HAVING HEART PROBLEMS? DON’T TRUST THE NEWEST STUDY FROM THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF CARDIOLOGY!
“The authors concluded that author’s self-declared financial conflicts of interest and source of funding do not seem to impact outcomes in major cardiovascular clinical trials.” From the February 2013 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (Authors’ Self-Declared Financial Conflicts of Interest Do Not Impact the Results of Major Cardiovascular Trials)
Just recently, the American College of Cardiology (ACC) released new guidelines lowering the definition of high blood pressure to 130/80. This immediately makes over half of Americans defined as having high blood pressure. While the committee was relatively free of COI, it was not noted that on average, each editor of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC) received $475,072 in 2014 from Big Pharma. Who made this change? Oh, right. The ACC. Where was it published? Oh, right. JACC.
The fact that millions more patients would be looking at starting new medications for the newly diagnosed ‘high blood pressure’ surely did not escape the notice of those pharmaceutical companies paying off the editors. The reason there is so little public trust in doctors is really quite simple. We’re not that trustworthy. Dr. Jason Fung writing for the November 23, 2017 issue of Medium (Clinical Practice Guidelines or Legalized Bribery?). He is discussing the study published in the previous month’s issue of the British Medical Journal (Payments by US Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Manufacturers to US Medical Journal Editors: A Retrospective Observational Study).
As I’ve showed you time and time again, when it comes to the science behind our nation’s medical care, THE FOX IS GUARDING THE HEN HOUSE, making the organizations (both public and private) charged with looking out for and protecting our health a REVOLVING DOOR. Just last week, the Journal of the American College of Cardiology published a literature review titled Supplemental Vitamins and Minerals for CVD Prevention and Treatment that called into question the validity of using any sort of nutritional supplementation to treat people with CVD (cardiovascular disease / heart disease).
In fact, they took it a step farther saying that when it comes to supplements and CVD, using supplemental nutrition “must be balanced against possible risks.” Huh? Risks from taking supplements in light of just how brutally dangerous both prescription and non-prescription drugs (not to mention surgery) really are (HERE)? Surely you jest?
Please understand that I myself have written about using the futility of using “NUTRITIONAL MONO-THERAPIES” (single nutrients) for treating almost anything. However, as I have shown you time and time again in my EVIDENCE-BASED MEDICINE column (most recently HERE and HERE), researchers — especially researchers who are creating the GUIDELINES that the rest of us are supposed to follow if we want to be “healthy” — are on-the-take. And no group seems to be on-the-take bigger than individuals associated with the ACC and JACC (HERE and HERE are their — ahem — completely unbiased Cholesterol Guidelines from a few years back).
As I was sitting down on a rainy Saturday morning to write today’s post (I was going to take this study apart bit-by-bit), Eric sent out a video of his buddy, Dr. Alex Vasquez, doing just that. Because heart disease in it’s numerous forms is the number one or two killer in America (it’s running neck-and-neck with CANCER), if you know someone with CVD or have a family history of CVD, this video is a must. Thanks Dr. V, you really kicked it with this one.
Although some complain that I am picking on them (HERE), the cold, hard truth is that the average patient is getting exactly zero guidance from their physician (family physician or specialist, it doesn’t matter) regarding nutrition (HERE), particularly when it comes to the heart. That’s why you must be your own biggest advocate when it comes to your health and the health of your family. If you like what you’re finding on our site, be sure to let those you love and care about most in on the secret. A great way to reach them is by liking, sharing, or following us on FACEBOOK.
