Just read this about Davy Jones:
http://blog.sfgate.com/dailydish/2012/03/01/micky-dolenz-bewildered-by-davy-jones-death/

I saw some recent photos of Davy Jones and thought ''wheat belly''.  Sad, but avoidable.

I don''t claim to entirely know the answer to this question, but I am willing to venture a guess to what might be part of the answer.  My suspicion is that in the end, for better or worse, most people value the opinions of their social group more than they value their health.  Currently Doctor, your recommendations are just too far from mainstream opinion and sadly will be ignored by all but the most thoughtful people.

As anyone who has tried to modify their diet has probably discovered, the greatest challenge often isn''t dealing with cravings for a missing food.  Instead it is dealing with the social backlash to your lifestyle change from friends and family.  

At first everyone is interested in knowing why you have made the change and they attempt to accommodate your choice.  However eventually they become annoyed as they realize the change you made is permanent.  I can''t tell you how many times I have heard some variation on the following when deciding where to eat with friends (usually given with a thinly veiled snide tone of voice):

“I would really like to check out that new Italian restaurant, but Pete won''t eat pasta, so I guess we have to go back to the usual place.”

It doesn''t matter how many times I tell people that I can always find something to eat no matter where we go.  Someone will still insist on making an issue of my dietary choices.  Things aren''t always this blatant, but it is frequent enough that I eventually start wondering whether I should change my eating habits or stop eating with friends.

While dietary modifications elicit the most direct response, these types of responses seems to occur with almost any health related change.  If your friends and family aren''t themselves doing something or think the change is a dumb idea (no matter how flimsy the reasoning), most people will avoid making a change.  

Even my own partner, whose father died suddenly of a heart attack last month and whose relatively young mother has been diagnosed with chronic heart failure ignores my suggestions (which are based on your recommendations).  He has asked me several times for advice that might help his mother and the response to my suggestions is always that it won''t work.

I finally realized that he simply doesn''t want to challenge the rest of the family.  His older brother, a pharmaceutical representative, is viewed as the “expert” on family health issues and my partner refuses to butt heads with him despite what is at stake.  So I keep quiet and wish his mother the best.

Much of this is understandable.  Humans are social animals and we have evolved to depend on our social group for survival.  On a savannah in Africa 50,000 years ago this made perfect sense.  But in a modern world of science and technology these natural social instincts are increasingly an obstacle to our health and many of us know it.

Yet it still takes a strong, independent personality to ignore these impulses.  While I have been able to make a number of changes in my life based on your recommendations, it has still been difficult to consistently follow through.  

Just a few days ago I was invited over to someone''s house to celebrate a birthday.  So what was on the menu?  Several wheat pizza''s, of course.  So did I tell the host that because of my heart problems I no longer eat wheat?  Sorry Doctor, I didn''t.  Instead I shut up, ate the pizza and  proceeded to raise my small LDL particle level for the next week (http://www.trackyourplaque.com/blog/2011/11/friday-is-my-bad-day.html).

Since adopting a paleo/low carb diet in the last year, I am looking into getting an NMR lipoprofile test to get a baseline of how my particle count looks.  Under the section of treatment options on this particular site, the first line of start with eating right reads "Eat more whole grains, fruits and vegetables."  The very first thing listed is whole grains.  This is so frustrating to see on a site promoting a very useful tool in CVD risk evaluation.  I have read "wheat belly" and "track your plaque", both very good books.  I am also reading primal body, primal mind.  Heart disease runs heavily in my family and I''m pretty much going against what most people in my famliy do by following low carb/paleo eating habits.  I just dont understand why these larger blood test companies, even with all the evidence continuing to pile up, still suggest foods that will worsen the problem the tests are evaluating in the first place.  I guess you have to have confidence in the test they provide (NMR), but just ignore what they say are the best options for treating abnormalities of that test?

It is unbelievable, isn''t it, with all their insights?

Give them time and they''ll catch on. In the meantime, ignore this nonsense, Robert.

