May 16, 2001
		US Government Proposes Putting Millions on Expensive Medication to Fight Cholesterol, While Making Virtually Mention of Dietary Choices In one of the most egregious forms of corporate welfare in history, the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) has proposed putting as many as 100 million Americans on drugs for the rest of their lives in an effort to reduce the dangerous levels of cholesterol in their bloodstreams. The proposal, referred to as the "War on Cholesterol", would cost patients as much as $100 billion per year in money paid to pharmaceutical companies. Currently, 44 million Americans are without health insurance. In a profound omission, the report fails to strongly recommend any significant changes in people's diets. This is despite the fact that all cholesterol intake beyond the small amount produced by our own bodies comes from animal products. A vegan diet is 100% cholesterol free, and it has been demonstrated, most significantly by Dr. Dean Ornish, Dr. John McDougal and Dr. T. Colin Campbell, that switching to a vegan diet, combined with moderate exercise, significantly reduces cholesterol levels for the vast majority of people. Vegans have lower rates of heart disease, strokes, diabetes and other diet-related diseases than the population as a whole. Even reducing the intake of meat, dairy, and eggs while increasing consumption of fruits and vegetables has been shown to lower cholesterol levels for most people. The renowned cardiologist, Dr. Dean Ornish, has saved the lives of hundreds of terminal heart patients by prescribing a near-vegan diet combined with exercise and stress-management. Most of his patients have been able to stop using cholesterol lowering drugs, and many have returned to healthy, active lifestyles, often for the first time in many years. The Ornish plan has now been adopted by many leading hospitals to fight heart disease, and insurance companies are beginning to follow suit, making his life-saving strategy available to thousands more. The NIH, however, is predictably conservative and industry-bolstering in its prescription for "prevention" of heart disease, which accounts for nearly half of all U.S. deaths each year. Prevention, in their world, means being dependent on expensive pharmaceuticals for a lifetime. Additionally, those who haven't yet shown the adverse symptoms of an animal-based diet, are recommended to begin a regimen of cholesterol lowering drugs, like Zocor and Lipitor, again, as a "preventative" measure. Only a brief mention in the guidelines was made to limiting saturated fats, increasing intake of soluble fiber and increasing physical activity in an effort to lose weight. Plant stanols, found in some margarines and salad dressings, were also mentioned. Rather than recommend that people shift toward a plant-based diet, one with proven preventive and recuperative results, the agency entrusted to elevating U.S. health standards has chosen to close the door on genuine recovery and make citizens more drug-dependent and disempowered. Pharmaceutical giants like Pfizer Inc. and Merck and Co. stand to rake in billions more, considering that their top cholesterol-lowering drugs already generate $4.5 and $3 billion respectively each year. The new guidelines, which will affect one half of all U.S. citizens age 20 and over, target those with a LDL (or "bad" cholesterol) level above 100 mg/dl of blood; previously, anything over 130 was considered dangerous. This could increase the number of American's using prescribed cholesterol medication from around 13 million to 36 million. A one-month supply of Zocor or Lipitor costs between $65 and $71. In light of the NIH's buttressing of the rapacious pharmaceutical giants, here's what Vegan Street prescribes: talk to your friends, neighbors, classmates, coworkers and associates about the multitude of benefits of a vegan diet. About 1.1 million U.S. citizens suffer heart attacks every year, many more are developing the plaque that will eventually become heart disease, and these people need our active, compassionate assistance. Share cookbooks and recipes with others. Offer to do research and copy articles for those who need help. Go grocery shopping with a potential heart patient, and give them simple cooking instructions. Every time you help another in this way, not only is this person someone outside the clutches of the pharmaceuticalw industry, but this is someone who is learning skills that will help him or her live an energetic, healthful and non-harmful life. This person, in turn, could help others, and the chain of real health and recovery will continue. The National Institutes of Health isn't protecting our health; the drug companies certainly are not either. We are the ticket to genuine, vibrant good health. Let's go out there and do our job. (by the way, if you're discussing diet vs. drugs with someone you love who would still rather take drugs than adopt a plant-based diet, you may find it beneficial to guide them to this web page, which has been launched by the pharmaceutical giant Merck in support of their popular cholesterol-lowering drug Zocor. This page outlines some of the side effects one might experience from taking the drug)