Ready to reverse your chronic disease? Dr. Ford and the Prevmed staff are ready to serve you no matter where you’re located. Schedule a consult here:prevmedhealth.com/
I have gone 95% carnivore and 5% keto with IF 18/6. Every number in my body is good and have been off all meds for 5 months now. at 65 I was on 9 medications a day. Statin was the first thing I got rid of. But also cutting out sugars and processed foods and 98% of carbs and quit smoking so felt statins were not needed anymore. I feel great.
Dear Dr. Brewer, I cannot thank you enough for the valuable information that you are presenting in this channel Moreover you are speaking slowly and clearly so that any one can understand your presentations God bless you and kind regards from the other side of the globe
Great information about inflammation. It is also most making me reconsider my stance on statins. My concerns with this info is: 1) who paid for the study 2) I would feel more confident in the results if it was disclosed how many people per 1,000 it helped vs. just a percentage. For instance - if 5 people in the the control group had a cardiac event and 4 people in the statins group did, the pharmacy companies would say "success" - they reduced cardiac events by 20%. It reality it reduced it by 1 person in a thousand. Relative statistics are not as telling as absolute stats.
I am so grateful for having found your channel, as you answer my questions far better than does my cardiologist or PCP. I had an acute MI on 1/3/2022 with an LDL of only 49, never having taken statins. I’m now on Crestor, and this video lends me comfort as to the reasons for that and the benefits it will provide.
Glad you enjoyed it! Join Our Live Broadcast Every Wednesday! @11am EST. For more information please visit our website prevmedhealth.com/ & www.jubilee.health/. To learn more watch our videos on RU-vid ru-vid.com/show-UCmoEsq6a6ePXxgZeA4CVrUw
Excellent video Dr. Brewer & the one that I have been waiting for. Have not read through the article yet but am planning on giving a copy of it to my Cardiologist on my next OV. At present, I am taking Lipitor and had been on 40mg/day. However, I have recently started taking it every other day as I feel that 40mg/day is a very high dosage, especially since I have been on it for 5 years now. Watching your channel has really schooled me about the problems associated with CVI. I am hoping that my Doc will agree to putting me on a low dosage of Crestor. We shall see? Thanks for all that you are doing in this most important area of prevention!
Dr Brewer, after i have taken a daily dose of 2.5mg of crestor and aspirin for the last 2 weeks my fasting blood glucose raised to105 from 92, i have been on a low carb diet for the last 4 months, prior to taking crestor i almost monitor my sugar levels on a daily basis , it has been always 87 to 95 range in the last 20 years. Recently i have done a stress test and was positive for ischemia in leads v5 and v6(st segement depression) . I'm 50 years old male, moderately active, never somked or drunk, normal lipid profile(but Hdl level on the lower side), HS CRP 1.1, blood pressure 110/75 , resting heart beat 65 to 75, weight 70kg, BMI 23. I stopped taking crestor as of yesterday and will check sugar levels in the coming days. Update As of today, after 5 days of discontinuing Crestor my fasting blood glucose is back to normal value of 93. I will try taking crestor 2.5 mg for a week again and see if it will influence my blood glucose
I'm relieved to see your videos. I have FH and was put on rosuvastatin and get so much criticism for taking it. I'm wondering if you have a video on diet (for control of inflammation and glucose regulation.) I was also almost 10 lbs. and birth and my mother was always very slender, but she said she had bad episodes of hypoglycemia when she was pregnant with me.
