Thursday, February 17, 2011

6 TIPS TO SOOTHE MENSTRUAL CRAMPS


“Only women bleed,” crones a 1970s ballad by Alice Cooper. To which we should say, “Yes. Yes we do.” Call it Aunt Flo, the red tide, the curse, or riding the crimson wave, your period is that time of the month when you’re dealing with cramps that pain and hormones that swing. Sure, maybe there are some women out there who enjoy this completely natural monthly event. If she’d like to identify herself, I’d like to her to show me where Santa Claus lives with the Easter Bunny, next door to the Tooth Fairy of course.
Yes, some sarcasm. Maybe I’m PMS-ing. Or maybe most of us think of our periods via John Hughes’ Sixteen Candles, when Ginny Baker spends most of the film cranky and then completely out of her mind (via painkillers) at her wedding. And all because of her period. Bad menstrual cramps are caused by the normal contraction of the uterus, the result of prostaglandins in the body.
So yes, Aunt Flo isn’t a welcome guest. But there are some easy ways to combat the crimson tide.
Walk it off. Some medical professionals suggest that those whoexercise several times a week are less likely to experience bad cramps. Even a quick walk can help ease discomfort, as anything that releases endorphins will help you manage pain.
Hit the heating pad. Heat can help with inflammation and reduce the buildup of fluid in tissues. It also eases muscle spasms. Experts urge us to lie on our stomachs while applying the heat or in the most comfortable position possible.
Sleep. Need an excuse to nap? No time like the painful present. It will take your mind off the pain and let you get some much needed relaxation.
Take a hot bath. This will help you relax your abdomen muscles and, more importantly, soothe your mind. For extra effort, bring out the candles and the scented bath oil. Erbaviva makes a great blend with organic and wild-crafted essential oils.
Consider vitamins and supplements. As Dr. Woodson Merrell of Beth Israel Medical Center told ABC News, consider “taking Evening Primrose Oil in a 500-1000 mg dose once a day in capsule form (available at vitamin shops and health food stores) along with 200-400 mg of magnesium and 100-200 mg of vitamin B6 for four to seven days before the onset of your period.” Be sure to consult a medical professional if you are already on certain medications or experience severe periods.
Drink a cup of tea. Consider a cup of green tea. According to experts, green tea is high in phenolics, which can inhibit cramps. Don’t want the caffeine? Think about a cup of relaxing chamomile tea. Better yet, drink it while you’re in the bath.

source:  http://ecosalon.com/
originally there are 7 tips but 1 tip not applicable for Muslim Lady (sex during period is prohibited)

SIMPLE SOLUTIONS TO 8 COMMON BEAUTY DILEMMAS

beauty solutions


It would be grand to just roll out of bed every morning looking glamorous and fresh, but the truth is that it takes a little work. Here are eight easy and eco-friendly tricks for dealing with some of the most frustrating beauty predicaments without going the high-maintenance route.

Tired Eyes
Everybody knows about sliced cucumbers, but I recently discovered a more effective method. Steep a couple of green tea bags, put them in the refrigerator until they’re cool and place them over your eyes.

Blemishes
Apply a touch of toothpaste overnight and dab blemishes with lemon juice before putting on makeup in the morning.

Oily Skin
If you start your morning off with a hot bowl of oatmeal, this one’s a cinch. Let your leftovers cool, mix in a little bit of honey and apply this homemade mask to your face. Leave it on for five minutes and rinse.

Dull Hair
Next time you pop the bubbly, save a glass of champagne(Not for muslim) to rinse through your hair for brighter locks.

Bad Breath
Add several drops of lemon juice to that reusable water bottle you carry around all day. When your mouth feels stale, just take a swig and swish. Bad breath bacteria don’t stand a chance against the acid present in lemon juice.

Wet Nails
Who has the time to wait for nail polish to dry, especially after a couple of coats? Dipping them into ice cold water will speed up the process.(Not for Muslim Lady)

Chapped Lips
Lip balm may moisturize, but it doesn’t get rid of dead skin cells. Make your own exfoliating scrub by blending a bit of honey with coffee grounds and massage the mixture onto your lips.

