordance, Sijbrand et al. found that many healthy people with FH, aged over 20 years and who came from a kindred without premature CVD, had a life expectancy similar to the general population [10].”
And then this one requires access: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0021915099003366
The mortality risk of kindreds with null alleles was similar to that of kindreds with other mutations.
So it talks about overall mortability, but I am unable to find the part about similar risk of CVD with and without FH.
Thanks Dr. K—-I enjoyed your discussion with Ivor—-I have followed Ivor for a few years and appreciate the engineer’s view point. I thought you both worked very well together, and I never get tired of Ivor’s Irish Brogue.
You may find this amusing:
Since each apoB-containing lipoprotein particle has one apoB molecule, “measuring apoB levels in fasting blood gives us a good approximation of the total number of atherogenic lipoproteins in the blood. The greater the number, the greater the risk of more cholesterol ending up in the artery wall and, in the long term, the greater the risk of a heart attack,” explains Dr. Jay Kenney, Nutrition Research Director at the Pritikin Longevity Center.
The etymology of the word doctor is from the Latin word to teach, and the video exemplifies your ability to make an extraordinarily complex subject understandable. I’ve followed the vast majority of your blogs, but everything came together, listening to you discussing causes with Ivor Cummins. A video to save.
Yes, a true doctor. A big thank you from me as well.
Having watched the video, could I hear the pro statin lobby announce “aha – if you take statins less lpa will be deposited in the plaque”
Presumably the answer is no, red blood cells construct in accordance with their design imprint. And,
Even if they contained less cholestoral, the reduction would make no difference to the size of the plaque.
(Joe public here getting thinking out loud and mixing it with the big guns.)
Jonathan Bacon-Sandwich “be careful who you get into bed with…” thread
I’ve got this quote among my paperwork from someone called Ivo Vegter:
“I do not believe that just because something appears in a peer-reviewed journal, it is a proven fact. I do not believe that only scientists are permitted to challenge other scientists, and then only if they’re scientists of the same kind. I do not believe that “scientific consensus” is evidence, even when it exists.”
But I do agree with yours comments on causes and cures.
Beautiful quote
David Bailey
“I also wonder how the gene for vitamin c got lost from our genome, and whether it would do any harm if it were put back!”.
I found this article/discussion on the Vitamin C Foundations’s forum – it’s called “Restoration of GULO functionality in humans? Here’s the link:
http://vitamincfoundation.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=14000
It provides and sources some speculation on the causes of the loss of our ability to produces vitamin C, and the current state of play about possibly restoring it. Which would involve funding for one thing.
Endothelial damage from hyperglycaemia, followed by repair as per Dr.K. results in CVD. High glucose prevents vitamin C uptake by endothelial cells.
Click to access UnifiedTheory1.pdf
A Unified Theory of Human Cardiovascular Disease Leading the Way to the Abolition of
This Disease as a Cause for Human Mortality Matthias Rath M.D. and Linus Pauling Ph.D.1 1
Every medical student should be required to watch this.
Dr. Jason Fung shows why your doctor is liable to be either corrupted by big pharma or is being misled by the prestigious journals he should not be so trusting of. Talks about Dr. Malcolm Kendrick in a good way https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=6&v=z6IO2DZjOkY
excellent article …. really sums it all up. Keep up the great work, Dr Kendrick. Just finished your latest book and it too is one that needs to get more exposure to expose the hypocrisy if the cholesterol con!
For the average person that relies on TV/newspapers for health information the biggest risk factor for getting CVD would be bad dietary advice from the medical profession. The food pyramid has been the largest factor for rising obesity and and associated health problems.
Main features of the high carb low fat recommendation:
– Reliance on grains and seeds for energy raises blood glucose
– Replacing saturated fat with omega-6 seed oils/margarines increases inflammation
– Reduce consumption of cholesterol rich foods like eggs, meat and cheese
-Increase consumption of fruits and vegetables
Regarding LDL particles, they do not contribute to CVD as explained by Dr.K., unless they are modified by glycation and oxidation. OxLDL+Macrophages = fatty streaks below the endothelium. Since switching to LCHF and ditching omega-6 I have noticed improvement in stair climbing ability. Perhaps the fatty streaks have been reabsorbed and blood flow increased.
Reducing glucose spikes will also decrease endothelial damage.
andy, Malcolm has said on several occasions, diet has not reliably been shown to cause CVD. No trial can be conducted to prove this, and so we are given the results of epidemiological studies, which strangely, always have to use relative risk figures to support their point.
AhNotes, the best diet study is the n=1 since we are all somewhat different in our reaction to diets.
If hyperglycaemia trashes the glycocalyx that would affect CVD. Glucose competes with C for uptake in endothelial cells resulting in symptoms of scurvy, cracks in endothelium. Omega-6 does something to mitochondria that increases ROS, result is inflammation. Fructose is good for producing fatty liver and visceral fat. Glucose glycates hemoglobin, high A1c is a risk factor. Inflammation and insulin resistance can be reversed with diet. Progression of CAC score is related to diet.
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/fda-names-16-brands-dog-food-linked-canine-heart-disease-n1025466 “The FDA has been investigating reports of canine heart disease in dogs eating certain pet foods which contained a high proportion of peas, lentils, other legume seeds or potatoes as main ingredients.”
