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heart disease

The “good” HDL cholesterol under attack! - Defending Niacin, aka vitamin B3

Niacin confers tremendous beneficial effects on both lipids, inflammation and endothelial function. For more, see my previous article:
 
 
 
Despite this, two media attention grabbing studies - AIM-HIGH and HPS2-THRIVE - did not find any benefits of niacin supplementation in heart disease patients who were already on intensive statin treatment. 
 
Here I will summarize these studies and expose their multiple flaws, which never made it to the headlines...
 
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Niacin Supplements - what you need to know about niacin products

In a previous article I presented the wide array of health benefit of niacin – a.k.a vitamin B3 – supplementation, related to both its lipid and non-lipid effects "Niacin – a.k.a vitamin B3 – the Neglected Broad Spectrum Cholesterol Drug! "
 
In this article you will get critical information about the different niacin products and names, and what to look for when shopping niacin supplements…
 
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Effects of Testosterone Therapy for 3 Years on Subclinical Atherosclerosis Progression in Older Men

Clinical practice guidelines rely heavily on results from randomized controlled trials (RCTs), which is the gold standard for medical research. RCTs produce evidence considered to be of the highest quality. Because RCTs are resource intensive and costly, they are typically of relatively short duration, commonly lasting for around one year. 
 
Currently there are only a few placebo-controlled RCTs investigating the effects of testosterone therapy for a duration of 3 years [1-4], and medical societies have long been urging for more long-term trials evaluating the safety and efficacy of testosterone therapy.[5-7]
 
On August 11th 2015 a notable 3-year long RCT was published in JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association), which attracted a lot of attention.[8] While interpreted by many as showing that testosterone therapy does not confer any benefits on atherosclerosis, sexual function and quality of life, a closer look at the data actually shows two important positive results…
 
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Risk of Blood Clots in Men Receiving Testosterone Therapy?

Venous thromboembolism is a blood clot that forms in a vein deep inside a part of the body; it mainly affects the large veins in the lower leg and thigh. 
 
Blood clot formation (venous thromboembolism) has been suggested to be one main risk with testosterone replacement therapy. In 2014, both the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) [1] and Health Canada [2] implemented a requirement for manufacturers to add a warning about the potential risks of venous thromboembolism and deep vein thrombosis to the label of all testosterone products.
 
However, until recently there were no comparative studies examining an association between testosterone replacement therapy and venous thromboembolism. Here we report the results of a recent case-control study - published July 20th 2015 - that specifically examined the risk of venous thromboembolism associated with testosterone therapy in middle-aged and older men.[3]
 
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Why you need to look beyond your LDL - “bad cholesterol” - level

In the United States, cardiovascular diseases account for about 1 of every 3 deaths.[1] The cornerstone in heart disease treatment is reducing elevations of LDL, popularly known as the “bad cholesterol” (see table below “What do the terms mean?”) [2, 3], primarily with statins, the most widely used cholesterol/ heart disease drug.[4]  
 
However, when one looks at the aggregate effectiveness of statin treatment in all studies, morbidity and mortality rates among statin-treated patients still remain approximately two thirds to three quarters of those found in patients randomized to placebo.[5, 6] In the “Treating to New Targets” study there were still 80% cases of cardiovascular disease, despite intensive treatment with high-dose statins.[7]
 
Thus, many patients – even those treated aggressively with statins to meet LDL goals - have residual cardiovascular risk.[8-13] This remaining risk is associated with low levels of HDL, increased levels of triglycerides, and elevated numbers of small, dense, atherogenic LDL particles.[8, 10, 11, 14-17] and other common metabolic abnormalities that you will find out about in this article...
 
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Fish Oil for Fat Loss - can it really help you get in shape?

Fish oil is most known for its beneficial heart and cardiovascular effects, and continues to top the list of health promoting supplements. Fish oil is unique in its ability to protect against heart disease and promote cardiovascular health in all people, regardless of age or baseline health status [1, 2].
 
Fish oil improves the blood lipid profile and is especially effective at lowering triglycerides (a.k.a. blood fats).[3] It also has beneficial effects on blood platelet activity, blood thickness, as well as blood vessel (endothelial) function [4-11], blood vessel elasticity [12], and blood pressure [13, 14], among other things.
 
In 2004 FDA approved a prescription fish oil preparation for treatment of high triglycerides (hypertriglyceridemia) [3, 15, 16]. Accumulating research shows that fish oil also has other beneficial effects, which are more visually notable… notably, fat loss!
 
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Aspirin – can it save you from heart disease or cancer?

 

In people with pre-existing cardiovascular disease, it has long been well documented that long-term use of aspirin is an effective anti-platelet treatment that significantly reduces the risk of serious cardiovascular events (such as heart attacks and strokes) by 30% and cardiovascular death by 15%.[1, 2] 
 
This benefit greatly exceeds the potential risk of increased bleeding events, which is a side effect of aspirin.[3] Therefore clinical guidelines recommend that people with cardiovascular disease take low dose aspirin (75 to 162 mg) daily to prevent recurrence of cardiovascular events.[4-6]
 
More recently, the use of aspirin in healthy people for prevention of cardiovascular disease, as well as cancer, has been getting more and more attention. However, research on prophylactic use of aspirin conflicting and clinical guidelines are contradictory. Here I will shed some light on new research to help you make an informed decision whether aspirin may protect you…
 
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Testosterone Treatment and Hormonophobia – Cardiovascular risk, the Media, and the Authorities

 
One of the most controversial and debated issue related to testosterone replacement therapy is its effects on cardiovascular risk and related clinical outcomes.
 
In this video presentation, Dr. Morgentaler clarifies misperceptions of testosterone replacement therapy and cardiovascular disease risk, which have created unwarranted concerns and distorted public discussion of testosterone replacement therapy as a medical treatment.
 
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Video Summary of Testosterone Replacement Therapy and Cardiovascular Risk

One of the most controversial and debated issue related to testosterone replacement therapy is its effects on cardiovascular risk and related clinical outcomes.
 
In the February 2015 issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings a comprehensive medical review paper, written by Dr. Abraham Morgentaler and his coauthors of the Androgen Study Group – www.AndrogenStudyGroup.org - was published.[1]
 
The aim of the review was to analyze all available studies on testosterone replacement therapy and cardiovascular effects, and to clarify the grossly misleading conclusions from two recent studies that caused a tremendous media scare.
 
In this 8 minute video, Dr. Morgentaler presents the key results from this comprehensive analysis…
 
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