Statins, Osteopenia, and the Derby

Life is hard; food doesn't have to be #131 [vol4, 5.2]

You might have heard me say, “food is medicine.” Not all food is created equal. Not all medicine is good.

Last week we celebrated the one year anniversary of my 18yo son surviving a 40 foot fall. He initially stayed 5 days in the hospital and had 3 total surgeries. I am very grateful for life saving medicines and pain management!

This week I found myself in the hospital with my mom; more on that below.

There are no shortcuts in life. I often repeat the adage: pay me now or pay me later. I hear people complain all the time about how they don’t have the money to eat good food — or time to spend making good food. My husband and I decided years ago to invest in our health NOW. We think it is worth it to pay more for quality food and spend time making it.

This week I listened or read 3 things that left my jaw dropped.

1. This podcast with Joe Rogan and Dr. Aseem Malhotra, MD, a NHS trained Consultant Cardiologist. If you *or anyone you love* have taken a statin drug for high cholesterol this is a must listen. Whenever I tell people I listen to this #1 rated podcast I like to give the disclaimer that I do not condone Rogan’s potty mouth. I do, however, appreciate that he gives guests ample time to share their stories and expertise.

   Whatever your view of modern medicine, prepare to be shocked. Dr. Malhotra is articulate and has facts as well as insane personal experience that will cause your jaw to drop.

2. My mom fell this week and fractured her hip resulting in surgery, at least 5 days in the hospital and 7-10 days in a rehab facility. She fell as she was walking to empty trash at a restaurant and can’t say for sure she tripped. My dad said he saw her just crumple to the ground; nothing was on the ground. I asked the surgeon post-op did he see evident of a pre-existing condition.

   His response was, “Has she ever taken a bone building medication?” I answered affirmative. He said, “Sometimes the drugs build the bones also weaken the hips.” My sister did a quick google search and was infuriated by what she found.

   Fosamax is a drug prescribed for the prevention of osteoporosis, for those who have a condition called osteopenia (more on this below). My sister sent this NPR article called How a Bone Disease Grew to Fit the Prescription (which is also a 20 minute NPR spot from All Things Considered).

   Please read the entire article. Shocking for me was how doctors decided to draw the line for osteopenia:

   The question before the experts {of experts from the World Health Organization} in Rome then was this: Since after the age of 30 all bones lose density, how much bone loss was normal? And, how much put women at risk and therefore should be considered a disease?

   Anna Tosteson is a professor of medicine at the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice and Dartmouth Medical School who attended the meeting. She says that over a two- or three-day period the experts in the room went back and forth and back and forth, looking at research and trying to decide precisely where on a graph of diminishing bone density to draw a line.

   "Ultimately it was just a matter of, 'Well ... it has to be drawn somewhere,' " Tosteson says. "And as I recall, it was very hot in the meeting room, and people were in shirt sleeves and, you know, it was time to kind of move on, if you will. And, I can't quite frankly remember who it was who stood up and drew the picture and said, 'Well, let's just do this.' "

   So there in the hotel room someone literally stood up, drew a line through a graph depicting diminishing bone density and decreed: Every woman on one side of this line has a disease. {emphasis added by Julie}

The article continues to share how the pharmaceutical company, Merck, hired a man to “get large numbers of women on the drug.”

The side effects for Fosamax continue years after discontinuation of the drug.

These two podcasts got me thinking -

If people knew the side effects for prescription drugs WOULD actually happen in their bodies, would they take the drugs?

Are side effects better than the actual disease?

Does anyone actually read the inserts that come with prescription drugs?

To add to the above, a few years ago, my dad took a drug to quell ulcerative colitis. One known side effect was lymphoma. Knowing the risks he took the drug and then went through cancer treatments, even loosing his hair. He battles neuropathy in his feet now as a side effect from chemo. See also: his gastroenterologist told him “eat whatever you want, it doesn’t matter.” I disagreed.

Please hear that I’m not throwing stones at my parents for taking prescription drugs. They were doing the best they knew based on information given. My heartbeat is for people in 2023 to think outside modern medicine and begin to think more of food as medicine. I’m a megaphone saying there are alternatives. Modern medicine gives results quickly but at what long term cost?

3. The BBC has a podcast called, Crowd Science, and released a short spot recently called, “What’s living inside my gut?” Listen if you want to learn the purpose of the appendix. I love all things gut related so when it was recommended to me of course I listened.

Derby / Dawn at the Downs

Almost a year ago we moved to The Derby City. While horses are always in the background in Kentucky, two weeks before the Derby, the city of Louisville transforms into a scene of celebration. My family has mostly ignored all the things - except for my daughter went to the Balloon Glow near the riverfront, where giant balloons are fired up at night in preparation for the next morning’s race.

Then a friend told me about Dawn at the Downs. So I took my youngest to get in on the action. Who am I kidding? I really wanted to see the horses up close at Churchill Downs without the masses.

We left our house at 6:30am and raced to the historic track. After parking we walked what seemed like a marathon to meet a throng of others looking to get a glimpse of the Derby contenders. Some were dressed to the nines for the breakfast on Millionaire’s Row while others, like us, were wrapped in winter coats.

I made a bee line to the rail where we met Bekkie, who loves all things Derby and takes her vacation the two weeks before the Greatest Two Minutes of Sports. She even has a tattoo of Secretariat, who won the Derby in 1973 and broke a 25 year silence of Triple Crown winners. (The Triple Crown is a trifecta of races that begins with the Kentucky Derby, then Preakness then Belmont Stakes.) Humble brag: I met Secretariat at the Kentucky Horse Park and was given hair from his tail before he passed in 1989.

Back to Bekkie. Talking to her was better than asking Alexa all the things. Bekkie was a walking horse encyclopedia! She knew horses by sight, jockeys by name and had even volunteered at the adjacent Kentucky Derby Museum. Once the horses began to appear on the track for warm ups, she said, “I’ll talk to you again in 15 minutes.”

The first fifteen minutes of the day were reserved for Derby and Oaks horses. Derby horses had bright yellow blankets under their saddles with their names monogrammed on them. Oaks racers were identified with pink.

Interestingly, Derby is on Saturday and a “run for the roses.” Oaks is Friday where “fillies run for the lilies” and people wear pink and even the drinks served are pink as a nod to cancer fighters and survivors.

Once the million dollar winners had their fifteen minutes of fame on the mile track, other horses came out. Bekkie told us that 1400 horses are boarded at Churchill Downs. Seeing Derby contenders was exciting but even more thrilling was to see a throng of fast moving giant beasts with small men (and women) hanging on for dear life. And so close! We got to pet a few who came to the rail (probably to talk with Bekkie, but she said the kids were the bigger draw.)

Schaeffer (in hood) and me holding phone, will go again next year!

Kentucky Derby Pie

Whether or not you watch the Derby tomorrow, you may want to make a Derby Pie. It’s like a pecan pie (made with walnuts) with chocolate and if you imbibe, bourbon. Another famous Kentucky dish is the Hot Brown: an open faced turkey sandwich with Mornay sauce (a creamy cheese sauce) topped with crispy bacon and slices of Roma tomatoes. Here’s a recipe for a twist on the original - a tart.

Life is hard, food doesn’t have to be.

Julie