Thanks for the info on the other meds causing rhabdo. I had no idea…Definitely great stuff to know, esp for my Marine clients, who live on ibuprofen for everything from headaches to internal bleeding! lol

Anyway, I can attest to the fact that if you are training people, you DEFINITELY need to ask VERY specific questions. Don’t assume clients are going to voluntarily surrender all pertinent info. Sometimes it’s a case of them simply not knowing that the info is important to you as a trainer. This is why it is OUR job to pay attention to details and ask the right questions. I learned this the hard way, and I was very lucky the outcome was not worse.

I had a client, a 63 yo male, history of CV disease, quadruple bypass at 57,…on statins. He disclosed the fact that he was on statins when he began training with me, and I was aware of the risk of rhabdo. I asked if he was exercising already, and he said yes, he was biking and swimming…great, right? Well, I didn’t ask how much because I wrongly assumed that being older and a CV pt, he wasn’t going on epic rides. Turns out, he was biking 50-70miles at a time, and swimming for an hour at the pool. EVERYDAY.

The scary part is that we were doing mostly postural correction stuff,t wice a week for a half hour at a time, with very minimal load, and he ended up collapsing in the gym. Now, was it my workout that pushed him over the edge? Maybe. Maybe not. But either way, if he had died, I would’ve had to live with that forever. And potentially had a very costly lawsuit on my hands. A very scary lesson for me to learn. ASK QUESTIONS. LOTS OF QUESTIONS. If people don’t want to train with you because you are being too thorough, you probably aren’t going to get very far with them anyway!

Honestly, I am disappoited in the scientific community to connect the dots on this topic especially since there’s HUGE evidence in the lab like you mentioned. In addition, to

(1) cancer using primarily glucose in the lab (aka Warburg effect), we have

(2) p53 tumor suppressor regulating metabolic activity between glycolytic and oxidative pathways + damage + arresting cell growth….. p53 gets shut off (50% of all cancers!!)

Plus, the fact that p53 transcription is induced by oxidative stress… aka exercise which bodes well for those who do.

(3) mitochondrial pathway induced apoptosis to kill off defected cells… in cancer cells, mitochondria are turned off.. hence one turned off apoptosis pathway

The evidence is there indicating that preferential glucose metabolism of cancer cells and the importance of maintaining proper oxidative/mitochondrial metabolism, yet no one “credible” in the science world can make a connection or get it out to the news media or whatever. Dumb.

I think it’s areasonable thing to approach your doc and ask for help managing this via nutrition/lifestyle. Up your fish oil to .5g/10lbs bw/day. Ask the doc to help you titrate downa nd then re-assess. Make sure he checks your LDL particle size on the next go through.

http://www.crossfit-hr.com/Site/3_Thing_to_Change.html

I even threw a fat RD reference in there for you. Didn’t fit Vegetard in though…i’ve gotta find a spot for it.

J

Thanks for the kind words, and the support.

As a 5 year cancer survivor that is endlessly disseminating science, hype and misleading correlative studies in search for the best ways to be responsible for my own health, I thank you from the bottom of my still-pumping heart. You’ve enlightened me on ketogenic diets and it’s effect on cancer and a host of topics relating to health and performance from a scientific perspective, which I totally geek. I get it. Too bad most others who are looking for a “cure”, don’t.

I don’t intend on ever ingesting a statin but this is good fuel for the continuing “conversation” I have with my parents.

Keep those big words a comin’! Can’t wait for book #2!

-Jeremy

With a paleo diet and fish oil most of our folks have improved lipid panels such that their docs grudgingly take them off the meds.

Thanks for what you do to better our communities. You rock the casbah. I’m tempted to say you do more for humanity than Chuck Norris, but that might be a stretch….

thank u
jeremy

Thanks.

Excellent point on screening new clients; as CF gains more and more momentum, we are seeing a different demographic of clientele, and proper screening for THEIR and OUR safety is just proper due diligence.

This post you made about the statins though brought up an issue with myself and I was wondering if you may be able to shed some light on my situation.

I’m a 19 year old healthy male (a little on the heavy side after Starting Strength) and I’m being tested for life insurance (it’s a parental thing). The tests came back fine with the only issue being my cholesterol (triglycerides and everything else were excellent). My total cholesterol sits at around 220 with my good cholesterol around 48. I’ve got to get the total down by around 20 points in 1 month in order to qualify for this insurance.

I’ve been zoning for a few weeks and crossfitting for 2 months so all that should be in check. To lower those points though I was going to supplement with Red Yeast Rice – Something which natural contains the statin lovastatin.

I have no doubt that crossfit and zone are the key to actually getting “healthy” cholesterol levels but will this supplementation hold similar risks regarding rhabdo as prescription statins? Do you have any ideas how statins would effect someone my age as a short term treatment?

Am I going to get rhabdo??? No… But in all seriousness thanks for the info. It is definitely something to think about and any thoughts would be appreciated.

Philip

Laurie