Hello and welcome to "Health for a Lifetime" 00:00:51.37\00:00:53.59 I'm your host Don Mackintosh 00:00:53.62\00:00:55.17 and today we're going to be talking about 00:00:55.20\00:00:56.68 women's health issues. 00:00:56.71\00:00:58.04 And so, if you're a lady or have friends that are ladies, 00:00:58.07\00:01:01.49 this is the time to tune in. 00:01:01.52\00:01:02.83 And today, joining us to talk about women's health issues 00:01:02.86\00:01:05.89 is Dr. Eric Shadle and we're happy that you're 00:01:05.92\00:01:09.61 with us today and we're glad that you can join us 00:01:09.64\00:01:12.25 to talk about women's health issues. 00:01:12.28\00:01:13.81 Now I understand you've been in practice for about 00:01:13.84\00:01:16.70 15-16 years. That's correct, yes. 00:01:16.73\00:01:18.98 In obstetrics and gynecology, so you see all kinds of 00:01:19.01\00:01:23.82 women's health issues. 00:01:23.85\00:01:25.76 What do people or what do women 00:01:25.79\00:01:27.85 perceive as their largest health concern 00:01:27.88\00:01:31.41 especially when they reach the age of menopause. 00:01:31.44\00:01:33.95 Well the #1 cause for concern that women have is cancer. 00:01:33.98\00:01:39.87 Actually, a study was done where they questioned menopausal 00:01:39.90\00:01:43.52 women and 40% were concerned about breast cancer, 00:01:43.55\00:01:48.48 and another 15% were concerned about other types of cancer 00:01:48.51\00:01:52.30 as the #1 cause of death in women - 00:01:52.33\00:01:56.96 at least that was their perception. 00:01:56.99\00:01:58.91 So breast cancer being the big concern? 00:01:58.94\00:02:01.82 Their biggest concern... Actually, they asked them 00:02:01.85\00:02:05.20 what do you think you will die from, 00:02:05.23\00:02:07.94 and 40% said breast cancer. 00:02:07.97\00:02:10.73 But actually, that's NOT the most important problem of 00:02:10.76\00:02:16.98 women's health, though breast cancer 00:02:17.01\00:02:19.43 is a very significant one. 00:02:19.46\00:02:21.65 Of cancers, of women's cancers, breast cancer is only 00:02:21.68\00:02:25.71 the second leading cause of death - second to lung cancer. 00:02:25.74\00:02:29.39 So smokers and lung cancer. That's right, that's right 00:02:29.42\00:02:32.49 Okay, so then what IS the leading cause of 00:02:32.52\00:02:36.05 problems in women; the leading cause of death 00:02:36.08\00:02:38.68 for people or ladies after menopause? 00:02:38.71\00:02:41.59 Well the leading cause of death is cardiovascular disease. 00:02:41.62\00:02:44.80 It's actually responsible for more deaths than 00:02:44.83\00:02:47.96 all other causes combined. 00:02:47.99\00:02:50.46 So it's the #1 killer, just like it is with men. 00:02:50.49\00:02:53.92 It's the #1 killer just like it is with men, that's right. 00:02:53.95\00:02:56.73 It's the biggest public health problem that we face 00:02:56.76\00:02:59.53 in this country is cardiovascular disease. 00:02:59.56\00:03:02.17 The incidence of heart attacks rise with age with both 00:03:02.20\00:03:07.52 men and women and 40% who have a heart attack, 00:03:07.55\00:03:12.67 the first symptom is sudden death... 00:03:12.70\00:03:15.95 so it is certainly a scary issue and problem, 00:03:15.98\00:03:22.38 but I find it very interesting that women are still more 00:03:22.41\00:03:26.93 afraid of breast cancer than they are 00:03:26.96\00:03:29.28 of cardiovascular disease. 00:03:29.31\00:03:31.29 They seem to just be able to live with that 00:03:31.32\00:03:32.79 because everybody has that problem but... 00:03:32.82\00:03:34.39 I think that's right - I think they just see that 00:03:34.42\00:03:37.01 cardiovascular disease is something that we just live with 00:03:37.04\00:03:40.43 in this society, but cancer, the word itself brings 00:03:40.46\00:03:46.80 certain emotions to bear, I think. 00:03:46.83\00:03:51.08 Back to this issue of cardiovascular disease; 00:03:51.11\00:03:53.46 however, you know, some people or ladies that I hear talking 00:03:53.49\00:03:57.15 say that they've gone on estrogen replacement therapy 00:03:57.18\00:04:00.69 so that they will decrease their risk of 00:04:00.72\00:04:03.31 cardiovascular disease or because, I guess, 00:04:03.34\00:04:06.96 their physician says... "That's changing now" 00:04:06.99\00:04:09.65 Is that something we should talk about? 00:04:09.68\00:04:12.28 Absolutely! You've brought up a very good question. 00:04:12.31\00:04:16.83 We should look at estrogen replacement therapy 00:04:16.86\00:04:19.99 and the traditional risk factors that are talked about 00:04:20.02\00:04:24.61 in the medical community. 