Sylvia Shepherd, Wivenhoe, Essex<\/span><\/p>\nYour husband\u2019s drug \u00adregimen is aimed at lowering his risk factors for heart attack and stroke \u2013 high blood pressure (now under control) and raised cholesterol.<\/p>\n
A lot of people are \u00adanxious about statin side-effects, influenced by misinformation largely from social media. But a major study (the Jupiter study on \u00adrosuvastatin) found that the rate of side-effects was the same for those on the drug as for the group taking a placebo. This, for me, says it all. Another option is ezetimibe, which has even fewer side-effects.<\/p>\n
There are natural methods for reducing cholesterol: the \u00adquestion is how well your husband can adhere to them.<\/p>\n
First, if he needs to, losing weight will lower his cholesterol level. You mention plant stanols in your longer letter \u2013 these are cholesterol-like \u00adcompounds that bind to receptors in the gut and reduce \u00adcholesterol absorption.<\/p>\n
Research shows 1.5g to 3g daily over four to eight weeks could reduce \u2018bad\u2019 LDL cholesterol by 7 to 12 per cent \u2013 a modest effect, comparable to about a quarter of the reduction from a statin.<\/p>\n
Personally, I\u2019d steer clear of \u2018plant stanol\u2019-rich spreads, as these can be highly processed.<\/p>\n
He could also boost his intake of soluble fibre, which binds to bile acids (which contain cholesterol that\u2019s then excreted): the liver must remove cholesterol from the blood to make new bile acids. Eating 3g of beta \u00adglucans a day (the equivalent of around 90g of oats) over roughly two months can reduce cholesterol levels by as much as 7 per cent.<\/p>\n
Nuts can also have a modest effect \u2013 partly down to the \u00adbeneficial unsaturated fats they contain, thought to block the absorption of \u2018bad\u2019 cholesterol and help remove it from the body. The key is combining these approaches \u2013 in one study, following a diet rich in plant stanols, soluble fibre from oats, plant protein and nuts for around two months, reduced LDL by at least 20 per cent.<\/p>\n
It may help to seek the advice of a dietitian to create a suitable programme, and check with his GP before making big changes to his lifestyle, especially as he takes other prescribed medication.<\/p>\n
In my view… Meningitis B is not another Covid<\/h2>\n
The recent outbreak of meningitis B triggered a real wave of anxiety. I\u2019ve had daily conversations with parents panicking about their children \u2013 largely, I have to say, unnecessarily so, for what has become clear is that there is much confusion about the transmissibility of viral infections (e.g. Covid-19) and bacterial infections (such as meningitis).<\/p>\n
Colds, flu and other common viral illnesses are mostly spread by airborne droplets: the viruses ride on micro droplets from someone\u2019s cough or sneeze. These droplets act as rafts that anyone nearby will breathe in, so contracting the infection.<\/p>\n
Bacterial infections do not behave like this: bacteria are much larger than viruses, and are spread by transfer of body fluid \u2013 sharing drinks, vapes, cutlery, kissing, or even via a small degree of facial contact.<\/p>\n
Given this outbreak was in Kent, the chances of a student in St Andrew\u2019s, say, being infected by the same pathogen are slim \u2013 there\u2019s no reason to suppose that it can rampage like Covid-19.<\/p>\n
Nonetheless, once vaccine supplies are back to normal, parents may be well-advised to get their child vaccinated against MenB from around the age of 15.<\/p>\n
Write to Dr Scurr at Good Health, Daily Mail, 9 Derry Street, London, W8 5HY or email drmartin@dailymail.co.uk \u2013 include your contact details. Replies should be taken in a general context. Always consult your own GP with any health worries.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Over the past eight weeks I\u2019ve developed numbness in the fingers of both hands and this prevents me doing many things, such as fastening buttons. However, it\u2019s not painful. Can you recommend any medication, or food to avoid? I\u2019m 91 and otherwise healthy. Gordon McCready, Eaglesham, Glasgow It sounds like you might have carpal tunnel<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7252,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[520],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-7251","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-hot"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7251"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7251\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Carpal](\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2026\/03\/30\/17\/107531539-15691743-Carpal_tunnel_syndrome_can_be_triggered_by_inflammation_or_swell-a-1_1774887243496.jpg\")
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