A leading public health physician is warning the ABC not to air a second program on cholesterol, saying it could result in deaths.
Last week Catalyst claimed the notion that saturated fat and cholesterol causes heart disease is the biggest myth of medical history.
This Thursday's program is about anti-cholesterol drugs known as statins, which are widely used in Australia.
The chair of the Advisory Committee on the Safety of Medicines has written to the ABC in a private capacity, warning the program might cause people not to take their drugs.
Professor Emily Banks says that will lead to more cardiovascular disease events and deaths.
"If people stop using their statins or if they don't start them when they should be, it's very likely that it will result in death," she said.
"It's likely that if this program goes ahead, and it does the unwarranted undermining of statins, that there will be people who didn't have to have a heart attack and didn't have to die from a heart attack, who will die through reducing use of statins."
Thursday's scheduled program is the second in a two-part series. Promotions say it examines how the benefits of statins have been exaggerated.
More on this story here.
Eddie
4 comments:
This needs to be aired. If questions are asked, then answers need to be given. It is only with more information can the individual think, question,action. What is so wrong with that?
Hi Eddie.
All I can say is this professor sounds desperate and terrified that the public will know the truth about statins. There are PLENTY of doctors and scientists whose websites I follow, and whose books I have read ,who have all the evidence I need to know that heart disease is cause by a high carbohydrate diet in conjunction with industrial fats. It baffles me that someone who is supposed to be highly educated in medicine, has no idea about human physiology and nutrition. But then, it also baffles me that diabetics are told to eat large amounts of carbohydrate all day long by diabetes experts. 310 grams per day is apparently the correct amount for diabetics to eat. You've got to be kidding me.
I suspect that many at, the Australian Heart Foundation, Dieticians Association and Diabetes Australia do actually know the truth, but of course could never confess. Imagine the public backlash, not to mention litigation.
After the first part of this TV show aired in Australia last Thursday, the outpouring of anger on the Heart Foundation's Facebook page was phenomenal. But, it was encouraging to know that so many Australians are educating themselves about TRUE nutrition. It is such a laugh that the Heart Foundation puts its "tick" on a box of Milo cereal (the tick indicates to consumers that the food item is good for your heart health) This cereal contains around 75 grams of carbohydrate per 100 grams! But, as it is low in fat, they trick you into believing it is healthy. With outright lies such as this, is it any wonder that chronic disease is out of control here?
The Catalyst program was the highest viewed TV show that day.
Here is the message on their Facebook page after one of their representatives attempted to defend their stance on the Catalyst show..
A message from Lyn Roberts, Heart Foundation’s National CEO: “There has been some debate on our page this week on saturated fat and cholesterol and I wanted to reiterate that our recommendation remains quite simple: everything in moderation, except smoking.
I can assure you we take our role as Australia’s leading voice for heart health with great responsibility and are committed to providing information based on the best available evidence from across the world. We stand by the comprehensive evidence base on which we base our information for the public. Our guidelines are developed by the country’s best academics, researchers, health professionals and other experts external to our organisation to ensure transparency. The process ensures a robust position paper that reflects the conclusions of the strongest evidence available at the time.
The Heart Foundation values the ongoing support of the community. We are committed to continuing to assist people with heart health information."
Looking forward to this Thursday's episode!!
Kind regards,
Lisa
It was in 2010 that my primary care physician prescribed a statin drug for me because of high cholesterol. I went home and got on the internet because I didn't know what a statin drug was. The side effects were enough to cause me grave concern. I never took one of those pills. I started take a daily niacin supplement and gave up French fries forever. That was the start of my lifestyle changes and the beginning of my journey from fat to fit.
I suffered from atherosclerosis
and had two heart stents fitted over four years ago, and I would not take statins if I was paid.
I have friends who were crippled by statins. Graham was one of them, and statins may well have caused his type two diabetes. No diabetes in his familly and he has always been as slim as a whip.
Eddie
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