Perhaps the FDA should investigate wheat, GMO corn/soy, and seed oils sold as food for humans.
I suspect the truth is that diet is only one of many factors. Interesting that they go over the same ground again and again but it fails to stick – look at the linear association with HbA1c
EPIC Norfolk
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC26599/
Two big New Zealand studies
http://sci-hub.tw/10.1111/j.1464-5491.2008.02581.x
Click to access 1144.full.pdf
Still going
https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1161/JAHA.112.000077
https://cardiab.biomedcentral.com/track/pdf/10.1186/1475-2840-12-164
Of course the mainstream ignores all this and blames meat and fat, because animals.
chris c: searching for the real killers
The killers left a dead body ie HbA1c. Counting dead bodies will not lead to the killers.
Actually HbA1c can be a somewhat wonky metric, some people are high or low glycators probably due to their blood cells living longer or shorter than average – genetic factors and several diseases, then there are people like me whose “normal” A1c is made of alternating highs and lows. Blood cells are initially glycated reversibly so brief spikes don;t register – other cells aren’t so lucky.
Some of the people whose A1c doesn’t track with their spot glucose readings have had fructosamine tested and that tracks better with their spot readings (as far as I know only vets use this in the UK). Look at waht causes fructosamine – glycation of proteins.
My belief remains that the low fat grain based diet including high levels of Omega 6 which is supposed to improve CVD risk actually makes it worse. If not for Ancel Keys CVD may have fallen further and faster than it has.
I made it to the 27th minute of viewing! It was as advertised, boring, but I say that with the very best of regards. It was boring due to me remembering past posts discussing these same ideas. As with most I tend to enjoy learning newer material. With that said, I’ll likely watch the remaining soon. I have a bad habit of forgetting.
I’ve read a couple books now on chelation therapy and one book on avoiding dairy products due to dairy having high calcium levels. The two chelation books are remarkable. The physician authors were according to them achieving incredible results with patients experiencing circulation issues. The patients that came to them were often near death due to cardiovascular disease. Limbs would be turning black due to a lack of circulation, breathing labored, moving around very difficult, etc. Chelation was a last resort. A common result with EDTA chelation therapy for removing lead and calcium was a near return to normal circulation. The doctors don’t know why it worked, and come up with theories in their books.
The doctor that wrote the avoid dairy products book had several interesting experiences with patients. One was up my alley. Some patients with GERD/ stomach issues, would see their symptoms improve after avoiding dairy products and eating more salt. The doctor is a big unrefined sea salt fan. The doctor theorizes that GERD is caused by a lack of stomach acid.
It had me thinking. Calcium is used for suppressing stomach acid production. Over the counter tablets can be bought for this. Possibly with less calcium in the body, more nitric oxide can be made which in turn improves circulation. It could be similar to what is seen with PPI medications. A bit of a stretch with that one by me, but it had me thinking I’ll read more.
To answer my own post, apparently calcium removal by chelation is not the answer for why it helps with heart disease and circulation – at least that is according to some further reading I ran across. Apparently EDTA chelation removes little calcium, even though it is advertised as removing lead and calcium. It is other metals that are removed, toxic metals believed to interrupt nitric oxide use in keeping the endothelium healthy.
Just read the summary by Jerome Burnes. What a very apt description of you Dr K: Sherlock or Poiroit – nice one. I found the summary excellent, and I speak from the point of view of a person who doesn’t have a great understanding of medical things. I have to confess that sometimes even in your blogs, I skip the technical bits to get to the denouement. I know others understand and comment intelligently so I don’t feel too guilty. I understand the necessary. Now for the podcast….
Malcolm
You comment somewhere here that medical training tends to stomp on curiosity. I think that is true for quite a lot of teaching, since absence of curiosity seems to be a feature of quite a lot of pupils in the widest sense. As for the idea that only doctors know, don’t make me laugh.
To All,
You don’t have to watch the podcast, you can read the interview with Dr. Kendrick here:
Click to access Dr.-Malcolm-Kendrick-and-the-True-Causes-of-Heart-Disease.pdf
The pdf is time stamped so you can use this link to get an index:
https://thefatemperor.com/ep40-dr-malcolm-kendrick-the-true-causes-of-heart-disease-are-not-what-you-think/
Philip Thackray
An article on lead exposure in children: https://phys.org/news/2019-10-topsoil-key-harbinger-exposure-children.html
Re: Cholesterol is innocent. How the real killers were tracked down
By Jerome Burne
Read it many times. The real killers damaged the endothelium but are still on the loose. There are a couple of suspects. Cholesterol has been proven innocent and should not be called “bad cholesterol” any more. Back to the chase.
My first thought was that Jerome had jumped the starting gun.
At times he can be very bright . . .
. . . and at others less so.
