By: Joe Graedon December 23, 2024 0 Comments
    Cooking Oil Confusion: What’s Best, Olive …

    Health professionals have been misleading Americans about food for decades. We were told that cholesterol and fat were our enemies. Eggs, shrimp, nuts and olive oil were bad. That led the food industr…

    By: Joe Graedon December 9, 2024 6 Comments
    Cure or Catastrophe: The Unpredictability of Med…

    Physicians who prescribe medications like to believe that their choices are based on evidence. In fact, there is a mantra that most prescribers have embraced: “Evidence Based Medicine,” abbreviate…

    By: Joe Graedon October 28, 2024 10 Comments
    Can Rosuvastatin Cause Cataracts or Make Glaucom…

    Statins like atorvastatin, rosuvastatin and simvastatin are prescribed in huge quantities. We estimate that over 45 million Americans are taking such cholesterol-lowering drugs every day. Many health …

    By: Terry Graedon October 21, 2024 22 Comments
    Psyllium Fiber Is Versatile Remedy

    Psyllium fiber has become a household name, especially in the brand name formulations where it is found: Konsyl, Metamucil, Nature's Way Psyllium, and dozens more. From the 1930s to the 1960s a produc…

    By: Joe Graedon October 3, 2024 17 Comments
    Is a Loved One Taking Too Many Medicines?

    How many pills do you swallow each day? If you are like most Americans, it is a lot. The CDC's National Health Statistics Reports (Number 209, September 5, 2024) just updated its analysis of Prescript…

    By: Joe Graedon September 26, 2024 19 Comments
    Egg Experiment: Med Student Eats 720 eggs in 30 …

    Do you enjoy man-bites-dog stories? We’ve got a good one for you! Nick Norwitz has a bachelor’s degree in cellular biology from Dartmouth. He received his PhD from Oxford University in 2020 in neu…

    By: Terry Graedon August 19, 2024 4 Comments
    Which Dietary Changes Can Lower LDL Cholesterol …

    Most people are aware that high levels of LDL cholesterol might indicate susceptibility to cardiovascular problems like blocked arteries or heart attacks. When doctors see such a result on a blood tes…

    By: Terry Graedon July 17, 2024 6 Comments
    Are There Toxins in Your Drinking Water?

    Does your drinking water contain contaminants you don't know about? Too many municipalities do dispense water with dangerous impurities. Even more alarming, the toxins you encounter in your water or a…

    By: Terry Graedon April 4, 2024 39 Comments
    Does Red Yeast Rice for Lowering Cholesterol Hav…

    Has your doctor told you that your blood pressure is rising or your cholesterol is too high? Many people prefer to treat such conditions naturally if possible. But just because a treatment is natural …

    By: Joe Graedon February 12, 2024 38 Comments
    Repatha to Lower LDL Cholesterol: Uses, Abuses, …

    There are powerful cholesterol-lowering medicines making waves. Many health professionals are convinced that there is no such thing as too low a golf score or a cholesterol level. They are right about…

    By: Joe Graedon January 21, 2024 23 Comments
    How Safe and Effective Are Your Medicines? You M…

    When your doctor writes you a new prescription, you assume that she is knowledgeable about its benefits and risk. In theory, physicians should know exactly how safe and effective the drugs they prescr…

    By: Joe Graedon January 1, 2024 24 Comments
    Can You Control Cholesterol Naturally?

    Let's not arm wrestle about the cholesterol theory of heart disease. Most cardiologists believe LDL cholesterol is the culprit behind clogged coronary arteries. That's why they are very quick to presc…

    By: Joe Graedon December 24, 2023 60 Comments
    Why Didn’t Statins Protect Dad from Clogge…

    Most cardiologists take it as absolute fact that cholesterol is a bad actor in the heart disease saga. They believe that LDL cholesterol in particular is responsible for causing clogged coronary arter…

    By: Joe Graedon July 24, 2023 11 Comments
    Should Pharmacists Be Able to Prescribe Behind t…

    Many countries give pharmacists the authority to prescribe a substantial number of medications. The pharmaceuticals they can offer patients are labeled BTC for “behind the counter” drugs. They inc…

    By: Terry Graedon May 21, 2023 35 Comments
    Natural Ways to Get Your Cholesterol Down

    Cholesterol is only one of numerous risk factors for heart disease. However, physicians can't do much about some of your other risk factors, such as your family history. They can prescribe medications…

    By: Joe Graedon March 2, 2023 28 Comments
    Dairy Fat and Olive Oil Are Friends, Not Foes

    Do you remember your high school biology class? You learned that there are three building blocks of nutrition: proteins, carbohydrates and fats. For decades you have been told that fat is the enemy. I…

    By: Joe Graedon August 18, 2022 18 Comments
    Getting Cholesterol Too Low May Put Older Woman …

    Q. Dear Joe & Terry Graedon, Thank you for all the information you make available to the public about alternatives to many pharmaceuticals. You are providing a needed service to the public. I look…

    By: Joe Graedon May 30, 2022 42 Comments
    Are You An Activated Patient? Engage Now!

    For far too long the health care system has been out of balance. Physicians have been at the top of the pyramid. Patients were relegated to the bottom. It is time we changed the paradigm! Engaged and …

    By: Joe Graedon May 23, 2022 42 Comments
    New Analysis Disputes Dogma that All Seniors Nee…

    The American Heart Association (AHA) and the American College of Cardiology (ACC) created a risk calculator that tells physicians and patients when someone should take a statin-type cholesterol-loweri…

    By: Joe Graedon April 11, 2022 55 Comments
    Have You Lost Confidence in the FDA?