Dandruff
Mix several teaspoons of vinegar with water and massage into your scalp. Wrap your hair in a towel and leave it in your hair overnight. Repeat the process weekly for the best results.

For more beauty suggestions, check out Katherine’s picks for the best organic skin toners, shampoos and sunscreens.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Natural remedies for the 15 most common aches, pains, and health complaints

(Photo: Flickr / tillwe)

Is the economy beating you up? It’s time to get creative. Next time you have an ache or pain, forget about a costly trip to the drugstore and test-drive some of your grandmother’s remedies instead. It’ll save money and be gentler on your body and the environment. Recessionistas (and gents), welcome to the DIY medicine cabinet.
1. Stop Bleeding
You’d think it would burn, but a sprinkle of cayenne pepper on a cut will quickly stop the bleeding and actually relieve the pain.
2. Toothache
There’s nothing so bad as the shooting pain of a toothache. You don’t want to ignore a tooth problem, because an infection that close to your brain can be extremely dangerous if it spreads. But in order to reduce swelling and pain while you wait for a dentist appointment, try putting a few drops of clove oil on your tooth and gums, and bite down on a smashed piece of garlic (which has excellent antibacterial properties). This has always worked for me.
3. Rashes and Allergies
Prescription and OTC antihistamines can cause some serious side effects. Before you head for the strong stuff, try green tea, which contains compounds with antihistamine properties. You’ll need to drink 2-3 cups a day to get the full effect.
4. Athlete’s Foot
It’s a foot fungus, and it stinks. Air those piggies, then soak them in salty water, wash them with garlic juice, or soak them with diluted white or apple cider vinegar. All of these things will help kill the fungus.
But you have to be persistent, consistent, and diligent: No matter what treatment you use, do it a few times a day and stick with it until at least a week after you think the symptoms are gone! Fungus excels at hiding out and coming back when you least expect it.
5. Acne and Sensitive Skin
First, you really have to look at your lifestyle, because imbalances in your health can show up in your skin. But in the meantime, wash your face with oatmeal. It’s a gentle exfoliant and draws out oil and impurities.
6. Ear Infections
Ear infections can become quite serious and cause permanent damage, so please see a doctor if your ear ache has become severe.
But if you feel like your infection is mild and at the beginning stages, put a few drops of garlic oil or white vinegar into your ear canal and lay down on the opposite side to let those drops do their work. Garlic and vinegar create an environment that won’t support the bacteria causing the infection. Repeat a few times a day until the symptoms disappear. (If your symptoms last longer than a few days, you should definitely see a doctor!)
7. Sore Muscles and Bruises
After a hard afternoon of rowing with a friend, I resigned myself to a few days of burning muscles and soreness. But my friend saved the day with a tube of arnica cream. He rubbed it on my shoulders and voila, instant relief and absolutely no aches the next day. The humble arnica flower makes an incredible cream that no medicine cabinet should be without. Use it immediately to speed up the healing of bruises, sprains, sore muscles, and other general aches.
8. Flatulence
Some foods, like beans and raw veggies, are more likely to cause gas, but if you find flatulence to be too common of an occurrence, try taking a digestive enzyme with your meals. You can find these at any health food store.
