For the past decade, small preliminary studies have suggested that statins may be helpful as a disease-modifying treatment or add-on therapy for patients living with MS or those who have experienced a first neurological event. Early results were promising and suggest that MS patients who also take statins have less nerve damage over time. Researchers found that “statins inhibited the formation of lymphocytes and monocytes, immune-system cells which cause inflammation by attacking the body’s nerve cells” in people with MS.
In a small study in 2008, the MS patients treated with atorvastatin (Lipitor) seemed to get worse. Ten of the 17 patients who received either 40 mg or 80 mg of atorvastatin had either a relapse or a new lesion on MRI as compared to only 1 of 9 patients taking placebo who experienced a relapse or had active lesions on MRI. The authors concluded that atorvastatin (40 mg or 80 mg) taken with interferon beta-1a (Rebif) worsened the MS. This was disappointing news.
Read this post in its entirety:
MS and Cholesterol: Will Statin Medications be Useful in Treating MS
Showing posts with label Cholesterol. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cholesterol. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Thursday, September 16, 2010
National Cholesterol Education Month
High blood cholesterol affects over 65 million Americans and I am one of those people, as are each of my parents. Often genetic, high cholesterol is a serious condition that increases one’s risk for heart disease. The higher the cholesterol level, the greater the risk.
The scary thing with cholesterol is that it can be high and you may not even know it. Lowering cholesterol levels that are too high lessens your risk for developing heart disease and reduces the chance of having a heart attack or dying of heart disease.
September is designated National Cholesterol Education Month by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI). It is a good time to learn about cholesterol and lipid profiles, to get your blood cholesterol checked, to take steps to lowering it if it is high, and to learn about food and lifestyle choices that can help you reach your personal cholesterol goals.
Read this point in its entirety:
MS and Cholesterol: The Basics
The scary thing with cholesterol is that it can be high and you may not even know it. Lowering cholesterol levels that are too high lessens your risk for developing heart disease and reduces the chance of having a heart attack or dying of heart disease.
September is designated National Cholesterol Education Month by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI). It is a good time to learn about cholesterol and lipid profiles, to get your blood cholesterol checked, to take steps to lowering it if it is high, and to learn about food and lifestyle choices that can help you reach your personal cholesterol goals.
Read this point in its entirety:
MS and Cholesterol: The Basics
Sunday, August 8, 2010
MS Information: In Real Life and Online
I've been a bit quiet lately. My apologies. So much going on.
First off, if you haven't opened it yet, turn to page 22 of Momentum magazine. It is the cover story: "MS in the Information Age: Safe Travels through the Online World." For the article, the author interviewed three bloggers including myself, the Wheelchair Kamikaze (Marc) and Trevis Gleason.
In reading our comments, suggestions, and quotes, we seem to echo each other on many topics. One of the questions asked me during the interview was: "If a friend of yours were just diagnosed with MS, where would you send her for information?"
That's a good question and one for which I had an "it depends" type of answer. Truly, we are so unique and our needs differ at various points along our journey. Although the personal information which only fellow patients can offer, I admittedly did recommend the big MS organizations as being good sources.
The National MS Society offers a heckuva lot more information on their website than when I was diagnosed. The educational material they had then had to be mailed to my house. I probably still have those handouts in a file drawer somewhere. And I just love the information provided by the MS Trust in the UK. I especially love the Exercises for People with MS section. The animated examples are great.
Now the question of what would you tell a friend who was just diagnosed with MS became reality recently. She and I are both musicians and had several friends in common on Facebook. I happened to see a comment she left for someone mentioning steroids and having MS. Then I saw that she lives maybe 5-10 miles from me. Hi Shannon!
I contacted her and we had lunch last Monday. Actually I invited her to come with me to my neurology appointment last Monday. The appointment was with the nurse practitioner who basically cares for me and my MS. It was a typical appointment and I didn't alter anything of which needed to be shared, even briefly discussing some bowel issues which had come up.
So what would I tell a friend....? The real response is I would listen. Simply listen. And that's exactly what I did last Monday. Shannon and I just talked. No emphasis on information online besides saying that I'm kinda involved with writing about MS, which is an understatement.)
It's the person-to-person connection and exchange of information which is so very important. That's what we do all the time on our blogs and in our communities. It is what I did last Monday. And Shannon did the same for me. Thank you!
Next developments. As Shannon witnessed my balance stinks. Feet together, arms out in front, close eyes. Ha! It's not a wobble, it's a falling straight backwards while the nurse grabs your arms to keep you upright. (Do wish that I could see what it looks like)
My numbness has grown from my feet to my bra. My left foot and back have been buzzing and tingling for over a month now. (It's only the right side which had done that previously.) My eyes get blurry and slightly bouncy. And in the past few days, my face has gone into novocaine mode.
Last Monday I went back to the office after a great lunch and did one gram of Solumedrol (one day only). Thursday, I got a bone scan. This Tuesday, I'm getting my annual eye exam. And next Thursday, I'm getting a set of MRIs done on the Tesla3 machine.
Depending upon the outcome of all these tests, I may be starting pulse steroids soon. I do have mixed feelings about that. On one hand, it is undeniable that my MS keeps slowly progressing. On the other hand, I actually do feel better than I have in quite awhile. Surely it's due to putting my RA into remission with the Rituxan and probably from the continued weight loss.