The great cholesterol and statin con- By Dr. Aseem Malhotra. E.g. – Sir Norman Lamb MP made calls for a full investigation into cholesterol lowering statin drugs. https://www.europeanscientist.com/en/features/do-statins-really-work-who-benefits-who-has-the-power-to-cover-up-the-side-effects/
A bit of a ramble but much going on vascular health wise in the neighborhood. A neighbor was run to the hospital this evening. His symptoms seem to be indicating that he is having a stroke. Hoping all goes well with him. He’s a youngish attorney, in his middle 50s, that i know was recently involved in winning back money from Bernie Madoff and his scam, or something along those lines. I always felt poorly for the attorney as he was treated for prostate cancer the last couple of years. His original doctor had him believing he wasn’t going to survive for much longer. Treatment after treatment was needed. Another doctor in the neighborhood suggested that the attorney get a second opinion. As a result a second opinion was obtained and that opinion was that nothing was wrong. No more prostate treatment was needed the neighbor was told. So he took the second doctors advice. I’m hoping the prolonged cancer treatment didn’t lead to tonights possible stroke.
Former community president had a stroke a few months ago. He’s been in rehab learning how to speak again. Believe he is coming home soon.
A cardiologist lives in the neighborhood. He’s old school I guess as he tells others in the neighborhood that exercise does not help the heart. No studies have found exercise beneficial for the heart he says. Rest is most important. He’s originally from China. Well, one of his neighbors has been suffering from heart chest pains. The neighbor has been seeing the cardiologist for treatment. So far no luck. The heart pains continue I’ve been told. Reading about chelation therapy I’ve come across several accounts of it helping patients with angina. Was thinking I might have to bring this up with him at some point. I can only imagine though the cardiologist’s response to such an idea. Bu! Maybe I’ll see about sending him this video.
Last week I visited my cousin, same age as I (71), who was recovering from a stroke, then had lunch with a couple of people who related stories of people they knew who’d had strokes in fortuitous circumstances where they could get immediate treatment — one while having physiotherapy in hospital after a hip operation, and the other while in the consulting room seeing her cardiologist about another matter.
Strokes make me nervous. I’d rather drop dead of a heart attack than end up as a shambling stroke victim. As far as I know, heart attacks and strokes are closely related, so if your heart is healthy, there is little chance of you getting a stroke. Which is why I was quite concerned to read the following tweet by Prof Tim Noakes on 5 Set 2019:
“Biological mechanisms causing stroke and heart attack must be different. Shown by totally different incidence trajectories over past 120 years – stroke rates falling PROGRESSIVELY since 1900; heart attacks shooting up between 1920-1960’s, then falling. Can’t be same causation.”
Anyone have any comments on this?
Of course, strokes and heart attacks have different mechanisms, this is well known. Strokes can be ischaemic (blockage by a blood clot), or haemorrhagic (blood vessel in brain bursts). They can be caused by Atrial Fibrillation – blood clot forms in heart, travels to brain. The blood clot that causes ischaemic strokes, usually, forms on an artery in the neck, then breaks off and travels into the brain etc. etc. Stroke rates in japan were very high in the 1960s, been falling since, along with deaths from heart attacks – much smaller fall. Equally, I would not place a great deal of faith in (recorded) death rates – from anything – much before WW2. In the US, rate of deaths from CHD was 0 prior to 1948. Then they decided to use the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) system. Suddenly it shot up.
So, Tim Noakes is right, and wrong.
The reality is more complex than to say that strokes and heart attacks cannot have the same causation. In in a very large number of cases the underlying pathophysiology is exactly the same.
Dr. Malcolm Kendrick, stroke is a good topic to explore. My understanding is that CVD starts with damaged endothelium as you have explained. What I have discovered is that the endothelial glycocalyx has many functions including modulation of NO, coagulation factors and vascular permeability. Excess glucose can damage the glycocalyx and cell membrane proteins. One causal factor can result in different outcomes.
I agree with you Martin. We’ve had a few family members that developed memory issues for one reason or another. Being lost in your own mind is an absolutely horrible place to be. I hope I never find myself with that health issue.
Well, good news about the neighbor. The ER physicians did determine he had a stroke but it is something they refer to as a mini stroke. The neighbor is doing well now. He went to lunch with the guys today. Hopefully he receives some beneficial treatments. Mom is concerned about his wife. The wife is a former nurse who developed MD and now has great difficulty getting around. The attorney needs to stay as healthy and strong as possible so he can help his wife. About the only other health issue I know the attorney has is higher than typical BP. i’m seeing him Sunday for brunch and was thinking of suggestion some ideas such as sunbathing to help with that. Not to be negative but I likely will not get far with him though. He’s a vegan health nut since the prostate treatments.
A vegan health nut – who has suffered a stroke. Which, one would imagine, would make him re-think his diet. But I know this will not happen. Ideas are the most powerful parasite. Many/most people would, it often seems, rather die than change their mind. The main driver of a little issue that we are battling with in the UK at the moment.
Thank you for that reply, Dr Kendrick. Perhaps I should have looked at stroke.org before commenting:
“There are two types of stroke, hemorrhagic and ischemic. Hemorrhagic strokes are less common, in fact only 15 percent of all strokes are hemorrhagic, but they are responsible for about 40 percent of all stroke deaths. A hemorrhagic stroke is either a brain aneurysm burst or a weakened blood vessel leak.”