In the meantime, make use of digestive spices such as ginger, anise, peppermint, coriander, and dill. You can make tea with these ingredients or incorporate them into your food.
9. Dandruff
Have you looked at the ingredients in dandruff shampoo? It seems like they contain almost everything in theToxic Ingredients You Must Avoid list. Better to try something natural first before resorting to chemicals. Many people swear by rubbing aloe vera gel onto the scalp (leave it on for 20 minutes than rinse it out). This will certainly help with dry, itchy scalp.
Another remedy is a rinse with apple cider vinegar. Try these remedies a few times before deciding if they work for you. Even dandruff shampoo requires regular use to see results, so give the natural stuff a chance!
10. Headache and Migraine
Try rubbing peppermint or lavender oil on your temples and the base of your neck; sniffing these oils may also help.
Rub a fresh cut lemon or lime on your forehead. Feverfew is a good herbal remedy for headaches.
Have a little caffeine by way of green tea, and don’t forget to use an ice pack for 20 minutes to dull the throbbing.
11. Indigestion and Heartburn
It almost goes without saying – but consider why you’re getting heartburn in the first place. Did you overeat? Too much grease or spicy food? Eating late at night? Scout out the cause and try to stop this before it happens. Then, put down the antacids.
The belching, bloat, and heartburn caused by indigestion come about because you don’t have enough stomach acid to do the job right. A spoonful or two of apple cider vinegar will help break down the excess food that is causing you trouble and bring your stomach back to balance.
12. Constipation
First, drink more water and eat more fruit and salads. You’re backed up for a reason and taking lots of laxatives is not the answer. Meanwhile, drinking a few teaspoons of olive oil mixed with a bit of orange or (diluted) lemon juice can help things get moving.
Another surefire remedy is 1/4 teaspoon of epsom salts drunk in 1/2 a glass of water. Sometimes calorie restriction or avoidance of healthy fats (such as the good fats found in fish, nuts, and avocados) can worsen constipation.
And though it’s counterintuitive, some people relieve their constipation by actually cutting back on grain consumption! True, grains contain fiber, but some people don’t digest grains very well. Other causes of constipation include stress, depression, inactivity, and nutritional deficiencies. If your constipation is chronic, it may be a sign of a more serious problem, so please seek medical advice and adjust your lifestyle.
13. Sore Throat
Sore, scratchy throats are usually a sign of a cold or flu coming on, so you don’t want to ignore this symptom, but you can relieve the pain by gargling with warm salt water a few times a day and then drinking a soothing honey-lemon tea.
14. Burns
So you bumped up against the stove again? Ouch. Rinse first with cold water, but then immediately applyaloe vera gel to the burn.
For those of us who don’t have aloe in the house, slice a potato and rub its cool, soothing juices all over the burn.
And honey, with its antibacterial properties, is also good topical ointment. If you can catch the burn immediately, mustard is also reportedly a great salve.
15. Nausea
The classic cure for nausea or carsickness is ginger tea or candied ginger. You can chew on the stuff raw, if you like, but it’s so spicy and strong it might just make you feel worse.
Sniffing real peppermint or lavender oil can also help.
Give some of these remedies a try – and share your own tried-and-true treatments, too.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Woman dies after butt implant procedure; Tourist underwent backdoor silicone surgery in Hampton Inn BY LINDSAY GOLDWERT

