Lets talk about Statins

[BrianLe]

"Hoping to leave the my cholestrol and blood pressure meds home."

I can't speak to the cholesterol meds, but my suggestion is that you plan to take the blood pressure meds with you. I did my first thru-hike in my early 50's, and I asked my doctor beforehand whether I could sort of "hike my way" out of needing them. He said that at my age, it was questionable, and the older you are the less likely that any amount of physical exercise will reduce blood pressure. So what I did was to stop a couple of times along the way in small towns with fire stations and ask if they would take my blood pressure (each time I had stopped taking the medication a day or two before with this intent). In both cases my blood pressure was higher than I wanted to see it, even though by that time I was in great shape, had lost essentially all body fat, etc.

So I'm just reconciled now that whatever trip I go on in future, I need to take my blood pressure meds. One thing that helped a lot was that I asked my doctor to write me out a 90 day rather than 30 day prescription, so less times that my wife has to go and pick it up and distribute the pills among resupply boxes.

[JAK]

Interesting story, but it will never fly in the US with that kind of testing. It's funny he found a herbal remedy that does what lipitor does with no side effects. I'm a little sceptical but would be interested in more info.

I am skeptical also, but it could well be that if bad diet is part of the problem than a herbal or diet based remedy could be a big part of the solution, at least for some people. Anyhow, not alot more information here, but it's an interesting story...

Telegraph Journal Saturday March 12, 2012

Local Inventor approved to manufacture meds
Cholesterol-lowering drug to be produced in Douglastown man's basement

Dan Benoit
Mirimachi Leader

Miramichi - A Douglastown inventor has been approved by Health Canada to patent and manufacture a medication he developed in his spare time that lowers cholesterol and reduces inflammation.
Russell Leblanc invents things.
Leblanc has degrees in science from Dalhousie University and St. Mary's University. He spends his days developing new types of ammunition for the United States military.
"I have a great interest in ballistics," he said from his spacious home on the O'Keefe road on Thursday night.
That interest in ballistics and his background in science led to a working arrangement with Federal Cartridge, a company that produces ammunition. A lot of it.
"They manufacture virtually all of the military cartridges in the U.S.," Leblanc said.
LeBlanc developed some very specialized types of ammunition, one a "door breacher" round used by the U.S.Military to open doors during combat, and other more secret ordnance he developed for special forces like the U.S.Navy SEALS, that he can't even discuss, he said.
But while ammunition is his day job, so to speak, his hobby has become trying to make sick people better. People like himself.
About seven years ago, LeBlanc visited his doctor, who told him he had high cholesterol, not an uncommon thing.
"The results were quite high," he said.
He took the drug Lipitor for awhile, which lowered his cholesterol, but he had a lot of awful side effects, also not uncommon. Just reading about class action lawsuits that have resulted from Lipitor use is frightening, he said.
"Some of the lawsuits out there from these patent drugs are unbelieveable."
He was afraid for his health, he said.
"I had to endure it or try something else," he said.
He decided he was done with Lipitor, but he needed a safe alternative that worked just as well.
He read some science text books and some books on alternative medicine, then he put everything together in his head and came up with a simple solution to a common problem.
"I did some research and I developed a formula to lower cholesterol," he said.
"I came up with this formula that I though would work."
He took a large pill bottle from his coffee table and shook a pile of the brownish-capsules into his open hand. The medication is called Rupaflexor
Does it work?
"Absolutely," he said.
Under the supervision of his doctor, he went off Lupitor and on Rupaflexor for 15 days. His cholesterol was way down, he said.
His doctor thought he still might have Lipitor in his system, so he went off ot for 30 days, still taking the Rupaflexor. The cholesterol had improved yet again.
"Sure enough. the cholesterol was actually a little better."
Though he didn't have any real interest in manufacturing Rupaflexor when he first developed it, lots of people he knows told him he should start selling it. So he decided to do just that.
But if he had known the ammount of paperwork involved in such an undertaking, he might never have gotten started.
"It was a lot of red tape," he said.
LeBlanc used a ruler to measure all of the single-sheet forms he had to submit to Health Canada to get his drug approved. The stack measured 1.5 inches thick, he said.
But after years and years of back and forth communication and test after endless test, LeBlanc now has another stack of papers, but these all say Rupaflexor is certified by Health Canada to improve heart health and lessen inflamation of the joints.
It lowers cholesterol the same way Lipitor does, but since its all herbal, it's much better for you, he said.
"There's no negative effects. It's loaded with anti-oxidants. It's chock full of that."
He now has a company called Rupa Organics Inc. and he plans to sell Rupaflexor wholesale and do retail sales of it on the internet.
He never would have got into the retail aspect of it without the encouragement of friends, he said.
"The encouragement of people asking, "Why don't you do this?"
The big pharmacutical companies have billions of dollars they can devote to advertising alone, so he doesn't think he'll pose any real competition to them.
"But you've got to start somewhere," he said with a grin.
He's proud of his accomplishment.
"It happened right here," he said, spreading his hands.
"We're approved to do it right here in our basement."
He plans to have his first production run within two to three months, he said.
"Sometime in late Spring."
In his spare time, LeBlanc is also developing a medication which reduces prostate inflammation and another which reduces the symptoms of the common cold.

[Fiddleback]

There's no such thing as a too old thread.

On the subject of statins and diabetes risk; "Statins' Heart Benefits Outweigh Diabetes Risk", http://healthyliving.msn.com/disease...tes-risk-study . And a simple but interesting story on diabetes itself; "5 Early Warning Signs of Diabetes", http://healthyliving.msn.com/disease...ns-of-diabetes .

FB

[Snowleopard]

I don't have heart disease and haven't taken statins, but have mostly followed a regimen designed for heart patients. It is really worth considering serious lifestyle and diet changes before you need statins.

This is based on research by Dr. Dean Ornish and consists of:
Mostly vegetarian diet; vegan is there is a cholesterol or blood pressure problem or past heart attack.
Whole grains.
Very low fat diet.
Regular exercise.
Meditation or similar stress reduction method.
This regimen reduced my cholesterol from borderline high to fairly low and blood pressure from borderline to low.
Since I have a family history of heart disease, I decided to stay on it (mostly).

a very low-fat diet including predominantly fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, and soy products in their natural, unrefined forms; moderate exercise such as walking; various stress management techniques including yoga-based stretching, breathing, meditation, and imagery; and enhanced love and social support, which may include support groups.

http://www.pmri.org/lifestyle_program.html
Ornish has a number of books: http://www.pmri.org/dean_ornish.html#books
I liked: http://www.amazon.com/Ornishs-Progra.../dp/0804110387

Thru-hikers often eat a very unhealthy diet. Enough of the older hikers die of heart attack in NH or ME that you have to wonder if the bad diet offsets the great exercise they get on a thru. It's probably worth the extra effort to eat a healthy reasonably low fat diet on your thru-hike. If you're 25 it doesn't matter but after 50 it really does matter.

[Fiddleback]

+1, Snowboard!

And, as the referenced report states, it's important to adopt/continue a healthy lifestyle after beginning a statin regimen. The importance of such for those at risk of diabetes is a given, with or without statins. Diet and exercise will prevent Type 2 for most...

FB

[Grinder]

I'm glad this thread got bumped, since I forgot to report on my experiment.
I hiked for a bit over a month this spring. I stopped taking simvasatin for the first two weeks. I didn't notice any big effect.
Since my Doctor was a "little concerned" about a month, I started taking it again at that time. A day or two later, it dawned on my that I had no energy and was tiring very early in the day. I quit again for the duration and my energy levels went back up.

Anecdotal, but I believe.