    We used to tremendous confidence in the FDA. When we started writing about pharmaceuticals nearly 50 years ago, the agency was highly respected. It had mostly protected American children from the thal…

    By: Terry Graedon February 7, 2022 101 Comments
    Zetia May Cause Muscle Problems

    With so many drugs available to lower cholesterol, people naturally would like to know about the benefits and risks of each. We have written quite a bit about the side effects of statins such as atorv…

    By: Joe Graedon June 24, 2021 63 Comments
    Do Statins Affect Memory or Scramble Your Brain?

    The top four statin-type cholesterol-lowering medications are atorvastatin, simvastatin, pravastatin and rosuvastatin. Our back of the envelope calculations suggest that over 210 million prescriptions…

    By: Joe Graedon March 29, 2021 45 Comments
    Why Do Statins Remain Controversial?

    When the first statin drug was approved, we were cautiously optimistic. Lovastatin (Mevacor) was introduced in 1987. Four years later, we published a book titled Graedons’ Best Medicine (Bantam © 1…

    By: Terry Graedon March 11, 2021 1 Comments
    People with Cardiovascular Disease Do Better Eat…

    Cardiovascular disease remains the number one killer throughout the world. People at high risk are often prescribed a number of medications to control cholesterol, lower blood pressure and prevent blo…

    By: Joe Graedon October 26, 2020 10 Comments
    Can Good HDL Cholesterol Go Too High?

    We have been told for decades that if we want to avoid clogged coronary arteries and a heart attack we must keep "bad" LDL cholesterol down and increase "good" HDL cholesterol. If we do those two thin…

    By: Joe Graedon July 29, 2019 33 Comments
    Are Statin Side Effects Fake Medical News?

    Doctors dislike drug side effects. After all, physicians prescribe medications to help people, not to hurt them. And yet every medicine has the potential to cause adverse reactions. This leaves physic…

    By: Joe Graedon April 22, 2019 6 Comments
    Why Would Anyone Want to Raise Cholesterol Level…

    Can your cholesterol go too low? That is a question that we have been asked on many occasions. It seems ludicrous. It's a bit like asking if you could be too rich or too thin? The truth is that you co…

    By: Joe Graedon February 7, 2019 29 Comments
    Statins for Older People | A New Study is Wildly…

    The headlines this week have been emphatic: “Study: Proof Statins Help Older People.” Then there was this one: “Cholesterol Lowering Drugs Giving Older Adults Better Heart Health.” We were int…

    By: Joe Graedon January 21, 2019 10 Comments
    Is It Risky to Have Low Cholesterol Naturally?

    You’ve probably heard the expression that “you can’t be too rich or too thin.” We would disagree with the idea that you can’t be too thin. Just ask health professionals who treat people with…

    By: Terry Graedon August 23, 2018 1 Comments
    Helping Your Heart Means Boosting Your Brain

    We have long suspected that taking care of your heart health with exercise, a diet rich in vegetables, fruits and whole grains, stress management and social interaction could also benefit your brain. …

    By: Terry Graedon August 23, 2018 26 Comments
    When Is High LDL Cholesterol a Problem?

    You have probably heard that high LDL cholesterol is a risk factor for heart disease. That is the reason doctors prescribe medication to lower cholesterol. Most people imagine this is most important f…

    By: Joe Graedon August 13, 2018 36 Comments
    Can Statins Cause Myositis? | Irreversible Muscl…

    The FDA has listed myositis as a potential side effect of some statins. We suspect that if you asked many physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and pharmacists what myositis is, they w…

    By: Joe Graedon August 2, 2018 58 Comments
    Do Statins Cause Myositis? A Devastating Muscle …

    For years we have been receiving tragic stories from readers of our syndicated newspaper column and visitors to our website. They reported a debilitating myositis muscle condition after taking statins…

    By: Joe Graedon June 7, 2018 34 Comments
    Old Data Behind Statin Guidelines Led to Serious…

    In 2013 the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and the American Heart Association (AHA) issued new statin guidelines for physicians. The recommendations were based on the Heart Risk Calculator. Doct…

    By: Terry Graedon April 23, 2018 18 Comments
    No Study Support for Fish Oil Soothing Dry Eyes

    Fish oil is one of the best sources of omega-3 fatty acids. These compounds have anti-inflammatory activity, and doctors have hoped that fish oil supplements would prove useful against a wide range of…

    By: Joe Graedon March 26, 2018 12 Comments
    Can Atorvastatin Cause Erectile Dysfunction?

    Tens of millions of American men take a statin every day: atorvastatin, lovastatin, pravastatin, simvastatin and rosuvastatin, to name just a few. Do drugs like atorvastatin cause erectile dysfunction…

    By: Joe Graedon January 15, 2018 23 Comments
    Atorvastatin Side Effects — Is Psoriasis O…

    Atorvastatin (Lipitor) is one of the most prescribed drugs in the world. At last count, over 100 million prescriptions were dispensed annually  in the U.S. (Quintiles IMS, May, 2017, now IQVIA Instit…

    By: Joe Graedon January 1, 2018 53 Comments
    Blackseed Oil Saved Knee and Lowered Cholesterol…

    Have you ever heard of blackseed oil? We didn't think so. It has not gotten the attention that turmeric has. The first we became aware of this dietary supplement was from an integrative oncologist, Dr…

    By: Joe Graedon October 9, 2017 0 Comments
    Can You Combine Red Yeast Rice with  Atorvastat…

    Some people believe in what we call the "lottle" principal. If a little is good then a "lottle" must be better. This is especially true when it comes to "natural" remedies. Red yeast rice (RYR) has be…

    By: Joe Graedon August 7, 2017 10 Comments
    What Should Patients Do When Doctors Fight?

    When doctors disagree in public, it drive patients crazy. Most people assume that their health professionals know what the best treatment is for any given ailment. But on some matters there is surpris…