• And now for LDL (Part I)

    Updated: 2012-05-30 22:02:57
    I have spent the last several blog posts discussing HDL and the apparent failure of the class of drugs known as CETP inhibitors. Also, much to my dismay, the possibility that the hypothesis of raising HDL to prevent coronary disease may be deeply flawed. One of the benefits that I get by writing this blog is [...]

  • Maybe we are just wrong (Part II)

    Updated: 2012-05-30 14:37:26
    One of the main reasons that we are able to map the human genome is that the technology improved so rapidly.  Scientists and physicians now have the ability to identify SNP or single nucleotide polymorphism.  In English, we can establish when your gene doesn’t exactly match the way the gene is supposed to look.  This [...]

  • Is yogurt bad for cholesterol

    Updated: 2012-05-24 03:53:19
    Increase Hdl Lower Ldl Hdl Ldl Ratio High Cholesterol Atheroslerosis Low fat Subscribe To This Site Is yogurt bad for cholesterol QUESTION Is yogurt bad for cholesterol ANSWER Hi , there It is very good that you are trying to make yourself a diet which is containing small amount of cholesterol . I would encourage to include yogurt too . Why All scientists and doctors agree that yogurt is affecting in a good way the cholesterol status of the organism . Besides this , yogurt contains a lot of vitamins , which are improving the whole metabolism by neutralizing the free radicals formed in the . organism With the regards to LDL cholesterol , the daily consumption of 100g of yogurt is significantly reducing the LDL cholesterol level . You have to pay attention to the fact that vitamins like B2,

  • Maybe we are just wrong (Part I)

    Updated: 2012-05-22 16:29:33
    As I have stated before, one of the benefits of the long view of things is to assess how “facts” change over time. What perhaps surprises me most is medicine’s reluctance to sometimes acknowledge just how wrong we are. For my entire career, now spanning 32 years, I have been taught and I have believed [...]

  • 3 strikes, you’re out? (Part III)

    Updated: 2012-05-18 22:27:34
    Now for the second strike.  After the debacle of torcetrapib, I for one felt that the class, if not the concept, was in deep trouble.  Not only did the drug not benefit, it seemed to harm people.  It is believed this is because the drug activated the aldosterone system in the body to raise blood [...]

  • Varenicline: no link with cardiovascular events found in meta-analysis

    Updated: 2012-05-18 08:48:56
    TweetVarenicline (Champix) is a partial agonist to nicotine receptors, and is approved for smoking cessation therapy. However, the FDA has raised concern about a possible increase in the incidence of cardiovascular events of patients taking the drug in randomised trials. In this meta-analysis, Prochaska et al. looked at 22 randomised controlled trials of current tobacco [...]

  • 3 strikes, you’re out? (Part II)

    Updated: 2012-05-15 21:33:51
    Let’s talk about torcetrapib.  Like Madonna, Dunkirk and other things that are known by one name, torcetrapib has taken on more than just the name of a failed drug. As I wrote in my last blog, this class of drugs (the CETP inhibitors) followed from the observation of a human genetic abnormality, which led to [...]

  • 3 strikes, you’re out? (Part I)

    Updated: 2012-05-11 01:28:38
    Is it really possible that statins as a class of drugs are so powerful that no new drug can fill an acknowledged need?   Why is it that drugs such as niacin, Zetia, Lopid, etc. alter the amounts of the components of cholesterol, HDL and LDL but do not lead to better outcomes? As I [...]

  • And now for the other shoe (Part II)

    Updated: 2012-05-08 19:07:30
    On April 19, 2012 Pauline Chen, who is a surgeon and writes for the New York Times, penned an article about a program that is gaining more traction and may become the new “norm” in third year medical education. Beginning in 2004 at Harvard, third year students were given a panel of 100 outpatients who they [...]

  • FOCUS-CCTRN: Autologous bone marrow cells fail to improve heart failure

    Updated: 2012-05-05 19:53:37
    TweetAutologous stem/progenitor cells have been investigated for several years as a novel therapy for patients with advanced ischaemic heart disease, particularly those with ongoing angina or heart failure.  In particular, for patients with ischaemic cardiomyopathy, autologous bone marrow mononuclear cells (BMCs) have been shown to be safe and possibly effective.  However, none of the trials [...]

  • Infective endocarditis caused by cardiac devices

    Updated: 2012-05-05 19:37:19
    TweetThe number of electronic cardiac devices, including pacemakers and cardioverter-defibrillators, being implanted each year is increasing.  As a result, there has been a 210% increase in the incidence of device infection between 1993 and 2008 in the United States.  Cardiac device infective endocarditis (CDIE) is significant in that it is associated with a higher mortality [...]

  • And now for the other shoe (Part I)

    Updated: 2012-05-03 20:35:48
    I have spent the last several blogs on the new MCAT exam and whether it will allow the medical schools to admit a class of “better doctors.” There is another change which is occurring which will also alter the scope and magnitude of medical education. This change is in the third year of medical school.  The [...]

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