Nutritionist Amanda Ursell follows individuals trialling the new diet method via a month-long experiment.
Allan Butters, 38, lost his younger sister, Lorraine, last year. She was one of over 200,000 people who die of heart disease every year. Her death prompted Allan to take part in a unique Tonight experiment, to improve his lifestyle and raise his chances of a long, healthy life.
Tonight nutritionist Amanda Ursell takes a closer look at cholesterol, which many doctors blame for the high amount of heart disease and stroke. Together these are the nation's biggest killers, ending one in three lives in the UK.
There are two types of cholesterol:
Excessive amounts of ‘bad’ (or LDL) cholesterol can form a hard deposit, which can narrow the arteries and make them less flexible, increasing the chance of a heart attack;
meanwhile, ‘good’ (or HDL) cholesterol actually protects the arteries from blocking.
Cholesterol levels can be checked with a simple blood test. According to Government guidelines a person’s total cholesterol should not be higher than 5 mmols/litre of blood.
There are two ways of treating cholesterol – through diet and exercise and through drugs known as statins, which are the world’s biggest selling medication. Currently more than 3 million people in the UK take statins and the Government recommends that anyone who has already had a heart attack or stroke should take these drugs. There is also a new policy in place in which these drugs are being offered to people deemed to have a 20% risk of developing heart disease over the next ten years. The Government say that statins save 10,000 lives each year.
Howevere, statins do not suit everybody and some people are sceptical about them being hailed as ‘wonder drugs’. They can have side effects. Some manufacturers say that up to one in ten people may have “common” side effects, which can include abdominal and back pain, insomnia and fatigue, while less than one in 10,000 people can experience “very rare” side effects, such as muscle fibre breakdown.
Tonight meets Di Garstang who, despite her healthy life style, has hereditary high cholesterol levels. She was prescribed statins and she says that although they significantly reduced her cholesterol, they also reduced her quality of her life. Like Di, David Wilson took statins to reduce his cholesterol, but he says he suffered side effects and that he even wanted to end his life as a result of the drugs.
None of the statin manufacturers will comment on individual cases, but both Merck and Pfizer say there is strong clinical evidence to prove that statins significantly reduce the likelihood of heart attack and stroke. They recognise that all drugs have side effects.
Merck also say there are patients who are intolerant of statins, but the vast majority benefit significantly. And both they and Novartis say patients with concerns about their medication should talk to their doctor. Pfizer say that Lipitor’s side effects are typically short lived and self-resolving and that doctors consider the drug to be one of the safest on the market.
In the United States, where almost 10% of the adult population is on statin medication, the debate about side effects has reached the court rooms. Leading attorney Mark Krum is taking up more than 50 public liability cases against the world’s largest drug company, Pfizer, and its biggest-selling medicine, the statin Lipitor. We meet Mr Krum and one of his clients, Gerry Ward, who says he never recovered from the adverse effects that statins had to his body.
Mr Ward, a former airline pilot, took Lipitor for about three years. He says he suffered severe nerve damage and still struggles to walk. He says every step he takes is painful and that, had he known what he knows today, he would never have taken Lipitor in the first place.
Pfizer say many other law suits in the US have been dismissed by the courts and they intend to continue to vigorously defend these cases. Tonight interviews the UK Medical Director for Pfizer Ltd. Dr David Gillen emphasizes the benefits statins have had in treating high cholesterol and related diseases. He explains that all medicines have a degree of risk, but that the benefits of Lipitor far outweigh these.
He says that the drug is the most prescribed statin in the world and is very effective. He also says that the company spends enormous amounts of resource to understand the risks and the benefits of its medicines and, if appropriate, adverse event labelling is changed to reflect changes.
However, there are claims that a new diet, called the Portfolio Eating Plan, can be as successful as statins in reducing cholesterol levels. The Portfolio Eating Plan originates from the University of Toronto. Researchers found that the diet can be as effective as taking a starting dose of statins, and that it had no potential side effects.
Tonight travels to Huddersfield, home to some of the nation’s highest cholesterol levels, according to charity Heart UK. We meet Allan Butters, Russ Hayden and Kerina McEvoy-Ives, who all want to take part in the Tonight Portfolio Eating Plan in a bid to lower their cholesterol levels.
