Hello Yesmam,
I'm sorry to learn that you suffer so from MS. I have a friend who
has MS, and know first hand how it can affect you. I hope you stay out
of the heat this summer!
You are on certainly top of the medical news these days! Just last
week, a group of researchers from the Medical University of South
Carolina released results of the first clinical trial study showing
statins may soon hold some promise for MS patients.
?A group of 30 patients with MS were given 80 mg a day of Merck & Co
Inc's Zocor, or simvastatin, and had a 44-percent reduction in brain
lesions after three months of treatment, the study showed.
Brain lesions are markers of the progression and severity of MS, a
debilitating disease in which nerve cells lose their insulating
sheath, leading to muscle weakness, fatigue, bladder problems and
impaired vision.
Since existing MS treatments, such as interferon, are expensive, must
be injected and are only partially effective, swapping to statin
pills--already taken by millions of people every day--would offer
clear advantages.
But Professor Chris Polman, an MS expert at the VU Medical Center in
Amsterdam, said more research is needed, including a large
placebo-controlled clinical trial. The first of these trials is about
to commence and could take around two years.
"It's a very good start but it's not conclusive," Polman said in a
telephone interview, adding it was possible some brain lesions may
have disappeared spontaneously, given the relapsing-remitting nature
of the disease.?
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_17739.html
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/index.php?newsid=8307
http://finance.lycos.com/qc/news/story.aspx?symbols=NASDAQ:BIIB&story=200405132301_RTR_L13419532
?Scott Zamvil of the University of California, San Francisco, and his
team tested a drug called atorvastatin - which has the brand name
Lipitor - on three different mouse versions of the disease.
The results were "overwhelming", says Zamvil. A week's treatment
equivalent to the highest human dose reversed or prevented relapses
and curbed brain inflammation. The group hopes to start clinical
trials in humans early next year.
The drug has few side-effects and is taken by mouth. It is an
attractive candidate for desperately needed therapies, says
multiple-sclerosis researcher Hartmut Wekerle of the Max-Planck
Institute of Neurobiology near Munich, Germany. Current drugs require
repeated injections.?
http://www.nature.com/nsu/021104/021104-10.html
Statins:
Some commonly prescribed statins; Brand name, generic name, and manufacturer:
·Lipitor (atorvastatin) - Pfizer
·Zocor (simvastatin) - Merck
·Pravachol (pravastatin) - Bristol-Myers Squibb
·Lescol (fluvastatin) - Novartis
·Mevacor (lovastatin) - Merck
Statins work by blocking an enzyme in the liver that is needed to
make cholesterol, and are intended to lower LDL, the?bad cholesterol?.
Statins do seem to have other uses such as lowering blood pressure and
a now possibly a beneficial connection with MS.
http://www.healthandage.com/Home/gid2=2415
?Most people who take a statin have no side-effects, or only minor
ones. Read the information leaflet which comes with your particular
brand for a full list of possible side-effects. These include:
headache, pins and needles, abdominal pain, bloating, diarrhoea,
feeling sick, and a rash.
You should tell your doctor if you have any unexpected muscle pains,
tenderness or weakness. This is because a rare side-effect of statins
is a severe form of muscle inflammation.?
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/index.php?newsid=8274
According to BUPA, a global healthcare organization: Do not take any
other medicines or herbal remedies with a statin, including those you
have bought without a prescription, before talking to your doctor or
pharmacist.
·Some antidepressants, antibiotics, antifungals, antivirals,
immunosuppressants and other lipid-lowering drugs increase the risk of
serious muscle problems with the statins.
·Grapefruit juice increases the levels of simvastatin in the body.
Discuss this with your doctor or pharmacist if you regularly drink
grapefruit juice.
·Some antibiotics interact with certain statins to increase or reduce,
the normal metabolism (breakdown) of the statin.
·The anticlotting effect of warfarin is increased by simvastatin
http://www.bupa.co.uk/health_information/html/medicine/statins.html#2
Beta-sitosterol:
Whole Heath MD, a site that was linked to from Dr. Andrew Weil?s site
http://www.drweil.com/app/cda/drw_cda.html-command=TodayQA-questionId=17875
?Beta-sitosterol may also lower elevated cholesterol in some cases, a
function of its apparent ability to block the absorption of
cholesterol throughout the body. However, relatively high daily doses
are typically needed for this effect, so if you're taking the lower,
standard daily amount of beta-sitosterol for BPH (125 to 250 mg
daily), don't expect results for your cholesterol too. Consult your
doctor for guidance about taking beta-sitosterol for high
cholesterol.? And ?While each new study on beta-sitosterol for BPH
provides important insights, much remains to be learned about how safe
and effective beta-sitosterol is over the long-term.?
