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| Healthy cholesterol-reducing sterols found to damage heart cells
Cholesterol is said to cause heart disease, and some would have us believe that cholesterol reduction is always beneficial. Plant compounds called 'sterols' can reduce cholesterol levels by inhibiting the absorption of cholesterol from the gut. Are sterols healthy though? A recent study found that exposing heart cells to sterols effectively poisions them. This study serves to remind us that the important thing is not the impact a food or drug has on cholesterol levels, but health. For more on this, click this link. Overall blood sugar levels found to be a food predictor of risk of death For the best health, I believe in maintaining blood sugar levels within relatively narrow parameters. Spikes of blood sugar can induce disease-causing processes including inflammation and 'oxidative' damage. Relatively high levels of blood sugar can predispose to things likes weight gain, heart disease and type 2 diabetes in the long term. Recent evidence suggests that measures of blood sugar control over the medium term (in the form of the HbA1c or 'glycosylated haemoglobin' test) is a good predictor of risk of death. For more on this, and how best to keep sugar levels under control, click this link. BMJ editorial reminds us of the importance of us having access to all the evidence Medical practice and health policy is often set on the basis of reviews of the evidence. the problem is, sometimes, not all of the evidence has been used in such reviews, because studies may not have been published.The practice of favouring 'positive' studies (known a 'publication bias') can give us a skewed sense of the benefits and risks of a drug. This week, the BMJ draws our attention to this as it plans to publish an issue dedicated to more complete assessement of medical evidence. For more on this, click this link. This week's podcast This week's podcast includes a discussion of all this week's blog posts. To go to the podcast, click this link. If you have a question you'd like addressed on the podcast, please email me on john@drbriffa.com. Dr John Briffa www.drbriffa.com | | |
