44 THE QUEENS COURIER • HEALTH • OCTOBER 19, 2017 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
health
The simple plan that can keep your cholesterol in check
For legendary TV personality and
Emmy-award winner Regis Philbin,
everything changed on a seemingly ordinary
day back in 1992. While in Miami
shooting a television commercial, the
popular host - who usually plowed forward
with his various commitments as
though nothing could stop him - experienced
something that day that almost
did.
“All of a sudden, I was getting pains in
my chest,” he recalls. “I thought maybe I
was getting sick. I couldn’t believe it but
they took me to a local Miami hospital
and the doctors there discovered I had
a blocked artery. My wife Joy fl ew down
to join me and I had to have an angioplasty.”
Th e process was a success and Philbin
continued on with his busy lifestyle. But
15 years later, his heart health problems
returned. “I found out in 2007 that I had
to have triple bypass surgery,” he said. “I
couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t sleep the
night before. At 6 a.m. they rolled me
into the operating room. I was there at
the hospital for the next week, walking up
and down the hallways.”
Helping to protect heart health
High cholesterol aff ects over 100 million
Americans and is a major risk factor
for heart disease - the number one cause
of death in America. Philbin now aims to
be a success story, not a statistic.
It has been 10 years since Philbin’s triple
bypass surgery, and since then he
has been working diligently to ensure he
makes it another 10 or more without a
heart episode. Today, Philbin works to
protect his heart health and keep his cholesterol
in check with a simple and eff ective
plan - he monitors his diet strictly,
mostly choosing chicken and fi sh over
beef, and follows a strict treatment regimen
that includes the right statin medication
for him.
“I know every day my statin is working
to control my cholesterol,” he said.
Lipid expert Dr. Eliot Brinton, M.D.,
president of the Utah Lipid Center and
Fellow of the Fellow of the American
Heart Association and National Lipid
Association, knows how important statin
medication can be in helping patients
lower their cholesterol. “For most
patients with high LDL cholesterol, a statin
is a must. Statins are usually easy to
take and lower cholesterol very eff ectively,”
said Dr. Brinton.
“Yet, according to a new survey of
patients with high cholesterol, more than
half of former statin users say they abandoned
their statin because of side eff ects,
and about a third say they stopped taking
their statin without fi rst discussing it with
their doctor. It’s important to know that
there are several statins, some of which
are less likely to interact with other medications,
but still lower cholesterol very
well. If you’re not happy with the statin
you’re currently taking, please, talk to
your doctor to see if another statin may
work better for you.”
Philbin agrees. When he fi rst started
taking a statin, he experienced muscle
pain. He spoke with his doctor and
switched to the statin that he is now taking,
which worked for him. “Most people
don’t know there are multiple statin
medications, and that they can work with
their doctors to identify the one that is
most appropriate for them,” he said.
Take Cholesterol to Heart
Statins have been proven to help reduce
cholesterol levels, yet 50 percent of people
who are prescribed a statin stop taking
their medication within one year of
starting it. In many cases, patients don’t
understand the consequences of stopping
their statin.
Philbin wants to change that.
To help patients make better, more
informed treatment decisions, Regis and
Joy, his wife of more than 35 years, joined
Kowa Pharmaceuticals America, Inc.
and the American Academy of Family
Physicians (AAFP) Foundation on the
new Take Cholesterol to Heart initiative.
Th e campaign encourages patients to
speak frankly to their doctors about any
challenges with their current statin therapy,
and to partner to fi nd another statin
that works for them.
“We want to inspire people to talk
to their doctor through this Take
Cholesterol to Heart initiative,” said Joy
Philbin. “People with cholesterol or heart
issues shouldn’t think they are limited to
just one treatment option. Th ey can work
with their doctor to fi nd a statin medication
that works for them.”
To learn more about statin medications
for high cholesterol and how to
support your own health, visit www.
TakeCholesteroltoHeart.com. You’ll fi nd
helpful tips for speaking with your doctor
to establish the right statin for you.
You can also learn more about your personal
cholesterol medication considerations
and access a cholesterol 101 management
guide, a medication reminder
checklist, and additional results of the
recent cholesterol survey. Any or all of
these resources can help you build a foundation
for your cholesterol treatment.
Because, as Philbin says, establishing and
sticking to the right treatment plan for
you can truly make all the diff erence.
Courtesy BPT