If my maths is correct, a hemorrhagic is approximately four times more deadly than a clot-related stroke, and thus would get greatly over-represented in any graph of stroke deaths, hence the discrepancy between heart and stroke death rates. If the incidence of strokes was captured, one would expect a much closer correlation.
Yes, but we don’t know much about stroke aetiology in the past. A stroke was a stroke, it is only recently that people having strokes had brain scans as standard. without a scan (or a post-mortem) there is no way of knowing if a stroke is ischaemic or haemorrhagic. The Japanese were, at one time, advised to increase fat intake to reduce the risk of stroke. They did, and the rate of stroke has fallen seven fold since the nineteen sixties. Cause and effect? Difficult to be certain. What is certain is that the average cholesterol in Japan went from 3.9mmol/l in the 1960sto 5.2mmoll/l in the 2000s, during which time CVD deaths fell eight fold.
Martin,
What does not make us, having suffered a severe MI, “nervous”?
My “philosophical/practical” standpoint is to use the broad brush with all that I have absorbed from all internet sources, not least from this blog.
Basically it is the “ALTERNATIVE” medical approach, with low-carb-food, exercise and supplements and to avoid all food and environmental contaminations if possible.
Well, Martin,
I “love the thick serious books” – where often a lot of well thought thoughts are to be found!
Now I have dug my teeth, for the second time, into the really great 16th century book by Michel de Montaigne; “Essais”. Here Montaigne dwells with his thoughts on many different subjects. One of these subjects I just happen to be at for the moment is how we can master the fear of our unavoidable fate: death. Interesting reading indeed!
To his opinion (and mine) if you get familiar to this fact about death you don’t fear it as much as if your are trying to neglect it and take the attitude that life is “forever”. I guess that this latter attitude is part of our present day society but not to more “natural” societies where Mexico perhaps could serve as an example.
Göran Sjöberg, a good way to get over fear of death is to pre-plan your own funeral, then one can get on with other matters.
Dr. Kendrick –
Indeed, it would be an uphill battle getting him to re-assess his diet and other health ideas I’m thinking. He’s not only a vegan nut, but an attorney that enjoys arguing, with a wife that was a traditional nurse. (He’s a nice guy overall)
Today I was asked to take the attorney to the hospital at the end of the month. I said sure. He’s having some scans done and will be taking valium to keep calm, and so will be unable to drive. I was joking to myself this could be one of the very few opportunity for me to mention new ideas for improving his health.
Reading Montaigne it now strikes me that he, 500 years ago, realized that the medical profession was about pure hypocrisy and the main interest was not to cure the patient but to secure the medical profit.
So nothing new under the sun!
I think that may be a touch harsh. Most doctors that I know are (or believe they are) trying to help their patients get better. They can often be rather arrogant and paternalistic – without being aware that they are. The main problem is, in my opinion, that they are extremely unwilling to challenge the authorities, or experts. The experts who, in turn, are very often manipulated by the pharmaceutical industry -often without any protest. This has become an increasing problem over the last twenty or thirty years. Those not within the healthcare ‘industry’ e.g. politicians, or journalists, are very unwilling to make any challenge to the status quo, preferring to believe that all is well. Senior doctors are still held in great esteem, and the idea that they may not be acting in the best interests of the public remains a taboo subject. No-one, in position of power, is willing to grasp the nettle of bias and, to be more blunt, corruption. In short, the average doctor is not corrupt, but the system has become almost irretrievably corrupted.
If it’s irretrievably corrupted, what’s a way out? Is there a way?
“My” doctor seems to have a much more open mind than many. It still took her a decade to realise I wasn’t killing myself with my “dangerous” low carb diet. I’ve turned her on to the likes of David Unwin and Richard Bernstein.
One of her colleagues, not so much. He is a stern believer in “Evidence Based Medicine”. To him a study of thirty genetically modified mice is “evidence”; what millions of people achieve is “just anecdotes”. You see his like in Twitter.
Thanks to the internet the Wisdom Of The Crowds currently reigns supreme backed by many doctors obviously including Malcolm. However this is leading to a backlash from The Anointed including banning and blocking and calls for the retraction of papers such as the recent studies on red meat and Darius Mozaffarian’s study on dairy products. Don’t agree with The Consensus (which IMO is religion – the Seventh Day Adventists). Increasing numbers of other studies also disagree with The Consensus but doctors are left to find these for themselves if they have the time and the inclination.
Malcolm,
basically I fully agree with your “position”; first we have the GPs who I think do their best for their patients (my own encounters have here usually been fruitful) , second we have the medical experts who are in a strong defense position for the medical konsensus – guardians! (I have had my own fights here) and finally we have the pharmathetical industry – the ultimate corrupt “experts” who shape the “rules” and are certainly not open for any “discussions” – they know!
Still it is interesting to read “medical skeptics”, as Montaigne, from earlier days. I guess you can find similar critical thoughts towards “medicine” even among the Greeks and possibly also among the Egyptians.
I think also that the greatest harm can also be done by those who are convinced they are above reproach. They do not adequately examine their own behaviour.
Malcolm
I am sill fascinated by this notion of corrupt medical establishment, but specifically excluding the average GP. Is this tO say that in certain echelons, NHS big wigs the pharmaceutical industry, people are influenced in their decision making by cash. I am naive but this does not seem likely to me.
