anita45
Mon, May-07-07, 04:22
From The Sunday Times
May 6, 2007
Face the fats
She ate organic, exercised regularly and was slim, but she had dangerously high cholesterol. May Lawrence-Smith explains how she is beating the hidden killer
So I’m a skinny fatso: skinny on the outside, a fat slob on the inside. That is all I could think about. High cholesterol? Me? I kept asking my doctor if he was sure. How could it happen to me – an educated, slim woman, dressed in Topshop and Marni, living in Notting Hill and shopping exclusively at farmers’ markets and boutique organic stores?
I thought I was taking responsibility for myself when I asked for a blood test to verify that I was perimenopausal. I wanted to deal with “the change”, even though I was only 42. My husband was convinced it was far too early to be taking place. But I knew something was wrong: I had hot flushes, I was sweaty, I felt bloated, my skin was blotchy sometimes, my hair was thinning. Then there were all the mood swings.
A cholesterol level of 7.8 didn’t really mean anything to me, until my doctor said that the average in this country is 5.7, and ideally it should be below five. As it happened, the levels in my blood of bad cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL), as opposed to the good sort, high-density lipoprotein (HDL), were dangerously high. I thought I lived a healthy life. I was far from obese, I exercised two or three times a week, and I thought I was keeping my stress levels in check with regular yoga, spa treatments and luxury holidays. In terms of lifestyle, I couldn’t possibly be a high-risk candidate. But I was. My father died of a heart attack when he was 61, probably due to high cholesterol. It seems I inherited his affliction.
In theory, I’m guilt-free, and have simply been dealt a bad card. But I do feel guilty, because, when I smoked in my twenties, I was raising my cholesterol levels. When I was drinking half to three quarters of a bottle of wine every evening, I was damaging my heart and creating triglycerides, another harmful fat. Had I known, I could have helped myself. But, like most people with high cholesterol, I had no obvious symptoms. When you have this fat inside you, it’s insidious, a time bomb.
Going on the Atkins diet last year didn’t help, either. It seemed like a good idea at the time, as my husband was putting on some middle-aged weight and I wanted to stay the size 8 I had always been. In the diet, there is no mention of the amount of saturated fat allowed, nor of the potential long-term damage that it can do. I now know that saturated fats in the body create more cholesterol; and that 60% of heart attacks and 40% of strokes in the UK are due to high cholesterol. I felt terrible that, even for a few months, I had inflicted this high-fat diet on my body. I also found out that in 2004, heart disease killed nine times more women in the UK than breast cancer.
I got a lot of information from Heart UK. I didn’t feel good reading that “genetic defects lead to overproduction or accumulation of cholesterol in the blood”. But I decided that since this was the problem I was suffering from – what is known as familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) – I would take the drugs recommended by my doctor.
There I was, drinking organic fair-trade coffee, with an organic chicken in the oven, trying to work out what to do with the turnips from the organic vegetable box – and I was signing up to a high dosage of cholesterol-lowering statins. I’m the sort of person who won’t take an aspirin for a headache, so I didn’t feel good that I was going to be putting drugs in my body. “I’m a statin junkie,” I thought. But as far as I could see, I didn’t have a choice. Diet and exercise alone can make only a 10% difference when the problem is genetic. Drugs and lifestyle need to go hand in hand for a positive effect. If my cholesterol had been due to a bad lifestyle (rather than genetic), or my level hadn’t been much above the average, I might have taken the natural alternative, red yeast rice. But I have a child and a husband, so I don’t want to risk dying early just for the sake of being “natural”.
