How Helpful Is Lowering Cholesterol?

This week, the American College of Cardiology met and revealed surprising data on some new studies. What is the best way to lower cholesterol? Do healthy people get any benefit from taking cholesterol-lowering drugs? How did doctors determine that some patients really do suffer from muscle problems when they take statins?

Could a Tick Bite Make You Allergic to Burgers?

About a decade ago, immunologists discovered that people who had been bitten by a lone star tick, common throughout the southeastern United States, could experience a dangerous allergic reaction to eating meat. Beef, pork and lamb might all be problematic. But figuring the connection out was complicated, because reactions are usually delayed many hours after eating a burger or barbecue on a bun. We talk with a specialist about how she diagnoses alpha-gal allergy and how it should be treated.

If you have had an experience being allergic to burgers, Joe and Terry invite you to share it. Do you have questions about lowering your cholesterol? You can email radio@peoplespharmacy.com before 8 am EDT on Saturday, April 9, 2016.

This Week’s Guests:

Robert DuBroff, MD, is associate professor of medicine in the Division of Cardiology at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, NM. He is board-certified in internal medicine and cardiology and has a specialty in lipidology. His article was published in the American Journal of Medicine.

Steven Nissen, MD, is chairman of the Robert and Suzanne Tomsich Department of Cardiovascular Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic. He is the co-author, with Mark Gillinov, MD, of Heart 411: The Only Guide to Heart Health You’ll Ever Need. He reported on the GAUSS-3 trial along with his colleagues at the American College of Cardiology meeting in Chicago. The study was published online in JAMA this week.

Maya Jerath, MD, PhD, is board certified in Internal Medicine and Allergy and Immunology.  She is head of the UNC Allergy and Immunology Clinic at the Thurston Arthritis Research Center at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. She sees patients with a wide range of allergic and immunologic disorders, including rare and hard-to-diagnose conditions. She has a special interest in food allergy, eosinophilic esophagitis, and immunotherapy, and a specialized clinical interest in the diagnosis and management of alpha-gal meat allergy. Her website is http://www.med.unc.edu/tarc/people/maya-r-jerath-md-phd

Listen to the Podcast:

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photo credit: John Tann via photopin cc