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[EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>]

Thank you so much for this Wendy.  I am one of those people who 
regularly has triglycerides in excess of 700.  My cholesterol levels 
haven't been checked in a while, but I am currently awaiting results 
which will be my 'baseline' for the coming year.
It really irritates me that people make assumptions about things.  Bad 
liver-oh you must drink (I don't)..High triglycerides- you must eat a 
lot of fatty food (I don't)...when I got mono as a kid, there were 
people who called me a slut, even though I was the epitomy of 
homeliness. <g>  Grrr...  but I digress.  I appreciate your analysis, Wen.

How have things been for you lately?  Still working?

Wendy wrote:
> Please take note that this "study" means nothing.
>
> > Those interviewed weren't asked if they'd ever had a bad reaction from 
> > taking those combinations. And the study didn't assess whether patients 
> > were taking medications inappropriately.
>
> The question asked was not whether anyone has had any complications from 
> interactions between drugs and nutritional supplements, but rather if they 
> took them together.  An even bigger question is, Why can't the prescription 
> drugs be dropped if a nutritional supplement will work just as well?"  Also, 
> Bob, be very cautious when taking statins or any other cholesterol lowering 
> drugs.  Cholesterol is not your enemy.  Your body produces cholesterol when 
> it needs it.  Cell walls are almost pure cholesterol.  Different forms of 
> cholesterol are used for different things. LDLs are your bodies "patch" 
> material.  If your LDLs are high, you have damage that your body is patching 
> until it can properly heal.  HDLs are the "old bandages" being sent back to 
> the liver to be reformed into another type of cholesterol.  Tryglycerides 
> are the form of cholesterol that is used when transporting or storing 
> cholesterol.  If your LDLs are high and your HDLs are low, that means that 
> your cells are deteriorating and not being repaired.  If your HDLs are high 
> and your LDLs are low, that means that there is little new damage and what 
> was there is healing fine.  Statins and other cholesterol lowering drugs, 
> inhibit your body's ability to synthesize cholesterol.  It is like shooting 
> the messenger.  It doesn't "cure" or "fix" anything and may inhibit your 
> ability to heal.  There are certain cases where cholesterol lowering drugs 
> are called for.  For example, certain thyroid disorders cause the thyroid to 
> erroneously call for massive amounts of tryglycerides.  Tryglyceride counts 
> can be in excess of 1000, over thicken the blood and cause blockages and 
> interfere with the oxygen/CO2 exchange in the lungs.  Bad news.  Cholesterol 
> lowering drugs are needed here since the blood cholesterol levels are being 
> elevated in error.  However, under normal conditions, cholesterol counts 
> only give an indicator of what else is going on in your body.  Manipulating 
> them does not correct the condition that caused the concern.  Prescribing 
> cholesterol lowering drugs is like giving a child the test answers, then 
> proclaiming that the child is learning when he passes the test.  (Note: this 
> analogy was not meant to be a call to anyone to go off on a rant of our 
> pathetic public school system. ;-) )
>
> Wendy


--
"The world is my country, all mankind are my
 brethren, and to do good is my religion."
 Thomas Paine (1737 - 1809)