At the beginning, there were side effects, such as queasiness and headaches, especially if I drank alcohol, and I was convinced the drugs were making me more forgetful. I panicked when I read stories about anticholesterol drugs causing more harm than good, about their being of no use to women under 60 and, more recently, about GPs being under pressure to provide “cheap” statins. Looking more closely, however, it seems that problems arise when there are additional health problems or when other drugs, such as antidepressants, are taken too. According to Dr Mary McGowan, a medical director of the Concord Hospital Cholesterol Treatment Center, in New Hampshire, and one of the leading cholesterol specialists in the USA, “clinical trials in both Britain and the United States show that cholesterol-lowering drugs (statins) are among the safest types of drugs and the most effective, particularly when it comes to genetic heart disorders”. This, she says, includes generic “cheap” statins such as the commonly prescribed simvastatin, which have undergone extensive trials both in this country and in America.
For about a month after my diagnosis, I became terrified of eating – I lived on oats (they lower cholesterol) with apple juice and bananas. Then I went through a brief phase of thinking: “Sod it. What difference does it make?” Then I sorted myself out. In the past two months, I have given up lattes, and instead drink green tea. I have given up red meat altogether (too much saturated fat), and I have pretty much cut out dairy products. I also limit alcohol to just one small glass of wine with supper. I exercise every day. I take coenzyme Q10, because it can help blood circulation, and glucosamine, because statins apparently affect bones, and my mother has osteoporosis, so I might as well take it as insurance. My cholesterol level is now 3.77. And all the symptoms I had when I originally went to the doctor have vanished. My body, it seems, was sensitive to fat. Now I feel great. I have more energy – in fact, I am strutting on statins.
STATINS: THE TRUTH
Recent controversies around statins have focused on the side effects of the drugs (especially muscle pain). There is some evidence of potentially dangerous side effects, particularly for pregnant women, women of childbearing age and anyone taking other medication (such as for depression). However, Dr McGowan insists that “aside from these cases, statins are among the safest drugs; not to take them is to risk heart disease at an earlier age”. For those with high cholesterol who are of childbearing age, McGowan says that statins (a low dose, with close monitoring) are considered the best option. These women, as well as those who are taking other medication or are pregnant, should consult their doctor for advice.
Heart UK: 0845 450 5988, www.heartuk.org.uk. If you think you may be at risk, ask your GP to arrange a blood test
Mary Lawrence-Smith was talking to Lorna V
May 6, 2007
Face the fats
She ate organic, exercised regularly and was slim, but she had dangerously high cholesterol. May Lawrence-Smith explains how she is beating the hidden killer
So I’m a skinny fatso: skinny on the outside, a fat slob on the inside. That is all I could think about. High cholesterol? Me? I kept asking my doctor if he was sure. How could it happen to me – an educated, slim woman, dressed in Topshop and Marni, living in Notting Hill and shopping exclusively at farmers’ markets and boutique organic stores?
I thought I was taking responsibility for myself when I asked for a blood test to verify that I was perimenopausal. I wanted to deal with “the change”, even though I was only 42. My husband was convinced it was far too early to be taking place. But I knew something was wrong: I had hot flushes, I was sweaty, I felt bloated, my skin was blotchy sometimes, my hair was thinning. Then there were all the mood swings.
A cholesterol level of 7.8 didn’t really mean anything to me, until my doctor said that the average in this country is 5.7, and ideally it should be below five. As it happened, the levels in my blood of bad cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL), as opposed to the good sort, high-density lipoprotein (HDL), were dangerously high. I thought I lived a healthy life. I was far from obese, I exercised two or three times a week, and I thought I was keeping my stress levels in check with regular yoga, spa treatments and luxury holidays. In terms of lifestyle, I couldn’t possibly be a high-risk candidate. But I was. My father died of a heart attack when he was 61, probably due to high cholesterol. It seems I inherited his affliction.
In theory, I’m guilt-free, and have simply been dealt a bad card. But I do feel guilty, because, when I smoked in my twenties, I was raising my cholesterol levels. When I was drinking half to three quarters of a bottle of wine every evening, I was damaging my heart and creating triglycerides, another harmful fat. Had I known, I could have helped myself. But, like most people with high cholesterol, I had no obvious symptoms. When you have this fat inside you, it’s insidious, a time bomb.