Finally, I learned that losing the weight and changing what I eat has not lowered my cholesterol levels. In fact my numbers are higher than they were six months ago. Boo! So my rheumatologist put me on a statin to try to get those down.
Afterwards I learned that both my parents have high cholesterol so I come by it naturally. Geez, this makes me feel old for some reason. Maybe it's all those TV commercials connecting high cholesterol with heart disease and aimed at the generation just above me. Where are the examples of young people (yes I still mentally feel in my 30s) who need to use a statin? I know I must not be alone.
And now I get to find out exactly what I would do if newly diagnosed with a condition. Where do I start?
First off, if you haven't opened it yet, turn to page 22 of Momentum magazine. It is the cover story: "MS in the Information Age: Safe Travels through the Online World." For the article, the author interviewed three bloggers including myself, the Wheelchair Kamikaze (Marc) and Trevis Gleason.
In reading our comments, suggestions, and quotes, we seem to echo each other on many topics. One of the questions asked me during the interview was: "If a friend of yours were just diagnosed with MS, where would you send her for information?"
That's a good question and one for which I had an "it depends" type of answer. Truly, we are so unique and our needs differ at various points along our journey. Although the personal information which only fellow patients can offer, I admittedly did recommend the big MS organizations as being good sources.
The National MS Society offers a heckuva lot more information on their website than when I was diagnosed. The educational material they had then had to be mailed to my house. I probably still have those handouts in a file drawer somewhere. And I just love the information provided by the MS Trust in the UK. I especially love the Exercises for People with MS section. The animated examples are great.
Now the question of what would you tell a friend who was just diagnosed with MS became reality recently. She and I are both musicians and had several friends in common on Facebook. I happened to see a comment she left for someone mentioning steroids and having MS. Then I saw that she lives maybe 5-10 miles from me. Hi Shannon!
I contacted her and we had lunch last Monday. Actually I invited her to come with me to my neurology appointment last Monday. The appointment was with the nurse practitioner who basically cares for me and my MS. It was a typical appointment and I didn't alter anything of which needed to be shared, even briefly discussing some bowel issues which had come up.
So what would I tell a friend....? The real response is I would listen. Simply listen. And that's exactly what I did last Monday. Shannon and I just talked. No emphasis on information online besides saying that I'm kinda involved with writing about MS, which is an understatement.)
It's the person-to-person connection and exchange of information which is so very important. That's what we do all the time on our blogs and in our communities. It is what I did last Monday. And Shannon did the same for me. Thank you!
Next developments. As Shannon witnessed my balance stinks. Feet together, arms out in front, close eyes. Ha! It's not a wobble, it's a falling straight backwards while the nurse grabs your arms to keep you upright. (Do wish that I could see what it looks like)
My numbness has grown from my feet to my bra. My left foot and back have been buzzing and tingling for over a month now. (It's only the right side which had done that previously.) My eyes get blurry and slightly bouncy. And in the past few days, my face has gone into novocaine mode.
Last Monday I went back to the office after a great lunch and did one gram of Solumedrol (one day only). Thursday, I got a bone scan. This Tuesday, I'm getting my annual eye exam. And next Thursday, I'm getting a set of MRIs done on the Tesla3 machine.
Depending upon the outcome of all these tests, I may be starting pulse steroids soon. I do have mixed feelings about that. On one hand, it is undeniable that my MS keeps slowly progressing. On the other hand, I actually do feel better than I have in quite awhile. Surely it's due to putting my RA into remission with the Rituxan and probably from the continued weight loss.
Finally, I learned that losing the weight and changing what I eat has not lowered my cholesterol levels. In fact my numbers are higher than they were six months ago. Boo! So my rheumatologist put me on a statin to try to get those down.
Afterwards I learned that both my parents have high cholesterol so I come by it naturally. Geez, this makes me feel old for some reason. Maybe it's all those TV commercials connecting high cholesterol with heart disease and aimed at the generation just above me. Where are the examples of young people (yes I still mentally feel in my 30s) who need to use a statin? I know I must not be alone.
And now I get to find out exactly what I would do if newly diagnosed with a condition. Where do I start?
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
What do Cholesterol Numbers Mean?
In the past two weeks, I have had several doctors’ appointments. Just routine visits really, checking in with my primary care doctor, neurologist, and rheumatologist, getting new prescriptions, etc. Part of this process includes routine bloodwork. My neurology nurse practitioner was the first one to call me with the results of that bloodwork. Everything looked pretty good except that my vitamin D level remains low (argh) and my cholesterol levels are high.
My blood results were:
- Total Cholesterol: 205 mg/dL
- HDL (good) Cholesterol: 44 mg/dL
- LDL (bad) Cholesterol: 143 mg/dL
- Triglycerides: 89 mg/dL
In 2006, the respective numbers were 214, 45, 147, and 112. So everything is just a bit lower, but my neurologist would like to see those numbers lower still (except for the "good" cholesterol).
So today, I thought we’d talk about cholesterol. What is it? How is it measured? Is all cholesterol bad? Why is too much cholesterol bad? What can you do to lower your cholesterol?
Read this post in its entirety:Cholesterol and Obesity: What Do the Numbers Mean?
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