Police are investigating the death of a British tourist who checked into a Hampton Inn in Philly to receive backdoor butt enhancement.
Police are investigating the death of a British tourist who checked into a Hampton Inn in Philly to receive backdoor butt enhancement.

In 2009, Solange Magnano, a 38-year-old former Miss Argentina died from gluteoplasty complications.


A British tourist who flew to Philadelphia for illegal buttock-enhancement surgery has died from medical complications. 

The woman, who has not been named, reportedly checked into a Hampton Inn hotel to have the back-room procedure. The woman complained of chest pain after she received silicone injections and was taken to a local hospital, where she died early Tuesday morning, according to NBC Philadelphia.  

The Delaware County medical examiner told the NBC affiliate that the preliminary cause of death is the silicone injected into the woman's vascular system.

The victim was one of four women who flew across the Atlantic earlier this month for the posterior-enhancing procedure. They all had traveled to Philadelphia for hotel room appointments for the surgery.

The police have not released the name of the party who reserved the rooms at the Hampton Inn or who administered the silicone. 

Police are awaiting the results of an autopsy. 

In 2009, a former Miss Argentina died as a result of her quest to plump her rump.Solange Magnano 38, died from complications after undergoing a gluteoplasty – a cosmetic surgery on her buttocks.

"A woman who had everything lost her life to have a slightly firmer behind," a friend of the beauty queen told reporters after her death. 



Monday, February 7, 2011

CLEAN YOUR KIDNEYS WITH LESS THAN $1.00



Years pass by and our kidneys are filtering the blood by removing salt, poison and any unwanted entering our body. With time, the salt accumulates and this needs to undergo cleaning treatments. How are we going to do this? 

It is very easy, first take a bunch of parsley and wash it clean Then cut it in small pieces and put it in a pot and pour clean water and boil it for ten minutes and let it cool down and then filter it and pour in a clean bottle and keep it inside refrigerator to cool. 

Drink one glass daily and you will notice all salt and other accumulated poison coming out of your kidney by urination. Also you will be able to notice the difference which you never felt before.

Parsley is known as best cleaning treatment for kidneys and it is natural!  


Sunday, February 6, 2011

New ASPIRIN in crystal by Bayer



Provided you trust the new product !!

Something that we can do to help ourselves.  Nice to know.
Bayer is making crystal aspirin to dissolve under the tongue. They work much faster than the tablets.

Why keep aspirin by your bedside?
About Heart Attacks

There are other symptoms of an heart attack besides the painon the left arm. 
One must also be aware of an intense pain on the chin, as well asnausea and lots of sweating, however these symptoms may also occur less frequently.
Note
: There may be NO pain in the chest during a heart attack..  The majority of people (about 60%) who  had a heart attack during their sleep, did not wake up..  However, if it occurs, the chest pain may wake you up from your deep sleep.


If that happens, immediately dissolve 
two aspirinsin your mouth and swallow them with a bit of water.
Afterwards:
- phone a neighbor or a family member who lives very close by
- say "heart attack!"
- say that you have taken 2 aspirins..

- take a seat on a chair or sofa near the front door, and wait for their arrival and...
~
do NOT lie down~

A Cardiologist has stated that, if each person, after receiving this e-mail, sends it to 10 people, probably one life can be saved!

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Heart Surgeon Admits Huge Mistake! - Oils, Carbo and Cholesterol


Good reading...for those who are afraid of cholesterol

Without inflammation, cholesterol would not accumulate in wall of blood vessel and cause heart disease

Heart Surgeon Admits Huge Mistake!

By Dwight Lundell, MD

Part 1 of a 2-part article (see part 2 below)

We physicians with all our training, knowledge and authority often acquire a rather large ego that tends to make it difficult to admit we are wrong.  So, here it is.  I freely admit to being wrong..  As a heart surgeon with 25 years experience, having performed over 5,000 open-heart surgeries, today is my day to right the wrong with medical and scientific fact.

I trained for many years with other prominent physicians labeled "opinion makers."  Bombarded with scientific literature, continually attending education seminars, we opinion makers insisted heart disease resulted from the simple fact of elevated blood cholesterol.

The only accepted therapy was prescribing medications to lower cholesterol and a diet that severely restricted fat intake.

The latter of course we insisted would lower cholesterol and heart disease.  Deviations from these recommendations were considered heresy and could quite possibly result in malpractice.

It Is Not Working!

These recommendations are no longer scientifically or morally defensible.  The discovery a few years ago that inflammation in the artery wall is the real cause of heart disease is slowly leading to a paradigm shift in how heart disease and other chronic ailments will be treated.

The long-established dietary recommendations have created epidemics of obesity and diabetes, the consequences of which dwarf any historical plague in terms of mortality, human suffering and dire economic consequences.

Despite the fact that 25% of the population takes expensive statin medications and despite the fact we have reduced the fat content of our diets, more Americans will die this year of heart disease than ever before.

Statistics from the American Heart Association show that 75 million Americans currently suffer from heart disease, 20 million have diabetes and 57 million have pre-diabetes. These disorders are affecting younger and younger people in greater numbers every year.

