Dr John Briffa's blog, A Good Look at Good Health — writing on food, cholesterol, weight, energy and the science behind everyday health, from the drbriffa.com archive. Filter by topic, browse by category, or search the library.
Food and Medical Politics
I was away for most of this week and, as a result, this on-line article (and several similar ones) passed me by. It focuses on the ‘research’ conducted by Dr Aine O’Connor of the British Nutrition Foundation and published in its ‘journal’ – the Nutrition Bulletin [1]. I’ve not read the article itself, but here’s […]
Brain and Behaviour
Reading the British Medical Journal today I saw an item in the ‘news’ section which caught my eye. Entitled ‘Too frequent use of painkillers can cause rather than cure headaches’, it relays information coming from the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) in the UK. It seems that in some cases, painkilling medication […]
Food and Medical Politics
I was talking with someone about medical education yesterday, and was making the point that however much knowledge a doctor has stuffed in their head, it matters little if they are unable to communicate that knowledge effectively. Being able to effectively convey your thinking to clients and colleagues is a key skill for good medical […]
Cholesterol and Statins
Baroness Barbara Young is the chief executive of the charity Diabetes UK, the UK’s largest and most prominent diabetes charity, and an organisation which encourages diabetics to eat at every meal foods which are known to be disruptive to blood sugar levels and therefore be bad for diabetics (go figure). You can read more about […]
Cholesterol and Statins
Statins – the most commonly prescribed of cholesterol-modifying drugs – work by inhibiting an enzyme (known as HMG-coA reductase) responsible for the manufacture of cholesterol in the liver. However, that enzyme is also responsible for the production of something clled coenzyme Q10, which plays a role in energy production in the body. Some people have […]
Cholesterol and Statins
Here in the UK this week Professor Rory Collins has enjoyed a bit of a media blitz telling all who will listen that statins should really be considered for anyone over the age of 50, irrespective of their risk of cardiovascular disease and state of health. Here and here you can see how his ideas […]
Cholesterol and Statins
I am not particularly enthusiastic about cholesterol management. I don’t believe that the role cholesterol has in cardiovascular disease is as is popularly stated. But more importantly, when we use drugs to manage cholesterol the results are, by and large, disappointing. For example, treatment with statins does not save lives in people without a prior […]
Food and Medical Politics
Back in June I dedicated a post to the effectiveness of blood pressure medication. It was triggered by the fact that there’s abundant data to suggest that cholesterol-lowering ‘statin’ medication is really very ineffective. And by that I mean that the vast majority of people who take statins will not benefit. I wondered whether the […]
Cholesterol and Statins
Someone recently sent me a link to this report of a study which warns us of the supposed perils of eating eggs. The study on which the report is based [1] looked at the association between the amount of egg yolks people ate and the amount of ‘atherosclerotic plaque’ in the main arteries supplying blood to […]
Cholesterol and Statins
‘JUPITER’ is the name given to a study which tested the effectiveness of the statin drug rosuvastatin (Crestor). The effects of rosuvastatin were compared with placebo in a large group of individuals free from a history of cardiovascular disease (such as previous heart attack or stroke) [1]. Testing in this setting (what is known as […]