You're Very Welcome! Join Our Live Broadcast Every Wednesday! @11am EST. For more information please visit our websites prevmedhealth.com/ & www.jubilee.health/. To learn more watch our videos on RU-vid ru-vid.com/show-UCmoEsq6a6ePXxgZeA4CVrUw
Thanks for another great video. I wanted to jump in here with my recent success story that doesn’t involve statins. I’ve been taking 2g of niacin, along with some Bergamot for a couple of months now. I had bloodwork last week and two days before, I tried to bio-hack my bloodwork by eating bacon & eggs, avocado, grass-fed ribeye, hamburger peanut butter and no sugar or carbs. My bloodwork results: Total Cholesterol: 157, down from 177. HDL 52, up from 45. LDL-C 73, down from 130 Trigs: 147, up from 86. I’m extremely happy that my LDL-C dropped so dramatically without the use of statins and I guess that I’ll accept the Trigs almost doubling due to the large amount of good fat that I ate two days before the blood draw. I didn’t have my hs-Crp or my homocysteine checked, but they have always been low. Have I accidentally discovered something that works for me?
Why would you want to change your diet two days before taking a lipid test? You want accurate data that goes with your overall lifestyle, not two days every several months for whatever short-term changes in your blood results occurred. It doesn't make sense at all.
Thanks again for all this information. I was recently put on Lipitor 40mg a day for known CAD and a new murmur over the mitral valve. I would like to switch to Crestor but was informed that the difference in its anti inflammatory properties are minimal.
My doctor wanted to put me on atorvastatin today. As a result of watching your videos, this and others, I told him that I wanted Crestor. I mentioned the Jupiter study finding that rosuvatstatin reduces heart attack and stroke risk by 50% in people with normal cholesterol and elevated CRP. I told him that it was more effective than atorvastatin and that I wanted to get that benefit. Thanks.
Question: Those reduction percentage figures of statin on his-CRP values, is that a relative reduction or an absolute reduction? As you’re likely aware, statin drug claims in regards to risk reduction of heart attack is usually reported as relative vs actual risk numbers because it looks more impressive. Thanks Dr B
One problem I'm running into is I have made huge progress reducing insulin levels but not hemoglobin A1C. During the past 1/2 year I have reduced fasting insulin from 12.7 to 5.9. The homeostatic insulin resistance calculation was reduced from 2.77 to 1.30. But A1C is staying about the same at 5.8 which is not an optimal figure.
Good video Doc.. I'll share this with my cardio doc when i see her next.. A question or 2 tho .. Co q10 i see people talking about, what's the recommended dose with Crestor 5mg 3 times a week, and should it only be taken on those 3 rosu/crestor day's .. Thanks.. V, from the U.K. 😁
So doctor, my doctor has prescribed 80 mg of Atorvastatin for reducing my cholesterol (which cholesterol by the way; VLDL, LDL, or HDL?). I had a small,stroke, not impaired so I lucked out! I was already on a Ketogenic diet, but now have eliminated all,refined grains. All my fiber now comes from vegetables and some small berries. Y7 years ago I was 214 lbs, over three years I lost 60 lbs of fat, to a present weight of 155, where I have been ever since. I follow Time restricted eating daily, usually 20/4 hours. Question; Will Crestor work for me? I am afraid of Atorvastatin (Lipitor). Thanks Dr! Sorry for any typos!
During the Vietnam war, around 1970, my brother, a chemist, had been drafted into the Army and later been assigned to work in a lab at Walter Reade hospital in Washington, D.C. This lab was working on malaria research. Their big project: American soldiers in South Vietnam had too high rates of malaria if the prophylactic chloroquine/primaquine tablets were effective. Were the soldiers actually taking the anti-malarial medication or was the medication ineffective against the falciparum strain of malaria in Vietnam ("Jungle fever"). The lab research was showing that the pills weren't very effective in preventing malaria and indicating the soldiers over there were taking the pills. My question is, what if those statin drugs you promote aren't effective against certain types of heart disease, "Jungle fever" types of CV disease? An aside: Tu Youyou, a Red Chinese scientist was in 1972 working on an effective malaria treatment, which was taking a toll on North Vietnamese and Chinese soldiers as well as American soldiers in Vietnam. She won the 2015 Nobel Prize for isolating Artemisinin from the sweet wormwood herb. Artemisinin derivatives are still the treatment of choice now for malaria. So that Army lab director almost 50 years ago was right in thinking successful research on a cure for malaria was a great project. Only, unlike Tu Youyou, he couldn't read ancient Chinese medical texts similar in function to Bald's Leechbook, texts that identified sweet wormwood as a folk medicine cure for malaria.