The evidence that money is highly influential is, I believe, inarguable. GPs are not corrupt, because no-one is trying to corrupt them – other than by a few pens, and the occasional free lunch. A Key Opinion Leader can earn £100K in a week at a big international conference. Many have, many do. Does this have an effect? Of course it does.
‘…76 per cent of the studies that cast the drugs in a positive light were led by investigators that had direct financial ties to the companies producing the drugs. By contrast, only 49 per cent of the negative studies had lead investigators with a monetary tie to the drug companies in question.’ https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/health/study-raises-questions-about-bias-in-research-of-prescription-drugs/article33667452/
“the greatest harm can also be done by those who are convinced they are above reproach”
Which brings me to the presently topical sport of rugby and specifically the All Blacks who in their effort to engender teamwork & results, proactively seek out & snuff out ego before it manifests itself in the group. The team is the nucleus, there are no stars and success features strongly (Unlike the Man UTD “team” of superstars)
Is it impossible to bring that ethic in to the medical establishment while encouraging individual endeavour and flair ?
BMJ published today, more uncertainty about statin benefits – still conservative in its conclusion.
https://www.bmj.com/content/367/bmj.l5674
EXTRACT
“Studies have found that statin use can be associated with an increased risk of myopathy, rhabdomyolysis, diabetes, and haemorrhagic stroke. Although these adverse effects are rare, the prevalence of milder non-specific side effects is still debated, including whether these side effects are real or can be attributed to an expectation of harm—the nocebo effect. However, it has also been argued that sources of bias within published studies may be widespread. For example, the characteristics of those participating in trials may not be representative of real world patients, while studies reporting results that are favourable to the pharmaceutical industry may be more likely to be published and may under-report harms.”
Seems to be reading out of Dr Kendricks hymn book !
My impression is that the average man in the street regards statins as a miracle life-saver, and will be reluctant to report side-effects for fear the doctor will take him or her off statins.
“They must be good. The advertisements speak so highly of them.” as someone said about something.
Cohort study, which followed 52 thousand Norwegians for ten years – we found that the underlying assumptions regarding cholesterol in clinical guidelines for CVD prevention might be flawed:- cholesterol emerged as an overestimated risk factor in our study indicating that guideline information might be misleading. Among women, cholesterol had an inverse association with all‐cause mortality. Among men, the association of cholesterol with mortality followed a ‘U‐shaped’ pattern. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1365-2753.2011.01767.x
Dr. Malcolm,
Familial hypercholesterolemia:
Pravastatin given to FH children as early as possible prevents cardiovascular events through the next twenty years – compared to their untreated FH parents – due to reduced LDL.
https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/919974
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1816454
Can you pick this apart for us?
Regarding evidence-based medicine, Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman was asked why so many biomedical experimental results turn out to be not reproducible. His reply:
“The problem of reproducibility is that the samples are too small relative to the size of the effects that are measured. What happens when samples are small, is that people develop– Researchers develop very bad habits, and the bad habits are to protect themselves against finding nothing, they try many things, and then they report selectively and they fool themselves, and the result is reproducibility is low, it’s quite low in medical research. I don’t remember the statistics but they’re worse than psychology.” — https://fs.blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Mauboussin-Kahneman.pdf
An example he gave was a survey to determine American counties where kidney cancer was most prevalent. The most affected counties were mostly rural and mostly Republican. The problem was, the least affected counties were also mostly rural and mostly Republican. This result arises because they were the counties with the lowest population, so any fluctuations in cancer incidence, up or down, were magnified compared with the bigger counties.
I think that example was also in the book “The Power of Mathematical Thinking”.
Back to vaccinations…
We had Capital radio on today driving around. Capital radio is a commercial UK radio station, which means they have lots of adverts at which point my mind stops paying attention.
Annoyingly so today because they had a very strange – perhaps alarming – advert on. Not the usual daytime rubbish trying to sell you something. I picked up on (1) eradicating disease and (2) saving the lives of thousands of children…I started paying a bit more attention because it seemed very unusual compared to the usual banalities…and the payoff/punchline was that these worthwhile and noble and desirable objectives can be achieved by having all children vaccinated.
It could be that Big Pharma is on the propaganda warpath.
But, as always, there were no caveats/warnings and so on.
Does anyone know how advertising works? How do you get an advert – any advert – onto the radio, television and media in general?
For example, a car. I guess you need money. You’ll probably need to get it through the hierarchy and signed off by someone at the top of hierarchy of the manufacturers. You may need to consult and possibly hire an advertising agency. Then get things checked by legal experts. And then get the advert made and then submit it to some authority for approval before it gets sent forth into the world. I dunno.
I’m baffled that this advert made it into the public domain. How do you get an anti vaccine advert produced to provide a balance to this bit of vaccine propaganda?
I bet it wouldn’t be easy.
I bet getting high fat adverts made, high cholesterol adverts made, eat more meats made would be just as hard.
They don’t appear. Why not? For example, why doesn’t the meat industry start fighting back? Can’t be lack of money. At what point would a possible advert promoting meat get blocked?
