For more information on upper respiratory infections CLICK HERE
For more Tweets by Dr. Lakin, click HERE!
Doctor Doug:
I heard on the news that one of my medications was recalled due to chemical concerns and cancer risk. Can you tell me what you recommend I do?
Sid
I responded
Sid;
Right now…..several blood pressure medications are being implicated with concerns of imperfect production with chemical ‘taint’.
The studies do not support any short term worries, but nonetheless, this is not ideal or acceptable over time.
Plan:
1. Call your pharmacy and check to see if your medication lot# has been recalled.
2. Get an alternative producer if your manufacturer or lot has been directly recalled, if available in that pharmacy. If not, call an alternative pharmacy to see about their medication and lots.
2. Return to our website where we will post and updated list on medications that are recalled and resources where you can locate information
3. Continue on your current medication dose and type if it is working as there may be no perfectly safe harbor until this issue is clarified.
D
LINKS
Lack of short term risk of tainted medications
https://www.tctmd.com/news/lack-short-term-cancer-risk-tainted-valsartan-reassuring
FDA RECALLS:
https://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/default.htm
FDA EMAIL UPDATES FOR RECALLS (SIGN UP)
http://go.fda.gov/subscriptionmanagement
The internet is full of untruths, especially when it comes to comments and concerns about statin therapy.
There is a grass-roots effort by the non-medical community to impugn the CHOLESTEROL HYPOTHESIS, a foundational concept in cardiovascular medicine that hold that higher level of cholesterol (LDL/bad fraction) increases the risk of heart disease and lowering this number reduces the risk.
So….they comment on data that is critical of this concept or that suggests statin therapy is ineffective, or worse, causes dementia and other major health problems.
Nothing could be further from the truth, and the latest study in the NEJM on PRALUENT, a new type of injection medicine to lower cholesterol, has demonstrated definitively that lowering LDL cholesterol to levels previously unobtainable (25-50) and provide improved benefits in the heart and prevent death.
PRALUENT, and it’s sister medication REPATHA, are a new set of medications that focus on reducing cholesterol via the PCSK9 receptor pathway. This is markedly different than the mechanism of action from statins, but it achieves the fundamental same goal….reduction of LDL cholesterol.
In this latest study, we finally have ‘endpoint’ results that show longer life in patients who have had an acute MI and who are put on PRALUENT.
The exact patients who benefit most from the $600 per month injection therapy (every 2-4 week self-injections) will become clear with additional study, but one this is for certain…the lynchpin CHOLESTEROL HYPOTHESIS continues to hold and inform us on ways to increase longevity in heart disease patients.
I’ve written before about human organ transplantation that is about to become a reality as genetic engineering of pigs allows us to eliminate the barriers to trans-species transplantation (xenografting). We already use pigs for valve transplantation and in the previous generations, for producing insulin and heparin.
Using the latest techniques of genetic engineering made possible by the revolutionary technique of Crisp-cas-9, we are on the brink of commonplace organ transplantation from pigs. It is a real possibility.
Read more about it >>>HERE<<< in this article from the NY Times.
Art Levy majored in art and painting as an undergraduate, but he went on to medical school and spent the next 25 years as a cardiovascular surgeon. After retiring from the rigors of a busy, nationally-known cardiovascular practice, Dr. Levy returned to art. He started painting with acrylics and oils, adding paste, cement, and various acrylic substrates to create texture. However, he found a home when he discovered and fell in love with encaustic processes. He has spent the last 18 years developing his voice and style.
A recent report from The Washington Post about researcher Piero Anversa’s falsified heart research at Harvard Medical School is a tragedy.
Not only has this researcher duped the general scientific community, his 31 scientific papers suggested a new area of research for young cardiologists, and those who are following this path and chasing a red herring.
Doing great research is a challenge and a burden. Pursuit of greatness can alter the objective mentality that is needed for a true scientific mindset. See my recent comments on James Allison, PhD, the latest Nobel Prize winner in medicine.
Anversa is not alone. There is an entire website devoted to withdrawn research. Review it <<<HERE>>>>
You will be amazed how much of what is taken for accurate results is ultimately withdrawn from the scientific literature, and often without such fanfare.