There is no scientific doubt about the efficacy of statins in lowering heart attacks and deaths given the many studies. The one significant issue is related to side effects of statins which can be managed for most people if they are willing to change their lifestyle (see many other Dr. Brewer videos here on that aspect).
Normally statins are taken at night for cholesterol lowering. For anti inflammatory purposes can they be taken at any time of day? Also what dosing regime would you recommend using Atorvastatin? I have a scrip for 40mg tablets which at present I am not using because of the controversy as to the efficacy of cholesterol lowering in CAD.
I have the 5mg rosuvastatin tab. and try to cut them with a pill cutter so I have 2.5 to take twice a week one side is not two bad but the other side crumbles. what can i do?
How good is Rousvastatin at raising HDL ? When I was taking my wife's 30-40 mg Atorvastin my HDL was almost equal to my LDL. Total C was somewhere around 100 with LDL at 48 and HDL 42.....I liked that, but my liver showed a bit of inflammation so I am back on the Pravastatin.
An LDL level of 48 is too low in my estimation. A better # would be about 70. Remember that your body requires cholesterol for lots of things. Makes me wonder if you should even be on a statin that strong or at all.
Thank you for your interest? It's us that should be thanking you for your dedication to getting the correct information out to the wider public ! So ............ thank-you :) I'm currently on Simvastatin 40mg DAILY myself and purely because of it's association with insulin resistance (I'm T2D but just about controlling it with keto/exercise) I'm going to ask to change to Resouvastatin, since my GP will probably be reticent to prescribe Pitavastatin on our free NHS in the UK. Gradually reducing the dose to as minimal as possible. Pair it up with some niacin bought myself should help matters.
Sir I am watching your video regularly. First of all thanks for sharing the valuable information. Sir what is your opinion on using mild steroid with trypsin, chymotrypsin along with statins, intermittent fasting, zero oil fibrous diet along with ayurveda eg arjuna bark extract and yoga eg pranayam, Sudarshan kriya, Isha kriya. Along with mild exercise like walking 40 minutes a day or cycling. Please share your thoughts. I am from pharmacy background.
Dr Brewer, What do you find to be the best resource (preferably in text format) for lifestyle tweaks/recommendations to protect yourself against heart attack and stroke? My doc wants me on 40 mg of Atorvastatin and baby aspirin, but I want to make sure I am covering my lifestyle bases first.
That's such a simple question. It amazes me, though. I just realized I don't know of a single print source, a definitive source on this. Part of the reason is that diet's so important. & as a culture, we are really confused about diet.
I'll take a stab at this. Look into Paul Jaminet. He identified probably the most comprehensive "list", also Peter Attia (Reverse engineering longevity video). To summarize: Diet - keep blood sugar as even as possible (low carb & low glycemic carb), adequate protein and finally sufficient fat to fulfill caloric needs. Test to ID micronutrient deficiency. Focus on body composition, not weight, preserve muscle. (I personally would add intermittent fasting to this). Exercise - mix of cardio, HIIT and weights, don't go crazy - marathons are way overdoing it. Sleep - 7-8 hours per day - ensure dark, quiet, cool be aware of pathologies like apnea. Avoid blue light within 2 hours of bed time, likewise avoid exposure to "faces" (TV). Keep to a regular schedule. Sun - in morning for circadian rhythm, at noon for Vit D and NO and other sun mediated chemical reactions in the skin. Stress- minimize sense of distress to outside events - conversely maximize mental resilience (even stuff like cold showers, special breathing or your favorite music works here) distress = cortisol = inhibited healing. Malcolm Kendrick believes this should be #1 ahead of diet.