Simply stated, without inflammation being present in the body, there is no way that cholesterol would accumulate in the wall of the blood vessel and cause heart disease and strokes.  Without inflammation, cholesterol would move freely throughout the body as nature intended.  It is inflammation that causes cholesterol to become trapped.

Inflammation is not complicated -- it is quite simply your body's natural defense to a foreign invader such as a bacteria, toxin or virus.  The cycle of inflammation is perfect in how it protects your body from these bacterial and viral invaders. 

However, if we chronically expose the body to injury by toxins or foods the human body was never designed to process, a condition occurs called chronic inflammation. Chronic inflammation is just as harmful as acute inflammation is beneficial.

What thoughtful person would willfully expose himself repeatedly to foods or other substances that are known to cause injury to the body?  Well, smokers perhaps, but at least they made that choice willfully.

The rest of us have simply followed the recommended mainstream diet that is low in fat and high in polyunsaturated fats and carbohydrates, not knowing we were causing repeated injury to our blood vessels.  

This repeated injury creates chronic inflammation leading to heart disease, stroke, diabetes and obesity.  

Let me repeat that. The injury and inflammation in our blood vessels is caused by the low fat diet that has been recommended for years by mainstream medicine.

What are the biggest culprits of chronic inflammation? Quite simply, they are the overload of simple, highly processed carbohydrates (sugar, flour and all the products made from them) and the excess consumption of omega-6 vegetable oils like soybean, corn and sunflower that are found in many processed foods.

In Part 2 of this two-part article, I'll discuss which foods cause inflammation, how those foods trigger the inflammatory process, and the foods to eat that will cure inflammation.

Part 2
by Dwight Lundell MD 02/06/2009

Take a moment to visualize rubbing a stiff brush repeatedly over soft skin until it becomes quite red and nearly bleeding.

Let's say you kept this up several times a day, every day for five years. If you could tolerate this painful brushing, you would have a bleeding, swollen infected area that became worse with each repeated injury. This is a good way to visualize the inflammatory process that could be going on in your body right now.

Regardless of where the inflammatory process occurs, externally or internally, it is the same. I have peered inside thousands upon thousands of arteries. A diseased artery looks as if someone took a brush and scrubbed repeatedly against its wall. Several times a day, every day, the foods we eat create small injuries compounding into more injuries, causing the body to respond continuously and appropriately with inflammation.

While we savor the tantalizing taste of a sweet roll, our bodies respond alarmingly as if a foreign invader arrived declaring war. Foods loaded with sugars and simple carbohydrates, or processed with omega-6 oils for long shelf life have been the mainstay of the American diet for six decades. These foods have been slowly poisoning everyone.

How does eating a simple sweet roll create a cascade of inflammation to make you sick?

Imagine spilling syrup on your keyboard and you have a visual of what occurs inside the cell. When we consume simple carbohydrates such as sugar, blood sugar rises rapidly. In response, your pancreas secretes insulin whose primary purpose is to drive sugar into each cell where it is stored for energy. If the cell is full and does not need glucose, it is rejected to avoid extra sugar gumming up the works.

When your full cells reject the extra glucose, blood sugar rises producing more insulin and the glucose converts to stored fat.

What does all this have to do with inflammation? Blood sugar is controlled in a very narrow range. Extra sugar molecules attach to a variety of proteins that in turn injure the blood vessel wall. This repeated injury to the blood vessel wall sets off inflammation. When you spike your blood sugar level several times a day, every day, it is exactly like taking sandpaper to the inside of your delicate blood vessels.

While you may not be able to see it, rest assured it is there. I saw it in over 5,000 surgical patients spanning 25 years who all shared one common denominator - inflammation in their arteries.

Let's get back to the sweet roll. That innocent looking goody not only contains sugars, it is baked in one of many omega-6 oils such as soybean.  Chips and fries are soaked in soybean oil; processed foods are manufactured with omega-6 oils for longer shelf life. While omega-6's are essential -they are part of every cell membrane controlling what goes in and out of the cell - they must be in the correct balance with omega-3's.

