Doctor Q&A: What are the best tools to lower high cholesterol?

I had back surgery for a back injury and am looking forward to getting back into exercise. Would it be out of the question to start running/running again? Your advice will be greatly appreciated. I look forward to hearing from you.

This is something I get asked a lot about because back pain is a common issue at the GP and when it comes to surgery, we are the next port of call when surgeons are hard to contact! So today I did what I usually do, I asked him in the house for a specialist’s opinion as he is one of those surgeons.

According to the medical opinion, it depends on the surgery but as a guideline, if you have ever had:

• Discectomy (removal of prolapsed disc) then wait two months but keep the soft appeal during two months.
• Stress (expansion of the spine allows the spine to pass without being punctured), wait three months but it still collects gently everywhere.
• A Fusion – talk to your surgeon as the extent of surgery will vary greatly.

Having said all of the above, be guided by pain – if you have increased pain that does not resolve after exercise, then it is too much.

In addition, there is a very good YouTube channel, written by a back doctor that you can use to collect and help restore information at any time.

Enjoy and good luck.

What are the best supplements for lowering high cholesterol? My doctor recommends statins but saw some interesting research online

I think lowering cholesterol naturally versus statins is one of the most common questions I get asked. Of course, diet and lifestyle can lower cholesterol once it’s elevated, and I’m a doctor who likes to treat most cases this way, and certainly uses all natural methods first. gets medicine. So let’s look at all the methods.

First, avoid processed foods and make sure your diet includes the following:

• Eat heart-healthy foods
• Cut down on saturated fat.
• Eat foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids.
• Remove the fat. Trans fats are sometimes listed on food labels as “hydrogenated vegetable oils.”
• Add whey protein.
• Add soluble fiber.
• Exercise / increase your physical activity
• Do at least 30 minutes of exercise five times a week or 20 minutes of vigorous-intensity exercise three times a week.
• Quit smoking – Within a year after quitting, the risk of developing a heart attack is half that of a smoker.
• Lose weight
• Drink less alcohol – less than 14 units per week and less

Now let’s look at natural solutions other than diet and exercise to consider. There are so many different herbal/supplement claims that I looked to see if there was any RCT evidence for any and found a systematic review and the following herbs showed a reduction in Total cholesterol (TC):

• Guggul: five studies that measured TC found a reduction of 10 to 27 percent compared to baseline measures.
• Artichoke (two studies): another study showed a decrease in TC of 18.5 percent and 8.6 percent for artichoke and placebo, respectively.
• Fenugreek seeds: A statistically significant reduction in TC between 15 and 33 percent has been shown in five studies.
• Red yeast rice (four studies): there was a statistically significant reduction in TC of 16 to 31 percent, compared to placebo or control or baseline.

In general, there is much you can do to lower cholesterol through diet, exercise, and possible herbal/natural remedies. Some of this will of course be reduced by genetics but if you can make the lifestyle changes mentioned above, your health will undoubtedly benefit so it’s a win-win situation.

I keep losing my sense of smell or it mostly changes. Some things don’t smell like they used to while others are more pungent. What could these changes in smell mean?

When the smell changes or disappears, it may be a minor health problem that can be solved but may indicate more serious issues.

Smell problems increase as people age, and affect men more than women. Some estimates suggest that a quarter of men aged 60-69 have a problem with smell, compared to just over a tenth of women in that age group.

There are four main changes in smell that can be seen:

• Hyposmia: reduced ability to perceive smells
• Anosmia: inability to fully smell
• Parosmia: changes in the normal perception of smell, such as the smell of a familiar object is changed, or the smell of a familiar smell is offensive.
• Phantosmia: Smelling smells that aren’t there

Smell problems have many causes, some more obvious than others. Many people with smell problems have had a recent illness or injury. Common causes of odor problems are:

• Getting old
• Smoking
• Sinus and other upper respiratory infections
• Polyps
• Head injury
• Dental problems
• Hormonal problems
• Exposure to chemicals, such as pesticides and solvents
• Many medications, including common antibiotics and antihistamines
• Radiation for the treatment of head and neck cancer
• Conditions that affect the nervous system, such as Parkinson’s disease or Alzheimer’s disease.

What I can say to reassure you is that normal things are normal and it is possible that you have had a viral infection that is affecting your smell and that it will get better with time. There are people who lose their sense of smell for a long time after covid (I lost mine for two to three weeks) and most of it comes back and there are smell challenges you can use to help with a method of scent training that involves smelling certain things like that. such as clove, lemon, eucalyptus and wake up for 15 seconds, twice a day for several weeks or several months.

However, it is important, if this has continued for more than two to three weeks, to be examined, only if it is one of the many causes above, and soon the better the earlier treatment the better. later.

I hope this helps