Beta-sitosterol?s primary use is for BPH, benign prostatic
hypertrophy, and a lesser use is for lowering cholesterol.
http://www.wholehealthmd.com/refshelf/substances_view/0,1525,972,00.html
Your diet can supply you with plenty of beta-sitosterol, especially
if you like avocados and pistachio nuts!:
http://www.nutritiondata.com/foods-000077000000000000000.html
Guggulipids:
According to Sangsters, a Canadian Health Food store:
?Guggulipids are a standardized extract of the plant Commiphora Mukul
and have been used in India for over 2,000 years. It has been shown
over a 12 to 14 week period that Guggulipids can lower blood
cholesterol by 14 to 27 percent and triglyceride levels of LDL (bad
cholesterol) by 22 to 30 percent, while increasing HDL (good
cholesterol) levels by approximately 16%.?
http://www.sangsters.com/showpamph.php3?pamphid=64
This BioMedCentral abstract says ?More than 100 million people in the
United States report using nutritional supplements. Most people are
under the impression that nutritional supplements offer health
benefits and are closely regulated to ensure safety and efficacy.
-Unfortunately, the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of
1994 allows for the promotion of nutritional -supplements without
review by the United States Food and Drug Administration; therefore,
it is important to evaluate the efficacy and safety of these
supplements. There is strong scientific evidence supporting the use of
plant sterolsstanols, omega-3 fatty acids, niacin, folate, vitamin
B6/B12, and tree nuts. There is potential evidence for the health
benefits of soy protein, tea extracts, policosanol, guggulipids,
coenzyme Q10, and L-arginine. There has been a lack of evidence for
the health benefits of garlic and antioxidants.?
Michael H Davidson MD and Chris T Geohas MD
Department of Preventive Cardiology, 1725 West Harrison Street Suite
1159, Rush-Presbyterian-St Luke's Medical Center, Chicago, IL, 60612,
USA
http://www.biomedcentral.com/1523-3804/5/15/abstract
Now, do guggulipids and beta-sitosterol act as statins? No.Not
chemically. And yes. Yes as effective cholesterol-lowering agents.
Each works towards the same goal, but in different ways. They DO act
to lower blood pressure, and they MAY help alleviate MS symptoms, but
in a different, and little studied way. Your fatty acid supplements
and statins lower cholesterol in distinct ways, and this distinction
is why guggulipids and beta-sitosterol have little KNOWN bearing on
MS. Statins block an enzyme that allows the liver to manufacture
cholesterol. Guggulipids and beta-sitosterol are incorporated into
cell membrane production. Without these, and other essential fatty
acids, the cell membranes would utilize saturated fats as cell
building blocks, causing the cell to be more rigid. (The nice
essential fatty acids allow cells to be more elastic, letting the
heart more easily return to a resting state.) You may find that taking
the guggulipids and beta-sitosterol supplements simply makes you feel
better however.
I did find this article that shows some benefit to fatty acids and MS:
?Sterols (Sitosterol) and Sterolins (Sitosterolin)
There are many chemical constituents (termed phytochemicals) found in
plant medicines that have beneficial pharmacological effects in
humans. Some bioactive phytochemicals include tannins, resins,
polysaccharides, saponins, glycosides, and volatile oils among others.
Recent literature has reported that two of these phytochemicals,
sterols and sterolins (plant "fats"), occur naturally in fruits,
vegetables, seeds, and nuts, and have clinically beneficial effects in
human subjects in many conditions.
Sterol is found in all plant-based foods, and sterolin is a glucoside
moiety joined to the sterol chemical structure. Both sterols and
sterolins were identified as early as 1922. In the natural state,
these plant "fats" are bound to the fibers of the plant, making the
sterols and sterolins difficult to be absorbed during the normal
transit of digested food through our gut. Seeds are the richest source
of the sterols and sterolins, but are usually removed during
processing by the food industry.
Plant sterols and sterolins have been reported to be effective
adjunctive agents in the management and treatment of disease states
such as high cholesterol levels, benign prostatic hyperplasia,
pulmonary tuberculosis, stress-induced immune suppression, and HIV
among others.Some of the most promising uses of these plant "fats" is
in the management of autoimmune disorders such as lupus, multiple
sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and myasthenia gravis. Of note is
that the sterols should be combined with sterolin in order to be an
effective agent for the immune system.
Sterols and sterolins have been reported to modulate the function of
T-cells, significantly enhancing the proliferation of the CD-4 TH-1
cells and increasing the production of the interleukin 2 (IL2) and
gamma-interferon (FN-g and IFN-y) These results indicate that sterols
and sterolins are adaptogenic in that they modulate the immune and
stress response.?
http://content.nhiondemand.com/dse/consumer/HC3.asp?objID=100630&cType=hc
http://www.wholehealthmd.com/refshelf/substances_view/1,1525,992,00.html
Today, doctors would like your cholesterol to be below 200mg/dl,
ideally with an HDL(good cholesterol) of 60 or greater. Back when I
was in college, we learned that an ideal cholesterol was below
250mg/dl. If I remember correctly, it was around 1983-1985 that a
healthier value was determined to be 200mg/dl or less.
http://health.allrefer.com/health/cholesterol-test-values.html
If you?d really like to delve into fatty acids, visit this link:
http://medlib.med.utah.edu/NetBiochem/FattyAcids/outline.html
Hope this was helpful to you, yesmam! I'm wondering, were you
attracted to gugglelipids because of the similarity of the name to
your beloved Google? :-)
If you have any furhter questions regarding this answer, please click
on the Answer Clarification button, and I will be happy to respond!
Sincerely,
crabcakes
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