If the balance shifts by consuming excessive omega-6, the cell membrane produces chemicals called cytokines that directly cause inflammation.  Today's mainstream American diet has produced an extreme imbalance of these two fats. 

The ratio of imbalance ranges from 15:1 to as high as 30:1 in favor of omega-6. That's a tremendous amount of cytokines causing inflammation. In today's food environment, a 3:1 ratio would be optimal and healthy.

To make matters worse, the excess weight you are carrying from eating these foods creates overloaded fat cells that pour out large quantities of pro-inflammatory chemicals that add to the injury caused by having high blood sugar. 

The process that began with a sweet roll turns into a vicious cycle over time that creates heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and finally, Alzheimer's disease, as the inflammatory process continues unabated.

There is no escaping the fact that the more we consume prepared and processed foods, the more we trip the inflammation switch little by little each day. The human body cannot  process, nor was it designed to consume, foods packed with sugars and soaked in omega-6 oils.

There is but one answer to quieting inflammation, and that is returning to foods closer to their natural state. To build muscle, eat more protein. Choose carbohydrates that are very complex such as colorful fruits and vegetables. 

Cut down on or eliminate inflammation- causing omega-6 fats like corn and soybean oil and the processed foods that are made from them.  One tablespoon of corn oil contains 7,280 mg of omega-6; soybean contains 6,940mg. Instead, use olive oil or butter from grass-fed beef.

Animal fats contain less than 20% omega-6 and are much less likely to cause inflammation than the supposedly healthy oils labelled polyunsaturated. Forget the "science" that has been drummed into your head for decades. The science that saturated fat alone causes heart disease is non-existent. The science that saturated fat raises blood cholesterol is also very weak. Since we now know that cholesterol is not the cause of heart disease, the concern about saturated fat is even more absurd today.

The cholesterol theory led to the no-fat, low-fat recommendations that in turn created the very foods now causing an epidemic of inflammation. Mainstream medicine made a terrible mistake when it advised people to avoid saturated fat in favor of foods high in omega-6 fats. We now have an epidemic of arterial inflammation leading to heart disease and other silent killers.

What you can do is choose whole foods your grandmother served and not those your mom turned to as grocery store aisles filled with manufactured foods. By eliminating inflammatory foods and adding essential nutrients from fresh unprocessed food, you will reverse years of damage in your arteries and throughout your body from 
consuming the typical American diet.

[Ed. Note: Dr. Dwight Lundell is the past Chief of Staff and Chief of Surgery at Banner Heart Hospital, Mesa, AZ. His private practice, Cardiac Care Center was in Mesa, AZ. Recently Dr. Lundell left surgery to focus on the nutritional treatment of heart disease. He is the founder of Healthy Humans Foundation that promotes human health with a focus on helping large corporations promote wellness. He is the author of The Cure for Heart Disease and The Great Cholesterol Lie 


Friday, February 4, 2011

New drug produces steep drop in bad cholesterol

Christopher Cannon

AP – An undated photo provided by the 
American Heart Association shows Dr. Christopher 
Cannon of Brigham and …


CHICAGO – An experimental drug boosted good cholesterol so high and dropped bad cholesterol so low in a study that doctors were stunned and voiced renewed hopes for an entirely new way of preventing heart attacks and strokes.

"We are the most excited we have been in decades," said Dr. Christopher Cannon of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, who led the study of the novel drug for Merck & Co. "This could really be the next big thing."

The drug, anacetrapib (an-uh-SEHT'-ruh-pihb), will not be on the market anytime soon. It needs more testing to see if its dramatic effects on cholesterol will translate into fewer heart attacks, strokes and deaths. Merck announced a 30,000-patient study to answer that question, and it will take several years.

But the sheer magnitude of the new medicine's effects so far excited lots of doctors at an American Heart Association conference in Chicago, where results were presented on Wednesday.