Does this advert come into the same category as that terrible “Don’t die of ignorance” campaign at the beginning of the AIDS situation? Or, going back further, ones to encourage people to use handkerchiefs? And not spit – as a child I dreaded certain routes to school since the Pavement Oysters used to nauseate me. This I have always believed to be under the headiing of Public Health, which is government and ministry backed, I presume. So we are the ones who pay.
I think this is probably the case.
I am also surprised meat and eggs lobbies don’t fight back. Apart from suing Oprah when she talked about mad cow disease.
Charles Gale, I think it is simple to get an advertisement on a public broadcaster as long as the product has undoubted case with vaccines. They are after all, safe and effective. This iss well supported in the scientific world, since the science is settled, and those whacky anti-vaxxers spread only lies and mis-information. Those positions do seem to take on a different light according to https://youtu.be/6oLUz7gxN-Q. It’s a long video, but there are some interesting truths, (oops sorry, must be mis-information of course) that have been gleaned from the official US sources. Gary Ogden will be familiar with all of this.
Agreed, and what I dislike is the very contrived arguments that medical science takes on some subjects, in particular, the idea that while a vaccine gives a child great protection against a disease, it isn’t good enough on its own, because children who are not vaccinated will expose the vaccinated kids to so much infection it may overwhelm their vaccine protection.
Thus it is considered reasonable to blame the fact that vaccinated kids come down with disease on the fact that some other kids were not vaccinated! Indeed it is considered OK to mandate that kids are treated.
This is reminiscent of medical science’s explanation of the fact that people with more cholesterol (or LDL, whichever measurement is made) in their blood live slightly longer on average than those with less. The official explanation as I understand it is that low cholesterol can be a sign of some unspecified incipient disease, and that might skew the statistics the ‘wrong’ way.
meanwhile on BBC News heart attacks and strokes are correlated with air pollution. That’s going to be a tricky one to explain. Harvard will try to prove that pollution causes cholesterol. Oxford will explain that the pollution is actually caused by cows and only affects people who eat meat . . .
It’s already gone from their internet psges but here’s their take on vaccines
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-50096080
Despite the system insisting that I want to reply to AhNotepad, this is to chris c.
BBC Wales would have impressed me a little more if they had bothered to mention the main diagnostic symptom of Mumps. The painfully swollen salivary glands (and other glands, which is why the menfolk don’t want to get it, poor dears) I remember it well. My parents stood me in a good light and looked at my face with a critical eye, and laughed – it’s mumps. They knew I was in for a hungry few days, since I hated both jelly and custard. The question in school among the kids was always “left, right or both” with kudos to the boths.
Seriously, the best way of avoiding mumps as an adult is to have it as a child.
“The painfully swollen salivary glands (and other glands, which is why the menfolk don’t want to get it, poor dears) “
That clears up something that always bothered me. When I got mumps as a child our family doctor insisted he would have to examine my genitals. It was one of my least favourite experiences as a youngster to lie naked on my back while the doctor flipped my little nubbin this way and that, even with my mother watching. I always thought the guy was a pedo, but maybe he wasn’t. He was still pretty creepy, though. I hated him.
That seems to be a known but ignored feature of the vaccine – when it fails it will be in later life when mumps can be much worse. I remember mumps as being pretty unpleasant but I was only 5 and it stayed in my neck
I had no idea about the orchitis feature of the mumps vaccine: I am thinking back to the 1950’s, when there was no vaccine. The point is that if you had mumps as a child, boy or girl, it stayed in the neck. It was the unlucky fathers who hadn’t had mumps who were in danger – and teenage boys as well I believe. This was one of the reasons for them makin a vaccine, though if it can cause the effect they are trying to protect against, what advantage? I don’t seem to remember it being a very strongly contagious disease – nowhere near as bad as measles or chickenpox. Just good for a couple of weeks off school.
Chris c, I suppose the people that write the stuff for the BBC believe what they write is the whole truth. IMO they are mis-informed. Stabbing people with needle and administering a toxic solution is not the best way of protecting people from disease. If the measles doesn’t get you, the chronic doses of aluminium will, and probably auto-immune inflictions too.
I have written to the BBC about the bias and the misrepresentation of facts, but they still trot out the corporate narrative.
Tripped across this – one of the better articles with quotes from Dr Kendrick & Alheem Musatra.
https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/life/2019-10-21-marika-sboros-opinions-inflamed-over-the-cause-of-heart-disease/
Much better than this which gives the last say on any observations to BHF
https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/life/health/lifesaver-or-a-needless-risk-experts-split-in-statins-debate-37711526.html
Well, I don’t think the “Business Live” article is perfect.
I suppose I don’t like the sense that this is primarily a matter of displacing one theory with another. In the first instance, surely this is a question of debunking the old theory because it was based on ignoring ‘paradoxes’, ignoring studies that came to the ‘wrong’ result, and magnifying slight differences using statistical trickery.
Obviously Malcolm does that superbly in his books, but there was scant mention of all that in the article
I suppose the new theory may or may not be right, but it is beyond question that the old theory – plus most of the advice that went with it – is useless.