My lifestyle now. 1. Intermittent fasting 18/6 OMAD 2x a week 2. Exercise fasted state bike.everyday 3. Steam Sauna after exercise 4x a week 4. Low carb diet 50grams or less gross carbs Keto 5. 5mg crestor MWF 6. Niacin 1500mg 7. B complex 8 Vit D and K2 ZINC
Thank You For Sharing That! Join Our Live Broadcast Every Wednesday! @11am EST. For more information please visit our website prevmedhealth.com/ & www.jubilee.health/. To learn more watch our videos on RU-vid ru-vid.com/show-UCmoEsq6a6ePXxgZeA4CVrUw
That’s a great question. You’re looking to see if your immune system is attacking your plaque. Most heart attacks & strokes are really from this process. I have a complete course on CV Inflammation. prevmedheartrisk.com/digital-products?olsPage=products%2Fcardiovascular-inflammation-course-crd-nfl-crs1
@@PrevMedHealth Hi, Dr. Brewer. Based on what you've said, a well regulated immune system may be the key? I'm thinking, among other things, about the importance of having good levels of vitamin D. Thanks for sharing your knowledge!
By watching your channel, I now understand that both excess glucose and excess insulin cause damage to the arterial endothelium, allowing particles to enter the intima layer, precipitating the inflammatory processes. However, I do not understand the biochemical interaction(s) that causes either glucose or insulin to make a crack or hole in the endothelium in the first place. Can you please explain?
Research just out in Nature magazine indicates it may not be “cracks or holes”, but instead transport across intima cells. See my upcoming video on this.
I had actually been doing a lot of fasting during the last three months of 2018 and for the first time in a long time my A1c jump 3/10ths of a point over the 90 day period. I had totally skipped ALL holiday meals as I had been home bound from a surgery and resulting inflammations a week out from the shoulder surgery. The other day I saw my fasting glucose levels were higher than they had been in a long while as well. Could the low dose of Rosuvastatin raise that? That is the only thing that has changed (apart form more frequent 16/8 fastings) as I started it in October of last year. I had started the med in at about 30 days into that 90 day period.
@@PrevMedHealth Oh ok! Yes I lost weight despite literally not being able, or too afraid of falling, to do much of anything. at during that time frame. I lost about 10 pounds from 227 to 217. I had completely torn away the supraspinatus tendon from my humerus. Surgeon considered it "severe" damage. Had two other smaller tears.I had 5 weeks of a severe gout attack they said was probably in response to my surgery it occurred less than a week after the surgery.. (I also attribute it to my fasting as well as that could trigger it.) Got through 16 weeks of PT and considered about 85% recovered, but still not released and still improving even though he said I would be darn lucky to get full overhead use again. He's proud of my progress. . I have lost another ten pounds since second week of March, am near 207 using a lot of fasting and lower carbs. I can't do a lot of protein as I get gout even with low side of normal uric acid. I have a lot of inflammation issues it seems. I want to get to 185 pounds, I am 6'1''. That is the ideal weight, according to the heart people, for my frame and age 52. but I figure that stubborn nemesis called the Plateau will hit somewhere between as it always seemed to in the past, and I have never gotten past it without what I feel was pure starvation. Thanks for these videos Doctor Brewer! It's been a big learning experience. I wish I could afford to be a patient with you. I am beginning to feel let down by my doctors who seems to be pushing the "myths" you talk about more and more. They have pushed two statins on me, now, and I am scared to death! Cholesterol is 150 already and now, this, with this heart discovery..
Great question. The data was clearly insufficient 1 year ago. It's not totally conclusive yet. But more & more, it's looking like it's going to be clearly better. There's no question even now about the IR side of it. Pitavastatin's clearly better there. The remaining question has to do with inflammation. The more evidence that comes out on this, the more it looks like it will be at least comparable. (That obviously makes sense. It comes with an inherent advantage, since IR is the major root cause of inflammation.)
