michelle@thegoodhealthshop.co.za
039 315 5351

Old age is a privilege denied to many. Growing old is NOT a medicatable (SP) disease.

It’s unheard of for people today to approach their 60’s and not be on drugs of some sort – blood pressure meds, cholesterol, thyroid, hormones, bone density pills, and the list goes on and on.

The funniest (saddest) one we hear here is ‘your high cholesterol is hereditary’. In fact Hereditary Hypocholesterolemia is a rare disease: “Most patients with homozygous FH do not survive adulthood beyond age 30 years unless treated with unusual methods, such as liver transplantation, LDL apheresis, or ileal bypass surgery to dramatically lower their LDLc levels”. (emedicine.medscape.com/article/121298-overview)

Hereditary cholesterol is not a random reading that only shows up in your 50’s. By telling you that the problem is hereditary, the doctor is removing all responsibility from the patient and ensuring that the patient agrees to medication. It’s a horrible way to doctor and I have no respect for these methods. Cholesterol is a naturally elevated substance in your blood, and your levels are supposed to rise as you age, which is why the side-effects of the statins are so dire. That’s right, you do need cholesterol. This soft, waxy substance is found not only in your bloodstream but also in every cell in your body, where it helps to produce cell membranes, hormones, vitamin D, and bile acids that help you digest fat. Cholesterol also helps in the formation of your memories and is vital for neurological function. Your liver makes about three-quarters or more of your body’s cholesterol, and contrary to what your doc tells you, cholesterol is NOT a cardiac marker; in other words, your cholesterol reading can be ‘normal’ and you can still have a cardiac event. Homocysteine, on the other hand, is a true cardiac marker, but is never tested (unless you demand it, and request your number when the results arrive) as there is no prescription medication to correct an imbalance, only supplements from a health shop.

Doctors of aging folk are not satisfied unless their patients swallow a handful of drugs every day. We at the Health Shop know that a large percentage of this is unnecessary and that ¾ of the misery of aging is actually side effects of over-medication.

Yes, there are people with genuine health challenges, and how much do we appreciate life-saving drugs?!?! But that’s not what we’re talking about here…