"The data look spectacular, beyond what anybody would have expected," said Dr. Robert Eckel, a University of Colorado cardiologist and past president of the heart association. "It's like a rocket to Jupiter versus one to the moon. I can think of many of my patients who could use the drug right now."

Merck's Dr. Luciano Rossetti agreed.

"We are trying not to be too giddy. The potential benefit is enormous," said Rossetti, senior vice president of global scientific strategy at the company, based in Whitehouse Station, N.J.

It was one of two studies that caused unusual optimism and buzz at the heart meeting. The other tested a new procedure to lower blood pressure in patients whose pills failed them.

The new method uses a tube through a blood vessel to zap nerves near the kidneys, which fuel high blood pressure. Its success offers hope for a possible permanent fix for people with very high blood pressure despite taking fistfuls of pills each day. Only about a third of the millions of people worldwide with high blood pressure are able to control it well with pills.

The treatment, using a device made by California-based Ardian Inc., is just now becoming available in Europe and will be tested in the United States next year.

The cholesterol study took an equally novel approach.

For years, doctors have focused on lowering LDL, or bad cholesterol, to cut heart risks. Statin medicines, sold as Lipitor and Zocor do this, and generic versions cost less than a dollar a day. But many statin users still suffer heart attacks, so doctors have been trying to get LDL to very low levels and to boost HDL, or good cholesterol.

Anacetrapib would be the first drug of its kind. It helps keep fat particles attached to HDL, which carries them in the bloodstream to the liver to be disposed of.

Merck says it is way too soon to estimate how much the drug would cost, but analysts say such a medication could mean billions for its maker, though it would have to prove cost-effective by preventing enough heart attacks, strokes and deaths.

The Merck-sponsored study tested anacetrapib in 1,623 people already taking statins because they are at higher-than-usual risk of a heart attack — half had already had one, and many others had conditions like diabetes.

An LDL of 100 to 129 is considered good for healthy people, but patients like these should aim for under 100 or even under 70, guidelines say. For HDL, 40 to 59 is OK, but higher is better.

After six months in the study:

• LDL scores fell from 81 to 45 in those on anacetrapib, and from 82 to 77 in those given dummy pills.
• HDL rose from 41 to a whopping 101 in the drug group, and from 40 to 46 in those on dummy pills.

Such large changes have never been seen before, doctors say, and these improvements persisted for at least another year that the study went on.

Over the years, other drugs have generated excitement in early research, then turned out to be risky or not so effective when tried on many more patients.

The Merck study was too small to tell whether anacetrapib lowered deaths, heart attacks or other heart problems. But the trend was in the right direction, with fewer of those cases among patients on the drug. The anacetrapib group also needed significantly fewer procedures to fix clogged arteries.

Importantly, there were no signs of the blood pressure problems that led Pfizer Inc. to walk away from an $800 million investment in torcetrapib, a similar drug it was developing four years ago.

"This one looks far more potent, without the serious side effects that led to failure," Dr. W. Douglas Weaver, a cardiologist at Henry Ford Health System in Detroit and past president of the American College of Cardiology, said of the new Merck drug. "If proven effective, this will really change practice in the same way aspirin and statins have."

Results of the study also were published online by the New England Journal of Medicine. Some study leaders have consulted for Merck and makers of other heart drugs.

Dr. Allen Taylor, a cardiologist at Washington Hospital Center, noted that study participants' bad cholesterol was twice as high as their good cholesterol before treatment, and that anacetrapib caused this to reverse: The good became double the bad. That's never been achieved before and is "a profound swing" that should lead to reversal of heart disease, not just slowing its progression, he said.

Taylor led major studies of the only other drug that has had major effects on bad and good cholesterol — albeit much smaller than those from anacetrapib.

Niacin, a type of B vitamin, is sold by Abbott Laboratories in an extended-release version called Niaspan. It has been on the market since the late 1990s, but some people are bothered by a prickly hot sensation called flushing. Doctors say this side effect can be minimized by taking the drug at night with a low-fat snack.

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