Statins work by inhibiting HMG CoA Reductase, the most important enzyme for Cholesterol production. Can someone correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't most of the trials which show the beneficial effect of statins based on surrogate markers rather than real clinical outcomes?
In my ramipril paperwork there is a warning about being conscious of potassium levels. Is this something that is a gradual change that my twice a year blood panels would be sufficient to alert me? Or, would it be prudent for me to do blood potassium level testing at home more frequently? I'm not worried, just wondering.
Join Our Live Broadcast Every Wednesday! @11am EST. For more information please visit our website prevmedhealth.com/ & www.jubilee.health/. To learn more watch our videos on RU-vid ru-vid.com/show-UCmoEsq6a6ePXxgZeA4CVrUw
Excellent video Doc once again. Question please. I switched from atorvastatin to rosuvastatin about 4 months ago from your advice 10 mg daily. is that a safe dosage if I'm not having any side effects that I know of? I would still like to reduce the dosage but I assume I should get the inflammation panel first? I also had a coronary calcium score of 490 four years ago. Very fit very active no other known issues 59 years old. My doc doesn't recommend another coronary score and is very indifferent about cimt of course. Thank you sir...
The anti-inflammatory effects of statins are somewhat dose dependent. So be aware that reducing your dosage of rosuvastatin will also reduce its anti-inflammatory effect. Because of possible dangerous side effects (such as new onset diabetes), I think it makes sense to find the minimum dose which satisfies your anti-inflammatory target. Disclaimer: I'm not a medical professional.
10 mg Rosuvastatin does have noticeable IR effect, but not much. & outweighed by far by the impact on inflammation. I’d check an inflammation panel or 2 to verify you need this much.
@Alien On a Bike oh yes very good point and thanks for your thoughts and reply. I may just stay on the 10 mg however I will still get my docs feeling on reducing dosage
Yes. We have several vids on this. Tomorrow the video comes out on this issue. Also, a couple of these fit: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-dcuKeK7Fhyc.html
would there be a benefit to taking "low and slow" dosing of Crestor at 2.5 twice weekly versus 5 weekly? You are cutting the tiny tablets in half? Phew....
@@PrevMedHealth gonna have to go with 5mg Mon, Wed, Friday. Smallest they sell in Mexico is 10mg and they're already tiny and coated so splitting them into quarters I'd probably lose 20% of the dose. Assuming no major joint pain I may have my US provider prescribe 5 or even 2.5mg if they make it
Perhaps try coq10 or Ubiquinol 300 to 600 milligrams daily with your statin it will help out alot you should notice a difference in a few weeks. Also turmeric 1,000 to 2,000 milligrams daily works well.
@@jaym.1106 I just put a tablespoon of turmeric in a tablespoon of coconut oil and chill then chew it up and wash it down. Gonna guess that's maybe 3 to 4 grams of turmeric but I've never weighed it.
Thank you for this. I'm 43 and my cardiologist put me back on a statin (atorvastatin 40 mg) after my CAC score came back at 500. I fought him on this as I had been on statin for 5+ years but got off after reading about all the side effects. After a year and a half off them (simvistatin 40 mg), and lifestyle changes (quit drinking and lost 20+ pounds), all my cholesterol numbers were normal - although I've always had low hdl (mid to high 30's). I have a family history, so I've come to grips with going back on them. My crp and homocysteine numbers were also normal, so that also makes me feel a bit better. Edit - I should add that I pushed for the CAC test, as he didnt see a reason to have one, based on my bloodwork and risk calculators. How do I talk to him about the doseage?