Dr. Davis,
What would you recommend for someone who had recently one stent put in and is currently on a statin and plavix post -op?
Is it necessary to take statins in this case? Any additional supplements etc.?

Thank you in advance for your help!
P.S. Loved your book!

Dr. Davis,
Could you please consider changing your "categories" back to the old way you had them organized--single file, alphabetical and one type size? Although it may give a more creative look to the website, it is harder to find the material being sought. I send many new people to your site and they often complain about it.

Hi, Julie--

This is precisely what the Track Your Plaque program is about.

In a nutshell:

1) Identify the causes specific to you, including lipoprotein abnormalties/lipoprotein(a)
2) Supplement and normalize vitamin D and iodine/thyroid status
3) Supplement omega-3 fatty acids
4) Do the diet

[...] patients so that they avoid having a cardiac.   "Why are heart attacks still happening?"  Why are heart attacks still happening? | Track Your Plaque Blog     I’m a cardiologist. I see patients with heart disease in the form of coronary artery [...]

Dr Davis
Just found your interesting website.  I am trying to get my partner to cut out wheat (overweight, high chol and high BP).  Unfortunately, I can't find a doctor who conducts the tests you recommend.  Do you know of such in Australia (particularly Western Australia)?  

Many thanks and I'll continue reading till we catch up down here!!

What's your beef with wheat?

I married a depressive. Passion generated seritonin, so she was fine. She went off her pills.

Then, she was prescribed a statin.

The normal physiological process in "falling in love" moves from seritonin to frendship chemicals and then nothing at which point you have hopefully bound yourselves up in obligations, respect, and friendship.

Well, statins decrease testosterone in women, which supports the seritonin production, so if that women is a depressive, the passion is terminated and you never get to friendship.

No woman should ever be prescribed a statin. Sure they might have better cardiac health, but their quality of life will sink--if they survive the depression and suicides.

Not fun.

Never sign an ARM. Never take a statin.

Please see my numerous prior posts on this question. Wheat products are among the most heart disease and diabetes causing foods I  know.

Here's an even better idea, combine both tratments and lower your risk even further !!! In MOST people statins are very and VERY helpful.

There are times when the Lipitor becomes superfluous.

Hi Dr. Davis,

Because I know my risk is high due to previous cardiac events, I didn't stop taking Lipitor 80 and Zetia 10 before getting a Berkeley Heart Lab (BHL) blood draw earlier in the week.

My thought was that I could assess my BHL numbers, begin ramping up on the TYP program recommendations this week and next, and then draw down my Lipitor dose sometime later over time (perhaps never to 0) as I feel more confident that I'm not putting myself at increased risk in doing so.

Does that make sense as a general strategy for transitioning to TYP?  Any other general thoughts about this?

I've come to think of wheat as a "sugar equivalent"  and it makes no difference if it's whole wheat or not.

Yes, absolutely. A stepwise approach to converting to a program with the least amount of drugs but maximum benefit is usually best.

Actually I would think the best combination would be Zocor and Slo niacin. According to the Hats Trial this combination reduced the risk of heart attack by 90% versus placebo. In this case the niacin would probably be the best thing for the small LDL particuls. Add your vitamin D and an aspirin a day and you have virtually no chance of heart disease if you eat well and excercise.

Dr. Davis,

Could the short term memory problems associated with a statin be mistaken for the beginnings of memory problems associated with aging.  My grandmother is 84, has taken a statin for years, but in the last few has been having problems with her short term memory.  

I asked her internist about it, but his comment was that the research was controversial and had her keeping taking the lipitor.

She also is slipping toward hypothyroidism which may have to be treated soon.

Thanks!

Hi, Michelle--

To my knowledge, the only way to connect Lipitor with memory deficits is to stop the drug for about 4 weeks. It takes that long to see the effects recede if it is indeed due to the drug. However, you will need to discuss this with your grandmother's doctor first.

"muscle aches (inevitable in my experience)"

I took statins for about 20 years until a couple of weeks ago when I decided to stop.  I didn't experience muscle aches.

--Lub Dub (my TYP membership name)