Going on the Atkins diet last year didn’t help, either. It seemed like a good idea at the time, as my husband was putting on some middle-aged weight and I wanted to stay the size 8 I had always been. In the diet, there is no mention of the amount of saturated fat allowed, nor of the potential long-term damage that it can do. I now know that saturated fats in the body create more cholesterol; and that 60% of heart attacks and 40% of strokes in the UK are due to high cholesterol. I felt terrible that, even for a few months, I had inflicted this high-fat diet on my body. I also found out that in 2004, heart disease killed nine times more women in the UK than breast cancer.
I got a lot of information from Heart UK. I didn’t feel good reading that “genetic defects lead to overproduction or accumulation of cholesterol in the blood”. But I decided that since this was the problem I was suffering from – what is known as familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) – I would take the drugs recommended by my doctor.
There I was, drinking organic fair-trade coffee, with an organic chicken in the oven, trying to work out what to do with the turnips from the organic vegetable box – and I was signing up to a high dosage of cholesterol-lowering statins. I’m the sort of person who won’t take an aspirin for a headache, so I didn’t feel good that I was going to be putting drugs in my body. “I’m a statin junkie,” I thought. But as far as I could see, I didn’t have a choice. Diet and exercise alone can make only a 10% difference when the problem is genetic. Drugs and lifestyle need to go hand in hand for a positive effect. If my cholesterol had been due to a bad lifestyle (rather than genetic), or my level hadn’t been much above the average, I might have taken the natural alternative, red yeast rice. But I have a child and a husband, so I don’t want to risk dying early just for the sake of being “natural”.
At the beginning, there were side effects, such as queasiness and headaches, especially if I drank alcohol, and I was convinced the drugs were making me more forgetful. I panicked when I read stories about anticholesterol drugs causing more harm than good, about their being of no use to women under 60 and, more recently, about GPs being under pressure to provide “cheap” statins. Looking more closely, however, it seems that problems arise when there are additional health problems or when other drugs, such as antidepressants, are taken too. According to Dr Mary McGowan, a medical director of the Concord Hospital Cholesterol Treatment Center, in New Hampshire, and one of the leading cholesterol specialists in the USA, “clinical trials in both Britain and the United States show that cholesterol-lowering drugs (statins) are among the safest types of drugs and the most effective, particularly when it comes to genetic heart disorders”. This, she says, includes generic “cheap” statins such as the commonly prescribed simvastatin, which have undergone extensive trials both in this country and in America.
For about a month after my diagnosis, I became terrified of eating – I lived on oats (they lower cholesterol) with apple juice and bananas. Then I went through a brief phase of thinking: “Sod it. What difference does it make?” Then I sorted myself out. In the past two months, I have given up lattes, and instead drink green tea. I have given up red meat altogether (too much saturated fat), and I have pretty much cut out dairy products. I also limit alcohol to just one small glass of wine with supper. I exercise every day. I take coenzyme Q10, because it can help blood circulation, and glucosamine, because statins apparently affect bones, and my mother has osteoporosis, so I might as well take it as insurance. My cholesterol level is now 3.77. And all the symptoms I had when I originally went to the doctor have vanished. My body, it seems, was sensitive to fat. Now I feel great. I have more energy – in fact, I am strutting on statins.
STATINS: THE TRUTH
Recent controversies around statins have focused on the side effects of the drugs (especially muscle pain). There is some evidence of potentially dangerous side effects, particularly for pregnant women, women of childbearing age and anyone taking other medication (such as for depression). However, Dr McGowan insists that “aside from these cases, statins are among the safest drugs; not to take them is to risk heart disease at an earlier age”. For those with high cholesterol who are of childbearing age, McGowan says that statins (a low dose, with close monitoring) are considered the best option. These women, as well as those who are taking other medication or are pregnant, should consult their doctor for advice.
Heart UK: 0845 450 5988, www.heartuk.org.uk. If you think you may be at risk, ask your GP to arrange a blood test
Mary Lawrence-Smith was talking to Lorna V