David Bailey, another theory for CVD and why food choices matter
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5390330/
Gut Microbiota in Cardiovascular Health and Disease
David Bailey agreed. Tho to me it was a vast improvement on any media articles that I had come across. The tone was different. The article was very much weighted on the side of the science – good science as witnessed by non money driven realists like Dr K.
Unicef – War on Disease
Further to my previous comment about an advert being run on radio promoting vaccinations to eradicate disease and save the children…
…I’ve been keeping my ears open for this advert and I’ve heard it quite a few times today and I can now advise it’s Unicef and their war on disease.
For those who want more info, here’s a link to their website:
https://www.unicef.org.uk/war-on-disease/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI_86uxuey5QIVCbrtCh3SaQP9EAAYASAAEgIwT_D_BwE
I haven’t browsed the site yet, but my initial thoughts are do Unicef fund everything themselves, such as the advertising campaign?
As they are promoting vaccines, surely Big Pharma must be involved somewhere, somehow?
I’m sure the radio advert never mentioned Big Pharma – is there any obligation to declare a conflict of interest (or an equivalent) in these circumstances?
Charles Gale, i feel the attitude of waging “war” on diseases is an example of misplaced hubris. Treating diseases with medicines can be effective, when the approach is holistic. The approach of the modern western system seems piecemeal in many cases, and designed to increase profits before any benefits for patients.
As for vaccines, I wouldn’t trust them, and I think with good reason since the manufacturers consider it unethical to conduct an inert placebo safety study, and cannot provide any reference for such a study. They also need a no-liability structure to be able to peddle their products, AND a mandated vaccination program.
Hi,
Thanks for providing this very valuable information, I was wondering if you had seen a program/documentary currently screening on Netflix called ‘The Game Changers’, basically it’s a film promoting the benefits of being eating a Vegan diet, but the claims it makes towards CVD and veins and arteries is what alerted me to look into this further.
i would welcome your opinion on the matter.
Their is also a website https://gamechangersmovie.com/ backing up the program.
Regards
Alan P Jones.
On Wed, Oct 9, 2019 at 2:53 PM Dr. Malcolm Kendrick wrote:
> Dr. Malcolm Kendrick posted: “9th October 2019 But not by me Following a > podcast by Ivor Cummings, where I bored him for an hour and a half on what > causes CVD*, a journalist that I know well, Jerome Burne, had a go at > summarising the ‘thrombogenic’ hypothesis. I thought this was” >
I found Jermome Burne’s article very digestible. I’m not a medic or a scientist but have followed Dr K for a good few years now. Sometimes I will admit that I am slightly bamboozled by the science, so I found this summary very useful and helpful.
As the comments show, there is plenty of room for robust interrogation but for the average idiot who finds this topic challenging at the best of times, it was most welcome!
Is it possible that mainstream medicine got cholesterol all wrong? That not only does cholesterol have no connection to heart disease, but that high cholesterol is actually a good thing? Yes, it’s more than possible — here I’ll show some evidence that higher cholesterol is associated with longer life. https://medium.com/the-mission/higher-cholesterol-is-associated-with-longer-life-b4090f28d96e
Randall
Thanks for that link
Is it possible he is more than slightly over the top?
Click on all the links to the studies he lists
Excellent link – well researched. Here’s another link that will back up :-
https://www.hippocraticpost.com/lifestyle/queens-nutrition-scientists-selected-for-major-international-research-projects/?
mmec7: interesting topic about Q. Apparently this compound is produced by bacteria. Noticed that seedlings did not thrive in a sterile growth medium but grew rapidly when planted in soil. Our gut bacteria probably do the the same thing.
Randall, higher LDL-C means that there are more LDL particles that can deliver nutrients to cells that need them which is a good thing. Paradigm shift about cholesterol required by mainstream medicine.
I found this article quit good about how “Google Manipulates Search Suggestions To Promote Pharma, Discredit Natural Health”
https://tinyurl.com/Google-Manipulates-Searches
The Project Veritas video at the end was quite telling and worth watching!
In earlier comments, some folks discussed vitamin C and others discussed gut biome.
Interesting study suggesting vitamin D levels impact gut biome and may provide benefits for people with inflammatory intestinal issues.
“Skin Exposure to Narrow Band Ultraviolet (UVB) Light Modulates the Human Intestinal Microbiome”
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2019.02410/full
Explanation how PUFAS cause heart disease and everything else:
Chris A. Knobbe – Omega-6 Apocalypse: From Heart Disease to Cancer and Macular Degeneration – AHS19
What appals me is how we were all pummelled and forced to forsake saturated fats and to take up PUFAs, as they were supposed to be ‘heart healthy’.
Frederica Huxley, brilliant marketing that started in 1911 and continues today.
https://www.mazola.com/products/corn-oil.aspx
https://www.lipidjournal.com/article/S1933-2874(14)00344-4/fulltext
Conclusion
The results of this study demonstrated that consumption of CO, as part of a weight-maintenance, low-SFA, and low-cholesterol diet, by men and women with hypercholesterolemia, resulted in significantly larger reductions in total-C, LDL-C, and non–HDL-C compared with EVOO.
Disclosure: All authors received funding from ACH Food Companies, Inc. (Oakbrook, IL) and PepsiCo Inc. (Purchase, NY).
