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| | | Dr Graham Easton gives listeners the low-down on what the medical profession does and doesn't know. Each week an expert in the studio tackles听a particular topic and there are reports from around the UK on the health of the nation - and the NHS.
radioscience@bbc.co.uk | | | | | LISTEN AGAIN 听30 min | | | |
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"What I love about Case Notes is that it's about real medicine - real patients and health professionals telling it how it is. These days staying healthy is as much about knowing how to get the most out of the health service as about knowing all the ins and outs of disease."
Graham Easton |
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Cholesterol
In the first of a new series of Case Notes, Graham Easton investigates the truth about cholesterol and blood fats. What is the evidence that cholesterol is bad for your health can changing your diet make much difference (far less than you might think) and are cholesterol-lowering drugs really the 鈥渘ew aspirin鈥 when it comes to protecting against heart disease and strokes? Some doctors suggest that anybody at risk of heart disease should be on one of these drugs, even if they have normal cholesterol levels.
Cholesterol is a natural fat-like steroid, and an important constituent of body cells and hormones. But there鈥檚 now strong evidence that too much cholesterol in the blood puts you at greater risk of furring of your arteries (atherosclerosis) leading to heart disease and strokes. Graham asks his expert studio guest exactly how cholesterol does its damage, and what the difference is between 鈥渂ad cholesterol鈥 (LDL Cholesterol) and 鈥済ood cholesterol鈥 (HDL Cholesterol). Why do some of us have high levels in our blood 鈥 is it just bad luck or are we eating the wrong things?
We hear from people with an inherited genetic condition called familial hyperlipidaemia, which puts them at greatly increased risk of heart disease and strokes. FH is a genetic condition and is so severe that it can see adults die of heart attacks in their thirties. Basically it puts cholesterol levels through the roof. But the good news is FH can be controlled by a strict non-fat diet, daily exercise and drugs. FH affects children (there鈥檚 a 50% chance of inheritance) who also have to follow the same regime as adults. To discuss these and other issues, Graham鈥檚 guest this week is Dr Clive Weston, a consultant Cardiologist from the Singleton Hospital in Swansea.
Do you know your cholesterol level 鈥 and if not, should you? What is a normal level (very hard to say because it depends on age) but latest evidence suggests you can never have too little (bad) cholesterol in your system. So is it OK to test yourself using a DIY testing kit bought over the counter at a pharmacy? GPs would always test you more than once if your initial level seemed high. We explore the safety and reliability of cholesterol tests.
The programme also explores the science behind advice to reduce your cholesterol and lipid levels 鈥 whether it鈥檚 through a special diet or through lipid-lowering drugs like statins. In the world鈥檚 largest trial into these drugs, researchers from Oxford hailed them as the 鈥渘ew aspirin鈥. Professor Nick Wald, who came up with the idea of the Polypill (a pill containing 5 different medicines to protect the heart, which could reduce the risk of heart disease by 80%) included a statin as one of the key ingredients. What鈥檚 so special about these medicines, how do they work (even when cholesterol levels are normal) and what about the early worries that they could affect people鈥檚 mood?
This week's edition of Check Up听was also about cholesterol听- it听was followed by a live web chat with Dr Clive Weston.
Read the full transcript here.
Next week: Rehabilitation
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