You are obviously going to considered as high risk going forward given your CAC score, and thus the high dose of atorvastatin. Ask your cardiologist to consider putting you on an appropriate dose of rosuvastatin based upon the article I posted above. I have a statin potency chart that indicates 40 mg of atorvastatin is about the same (for lowering LDL-C) as 10 mg rosuvastatin. Look at your triglyceride levels as many people have low HDL-C due to higher triglyceride levels. Try to keep triglycerides well below the 150 mg/dL standard. I keep my triglycerides below 100 mg/dL, mainly through diet and exercise. Some people also use nicotinic acid (niacin) to lower triglycerides, and a portion of those have tolerance issues with niacin (read up on this if interested in using it). Also consider getting a CIMT test done, even if your cardiologist doesn't believe it necessary. Sadly most insurance plans don't seem to want to pay for a CIMT test unless the patient has already had a stroke or heart attack (the point being you want to understand your real risk before having had a stroke or heart attack). If interested, see the many videos here on the value of having a CIMT test.
It can be a concern when on a high dose statin for some people, in particular people with APOE4 alleles that makes them more susceptible to Alzheimer's disease. At the same time having cardiovascular disease will definitely push people towards dementia if heart attack/stroke doesn't get them first, so weigh the risks carefully before dismissing statins lightly. Dr. Brewer believes in treating the common lifestyle issues so that low dose statins are good enough for many people. There are many videos here on that aspect.
All too often people give up on "statins" without understanding that they should be able to work with their doctors to find a statin and a dose that will provide a lot of CVD benefits without a lot of the side effects. Find out about different statins and have an informed conversation with your doctor. Maybe 1-2% of the population cannot take any statin, but a substantial amount of the 98-99% others need flexibility in statin choice and dose. Often people get put on the highest dose of the statin of the day because of their lifestyle. People are obviously going to have the most side effects on the highest doses. I am not saying that the side effects that people report are not real. I myself had some years ago when I first went on 20 mg/daily of simvastatin, but those side effects went away with a lower dose.
My spouse has taken 5 mg nightly for 3 years. No ill effects & cognitive function actually improved (poss due to healthier diet). 45% reduction in plaque > 3 yrs per coronary calcium score.
Also heard fat soluable statins like Lipitor are more dangerous long term. Anecdotal evidence of course... search “Ivor Cummins Dr. Ross walker discussion” on you tube. Dr Ross walker is an Australian based cardiologist and he doesn’t use any fat soluable statins on any of his patients
Dr. Brewer , I did switch to crestor 20mg from Lipitor 20 My fasting blood. My total cholesterol last time checked was 99 and my Tg/HDL was 7.2 and my HDL/LDL was 1.1 the main problem being low HDL 28 and Triglycerides 202 LDL 31 with the Lipitor, I am prediabetic with a a1c 6.3 so I changed my eating habits and have load 30lbs so far 6' 0" male going from 250 to 220 and still on my way to a goal of 180ish. The creator has raised my blood sugar , I also started metformin 500 XR at supper, the same time as changing to crestor, in spite of that my blood sugars are still elevated. So I am second guessing the statin switch. Is the higher blood sugar risk worth the benefit of crestor? The elevated bg is after I cut the 20mg crestor to 10mg. Can you tell me your opinion please?
It sounds like you’re assuming Lipitor doesn’t drive up blood sugar. It’s also not clear from your comments that you need Crestor 10, in stead of 5. Or livalo.
@@PrevMedHealth it may be that it could be Lipitor drives up blood sugar , but theer was a increased spike when I started the crestor I intend to monitor it to see if it consistently stays higher, my beginning problems were the high triglycerides which the Lipitor did bring down and I am sure the crestor will help that also and hopefully do a better job of raising HDL. Time will tell sir.
If CRP test is normal does that mean that the cardiovascular inflammation is low??? Also, my CPR and A1C and random home glucose test was normal BUT..... if i eat carbs or sugar I immediately get very weak, very sickly, tingling feet, and blurry vision..... What can this possibly be?????? It started a year ago. I am desperate to know what test I need.
Ford Brewer MD MPH yes I use a relion meter. When I wake up its in the 90's. When I use to eat carbs sometimes it would fluctuate up to 180 but then come back down. Now if I have Any amount of carbs I get these symptoms but it says 80+ range