ACH Food Companies, Inc. bought most of the brands of Unilever in 2002 including Mazola
Yes, Andy!
This is a great lecture about why we should avoid vegetable oils and especially the partially saturated ones. My most important decision taken 20 years ago.
Göran, are you talking about partially hydrogenated oils? They would mostly be fats, i.e. hard at room temperature. There was a lot of worry about them being trans fats. However, Pete at hyperlipid had a post about they were not as bad as plain linoleic acid.
Personally, I am fine with butter and olive oil, even if both contain some PUFA. I tried Ghee, palm oil, coconut oil and fully hydrogenated coconut oil but I just don’t care for the taste or non-taste.
Eric, you are right.
My understanding of lipid chemistry is by necessity limited (though having read a couple of books dedicated to this subject) taking the complexity, especially in the metabolic sense, into consideration. Basically all unsaturated fats are more chemically reactive than the saturated ones which for this very reason are the more “innocent” ones (they are just ‘standard fuel’). The more unsaturated, as the PUFAs, the more biologically active they seem to be – the long chained EPA and DHA are here extremely unsaturated but for “whatever reason” considered very beneficial for our metabolism. You can wonder forever about why long chained omega-3 PUFAs should be more attractive than the omega-6 but this seems to be the “consensus” (which by definition is not “science”).
Again, it is easy to get overwhelmed by the complexity involved in the lipid metabolism and i think it is a proper stand not to turn categorical. Still, I decided 20 years ago after my serious MI “never to touch margarine” (my first rule!). In my case this seems to have worked out surprisingly well. Trans fats seem to take the blame. BTW – trans fats can also turn controversial when you dig deep enough into them.
Sorry for off topic again, but there isn’t a permanent news thread for this kind of thing:
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/nov/01/sharp-80-rise-in-liver-cancer-deaths-in-uk
This keeps screeming statins at me. Onset is a little too early, so some of this may be due to fish-n-chips being fried in heart-healthy vegetable oil.
Hi Eric,
While waiting for the experts to sort this out, one could reduce fructose consumption.
https://www.healio.com/hepatology/steatohepatitis-metabolic-liver-disease/news/online/%7Be55ae231-ad6e-400e-ae00-d44c8a78ac4e%7D/fatty-liver-imposes-91-higher-risk-for-cancer
“Lastly, Allen showed that when compared with controls with obesity but without NAFLD, the NAFLD cohort carried nearly all the incident cancer risk.”
Click to access nrgastro.2010.41.pdf
“We postulate that excessive dietary fructose consumption may underlie the development of NAFLD and the metabolic syndrome.”
From the second paper, as expected:
“Furthermore, we postulate that NAFLD and alcoholic fatty liver disease share the same pathogenesis.”
Phil
I’ve been chuckling of late, as I found the book that discusses the idea of taking copper to stop heart attacks! Back in the 90s in America this is a common mentioned item. I’d see the mention in magazines. A vet, turned doctor wrote about how he had been able to stop turkeys from having heart attacks by feeding them the mineral copper. He suggests the same treatment could do similar for humans. The books cover claims a lot of books sold, 100s of millions. I hope there weren’t to many Americans taking large amounts of copper after reading the book. Well, I don’t know what dosage is suggested by the author yet but I know from my reading that something like taking 10mg of copper is a good way to make one vomit. Thankfully my used book’s cover is clean.
Heard sad news the other day. A talented nephew is experiencing some kind of stomach discomfort. His University grades are suffering and as a result he is dropping out of school. He did very well in HS, to the point that he won a large scholarship paying for most of his University schooling. It’s surprising.
Having suffered from an IBD condition, that has been a big fear or mine, that others in the family could develop severe stomach problems. Heart health wise, I’ve often thought this idea of food allergies being more common than most believe and causing health issues a possible problem for vascular issues. It likely effects healing. Of course food allergies is very unpopular, with the public and with the food industry, which I don’t blame them.
Malcolm, digging through the rest of this very interesting podcast with Ivor, this quote of yours also drew my attention:
“And then you start looking at blood clotting factors. It’s actually a blood clotting factor problem, because without going into all of the stuff, the LDL receptor itself, which is the thing that takes
LDL out of circulation, and if you got less of them, that’s called familial hypercholesterolemia in its simplest form. The LDL
receptor itself removes blood clotting factors from the bloodstream as well, including factor VIII. So you can even easily explain from a hypercholesterolemia on the basis of blood
clotting because it doesn’t actually fit with the cholesterol hypothesis.”
I’ve heard elsewhere the idea that LDL receptor activity is highly relevant for CVD, so in the end, does it just all go back to the same paradoxical idea, discussed on this blog a few times, that lower LDL matters, but in strange kind of way that “it matters how it gets lowered …”? According to this logic, PCSK9 (for example) could be quite helpful in FH then, unless there are of course other much better ways to deal with blood clotting factors?
I sent an article in the Mail passed to me saying that an injection could replace statins to lower cholesterol. What is your opinion and does it need lowering
Sent from my iPhone
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A quibble. Not convinced that brain needs glucose. Check out ketogenic diet.
I believe that brain absolutely needs glucose which is why the body makes a small amount even in ketosis.