Allan, Russ and Kerina will abandon the biscuits, pasties and takeaways they love in place of this way of eating, which is rich in heart healthy foods such as soya, beans, pulses and almonds. They will also have to up the exercise they do – taking 10,000 steps each day to boost their good cholesterol levels, by walking and training at their local gym - Kirklees Active Leisure Centre. In addition, they will be asked to reduce the amount of cigarettes they smoke.
After just over a month on the Portfolio Eating Plan Russ, Kerina and Allan all manage to lower their cholesterol significantly. They also reduce their blood pressure and Allan stops smoking, while Kerina cuts down significantly. As a result, they significantly reduce their likelihood ofn suffering cardiovascular problems.
The Tonight team also interview Dr Malcolm Kendrick, a GP who is against the mass prescribing of statins. In his book, The Great Cholesterol Con, Dr Kendrick argues that cholesterol does not have a major role in cardiovascular diseases.
FURTHER INFORMATION
GETTING YOUR CHOLESTEROL CHECKED
To get your cholesterol measured you can contact your General Practitioner or Lloyds Pharmacy. Other high street pharmacies also sell tests. It’s important to find out your good and bad cholesterol levels, as well as your total cholesterol level. Click on to the Lloyds website to find out further information http://www.lloydspharmacy.com/wps/portal/services/hearthealthcheck.
THE PORTFOLIO EATING PLAN AND HEALTHY LIFESTYLE
If you are interested in a heart-healthy lifestyle you can find further information, recipes and links about the Portfolio Eating Plan on Amanda Ursell’s webpage www.amandaursell.com and click on the link to the Portfolio Diet. Please note that before making major changes to your diet Tonight recommends you consult your GP or a nurse.
IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT THE PORTFOLIO EATING PLAN IS FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE NOT ALREADY SUFFERED HEART DISEASE. IF YOU HAVE ALREADY HAD A HEART ATTACK OR STROKE, AND ARE ALREADY TAKING STATINS, YOU MUST CONTINUE TO TAKE YOUR DRUGS.
For more information about the Portfolio Diet, please go to: www.portfolioeatingplan.com or the University of Toronto’s Department of Nutrition at www.utoronto.ca/nutrisci - see the section on Research and Lipid Metabolism.
The British Dietetics Association also offers information on cholesterol-lowering diets: www.bda.uk.com.
POSSIBLE STATIN SIDE EFFECTS
If you think you might be suffering from side effects that are related to your medication Tonight emphasizes you must discuss them with your GP. It is imperative that you DO NOT stop any medication before consulting your GP.
HEART DISEASE AND STROKE
For further information on cholesterol, heart disease and stroke please visit the British Heart Foundation www.bhf.org.uk, Heart UK www.heartuk.org.uk, British Cardiac Association www.bcpa.co.uk, or the Stroke Association www.stroke.org.uk website.
DR MALCOLM KENDRICK’S BOOK – THE GREAT CHOLESTEROL CON
To find further information on Dr Malcolm Kendrick and his book The Great Cholesterol Con
(published by Jon Blake Ltd) please visit The International Network of Cholesterol Skeptics (THINCS) website www.thincs.org.
See also www.spacedoc.net
AMERICAN LAWSUITS
To find out more about Mark Krum’s work and the American lawsuits please visit The Law Offices of Mark Jay Krum website www.krumlaw.com.
REPORTING POSSIBLE SIDE EFFECTS
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is the Government agency responsible for ensuring that medicines and medical devices work, and are acceptably safe. If you think a medicine has caused a side effect or reaction, you can report the problem to MHRA through the Yellow Card Scheme, even if you think a particular medicine or combination of medicines may have caused a side effect. This can be done at www.yellowcard.gov.uk. Alternatively, forms can be found at pharmacies, other NHS outlets or your doctor’s surgery. You can also call the Yellow Card hotline on free phone 0808 100 3352 weekdays between 10.00am and 2.00pm.
For more information about medicines, including statins, go to www.medicines.org.uk where you can use the Medicine Guides to look up the Summary of Product Characteristics and the Patient Information Leaflet.
Department of Heath www.doh.gov.uk provides legislation and guidance from the UK Government and the National Health Service
National Institute of Clinical Excellence, www.nice.org.uk is an independent organisation responsible for providing national guidance on promoting good health and preventing and treating ill health.
Kirklees Active Leisure Centre http://www.kirkleesactive.co.uk.
If you want to get in touch with the Tonight team regarding the issues covered on our programme, please email us on myheart@itv.com
