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
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 […]
Food and Medical Politics
When a drug is licensed for use by a regulatory authority, it is normal for its use to be subject to a quite specific remit. In general terms, this will mean the drug will be licensed for use for a specific condition (or conditions), at a particular dose, to people of a particular age. That […]
Food and Medical Politics
Mammography has traditionally been presented to women as a bit of a ‘no-brainer’ – essentially you’d have to be lacking a brain not to submit to regular breast cancer screening. Over the last few years, though, there has been the publication of several scientific articles which highlight the fact that mammography simply does not deliver […]
Cholesterol and Statins
Last year saw the Japan Society for Lipid Nutrition hold its 20th annual meeting. A panel discussion during the event was held entitled ‘Rethinking Cholesterol Issues’. Recently, the Journal of Lipid Nutrition published an account of that panel discussion [1], and it makes for interesting reading. The panel was made up of six experts from […]
Cholesterol and Statins
The Cholesterol Treatment Trialists (CTT) Collaboration is UK-based collection of doctors and researchers who, on the whole, push for aggressive treatment of cholesterol to low levels. I don’t think it would misrepresent the CTT’s view that, as far as supposedly unhealthy ‘LDL-cholesterol’ levels are concerned, ‘the lower the better’ for individuals deemed to be at […]
Healthy Eating
Coeliac disease a condition in which there is an intolerance of the protein gluten, found in grains such as wheat, rye and barley. The intolerance causes a flattening out of the finger-like projections in the small intestine, which dramatically reduces the surface area of the gut available for absorbing nutrients from our diet. Not surprisingly, […]
Healthy Eating
I learned today that if you want to give a highly-processed, chemicalised, crappy gloop (margarine) a flavour that at approximates to that of butter (a food), then you can add something known as diacetyl. Apparently, this chemical has previously been linked to lung disorders and other health problems in individuals who work in factories where […]
Exercise and Activity
Obesity is essentially unknown in populations that live a traditional ‘hunter-gatherer’ way of life. As is well recognised, it’s different in Westernised populations. Why? Well, one theory, at least, is that hunter-gatherers are much more active, and are burning off more calories than their Western counterparts, which affords them the ability to maintain health weights. […]