6 Ways to Reduce Inflammation—Without a Statin or a Heart Test

Although not for everyone, statins have probably saved my life. My dad had his first heart attack when 45 (running bases after hitting a triple playing baseball) and my cholesterol shot up from about 200 to 305 just about when I was 44 - now it's 200, I'm 52, and glad I kept an eye on it. I take generic simvastatin - 80 mg pills are $44/100 at Walmart and I bite off about 1/4 pill each day - I have no insurance so get over a years worth of 20 mg/day "Zocor" for $44... Some people have side effects, is true, but then you may have to take other meds. Lipitor is about $120/month to do the same thing. One can take Red Yeast Rice and CO-q10 but the cost is about $50/month. hs(high sensitivity)CRP will show lowgrade inflammation (one may not even know what causes it) - CRP will show bad inflammation (arthritis, lupus, etc may send it off the charts) and mild inflammation (gum disease) so is good to get because it's cheap. I'm wondering if statins or anything will reduce CRP or if they just say take statins. I do agree with Mr. CAPS, that this is big Pharma wanting to sell drugs, but for me (and would have been for my dad if they'd checked cholesterol in the 1960s) statins are a lifesaver. P.S. I tried reducing cholesterol type foods and went from about 225 to 200 on LDL cholesterol - diet and exercise wouldn't help that much. Now LDL is about 160.

Chris of CA 5:27PM November 11, 2008

Floss and brush your teeth!

Zander Westendarp of WA 5:19PM November 11, 2008

IN ALL CAPS-FURIOUS:FOLKS,THIS IS THE BIGGEST-APARRENT SCAM BY THE FDA AND BIG PHARMA...EVER!! THIS WAS 'ANNOUNCED' IN A RECENT NEW ORLEANS HEART DOCS CONVENTION-HOW CONVIENIENT,SO IT LOOKED 'OFFICIAL'!!THOSE HEART DOCS BETTER BE AWARE OF STATINS EVIL DEEDS.AND I WONDER: DID THESE HEART DOCS GET A BIG PHARMA PAID FOR FREE CONVENTION TRIP FROM THE STATIN MAKER-DUDES?PITY THE STUPID-NIEVE PATIENT WHO DOESN'T KNOW THE TRUTH!! THE WRITER OF THE ARTICLE MIGHT FOLLOW UP ON THIS SO CALLED CONVENTION AND IT'S 'TIMING'?i know at least several friends that voulntarily stopped taking statins,from muscle weakness and i also overheard two seniors talking about statins and they both quit,because they had muscle weakness,after two weeks of use!is this the tip of the iceberg?

I HAD BEEN DIAGNOSED WITH PARKINSON SOME( I NEVER TOOK 'L-DOPA' JUST USED CO-Q 10 ENZYMES + E AND MANY ANTI OXIDENTS HERBS SUPPLIMENTS SHARKS CART ETC.) 15 YEARS AGO,AND ANYONE WITH NERVE MUSCLE PROBLEMS (ARE) THE ULTIMATE VICTIMS OF THIS,BECAUSE STATINS CAN PARALIZE AND LESSOR DIGREE, WEAKEN MUSCLES-PERMINATLY!THATS RIGHT, YOU DON'T RECOVER THE DAMAGE-DONE,VIA STATINS,YOUR SCREWED,AND STILL NO HEART ATTACK,NOW JUST UNABLE TO 'EXERCISE' ANYMORE,BECAUSE STATINS-APPLIED EARLY,LIKE BIG PHARMA WANTS,..... KEPT YOU FROM KEEPING HEALTHY VIA EXERCISE,BECAUSE YOU ARE NOW, TOO WEAK!! THATS AN 'OXY MORON' BROUGHT TO AMERICANS BY CORRUPT BIG PHARMA AND FDA....THANKS BUT NO THANKS.

MY DOCTOR,A GOOD SINCERE MAN WANTED TO LOWER MY CHOLESTOROL AND I BALKED,THEN NET-RESEARCHED AND FOUND A EUROPEAN STUDY WHICH SAID SEVERAL YEARS AGO CAUSED 500 DOCTORS TO BAN THE USE OF STATINS,BECAUSE OF SEVERE SIDE AFFECTS!THE FDA...TOOK TWO MORE YEARS TO ACKNOWLEDGE THIS AND THEN CHANGED THE LABEL WITH A BIGGER WARNING,WHAT A BUNCH OF CROOKS THE FDA HAS BECOME,IN BED WITH BIG PHARMA,SO THEY GET A CUSSHY JOB EXITING THE FDA ON TO BIG PHARMA AS A 'CONSULTANT' FOR BIG BICKS!! THAT WAS THE EUROPEAN DOCTORS- WEB ARTICLE WHICH SAVED MY LIFE! HAD I NOT RESEARCHED THIS EVIL DRUG,I WOULD HAVE BEEN -LIKLEY PARALISED.IGNORANCE ABOUT STATINS CAN RUIN YOUR LIFE,SO WHY NOT USE THE NATURAL-WAY.LIKE THE ARTICLE SAYS,AND NEVER-EVER....BE FORCED/BRAINWASHED INTO THE 'STATIN TRAP'.

IF ANY TYPING ERRORS,IS BECAUSE OF MY SLIGHT TREMOR- DISABILITY FROM USING DONALD RUMSFIELD INSTALED DIET PEPSI,SWEETNER,ASPERTAIN,FOR TEN YEARS(YES I WAS VICTIMIZED BY RUMMY HIMSELF)WHICH IS NOW A KNOWN 'NEURO TOXIN'AND CAUSES FALSE PARKINSON SYMPTOMS,OFTEN,BY THE MILLIONS MISDIAGNOSED AS PARKINSONS,SO THATS ANOTHER DRUG SCAMM,MADE LEGAL BY RUMMY,THANKS BUSH CRONIE,NOW GO TO THE HAUGE FOR YOUR WAR CRIMES TRIAL-YOU TRAITOR.

FOLKS: DO YOUR RESEARCH ON DRUGS, DON'T LET ANYONE TELL YOU YOU NEED THIS OR THAT, AND ALWAYS QUESTION BIG PHARMA.

DAWK of CA 4:51PM November 11, 2008

Thanks very much for the articles.I do appreciate all the information services like you provide. Fred Distefano

Fred Distefano of TX 4:28PM November 11, 2008