00:04:24.64\00:04:28.11 And, let's just list those risk factors... 00:04:28.14\00:04:30.32 These are the traditional risk factors that physicians 00:04:30.35\00:04:33.89 use today to give estrogen replacement therapy, 00:04:33.92\00:04:37.21 and the first is a personal history - a history of 00:04:37.24\00:04:41.80 heart disease; and increasing age. 00:04:41.83\00:04:45.00 As we get older, we have more risk. 00:04:45.03\00:04:48.67 Estrogen deficiency. 00:04:48.70\00:04:50.38 Dyslipidemia which simply means lipid disorders, 00:04:50.41\00:04:54.80 high cholesterol - we could say. 00:04:54.83\00:04:56.99 There are additional risk factors such as: 00:04:57.02\00:04:59.81 diabetes, smoking, high blood pressure, 00:04:59.84\00:05:03.80 peripheral vascular disease - that would be like 00:05:03.83\00:05:06.79 atherosclerosis - hardening of the arteries. 00:05:06.82\00:05:10.48 Now what I find interesting about this list... 00:05:10.51\00:05:13.59 This is the list that is published in all of our journals 00:05:13.62\00:05:17.68 It would be a list that is in our textbooks... 00:05:17.71\00:05:20.44 I find it very interesting that there are no lifestyle issues 00:05:20.47\00:05:25.15 there other than smoking. 00:05:25.18\00:05:27.10 Smoking is the only one that's a lifestyle issue 00:05:27.13\00:05:29.54 that they talk about as a risk factor. 00:05:29.57\00:05:31.24 And when you say "lifestyle issue," you mean 00:05:31.27\00:05:33.60 something they could do something about. That's right 00:05:33.63\00:05:36.59 That the patient themselves, that the person would take 00:05:36.62\00:05:41.34 primary responsibility for their own health, 00:05:41.37\00:05:44.53 and I think the reason for that is that physicians today, 00:05:44.56\00:05:48.12 we are not trained to involve the patient themselves 00:05:48.15\00:05:52.93 in their own health and yet we all have, in our own power, 00:05:52.96\00:06:01.81 well the power to control our health. 00:06:01.84\00:06:04.78 To choose what is good to eat. 00:06:04.81\00:06:06.49 To choose to make the right choices. 00:06:06.52\00:06:08.71 In terms of lifestyle - so let's then talk more about that. 00:06:08.74\00:06:11.72 What kind of lifestyle things should we be doing, 00:06:12.68\00:06:17.47 or another way to put it is - 00:06:17.50\00:06:19.07 How does this relate to estrogens? 00:06:19.10\00:06:21.16 Can we eat foods that are high in estrogens? 00:06:21.19\00:06:23.73 Well, I do want to get to that 00:06:23.76\00:06:29.09 maybe a little later in the program, 00:06:29.12\00:06:31.67 but first of all, what we eat has the most important thing 00:06:31.70\00:06:36.86 to do with heart disease and that is our cholesterol. 00:06:36.89\00:06:40.39 We know that high cholesterol is one of the basic 00:06:40.42\00:06:44.58 foundation points for heart disease, 00:06:44.61\00:06:48.90 for cardiovascular disease, for hardening of the arteries. 00:06:48.93\00:06:51.69 And if you don't have a high cholesterol level, 00:06:51.72\00:06:53.85 you're not going to get hardening of the arteries, 00:06:53.88\00:06:56.71 and then you're not going to have a heart attack. 00:06:56.74\00:06:59.31 So you don't have to replace, supposedly, your estrogen... 00:06:59.34\00:07:01.94 You're really addressing a more fundamental issue. That's right 00:07:01.97\00:07:04.90 Is that what you're talking about? That's right 00:07:04.93\00:07:06.23 It's a much more fundamental issue. 00:07:06.26\00:07:08.07 Which I think - you talk about this or we've talked about this 00:07:08.10\00:07:11.75 is primary versus secondary prevention. Yes 00:07:11.78\00:07:15.40 And what do you mean exactly by that? 00:07:15.43\00:07:17.58 Well primary prevention of heart disease is someone 00:07:17.61\00:07:21.02 who has never had any known disease; 00:07:21.05\00:07:23.71 they've never had a heart attack and never had any symptoms, 00:07:23.74\00:07:26.60 and so you want to help that person prevent 00:07:26.63\00:07:30.80 heart disease from occurring... 00:07:30.84\00:07:32.72 Whereas secondary prevention of heart disease is 00:07:32.76\00:07:37.28 a person who has already had a heart attack, 00:07:37.31\00:07:39.48 but now you're trying to help 00:07:39.51\00:07:41.05 them prevent another heart attack. 00:07:41.08\00:07:43.62 Of course the second group would probably be 00:07:43.65\00:07:45.26 more highly motivated. Absolutely! 00:07:45.29\00:07:47.55 Since they already had a heart attack. Absolutely! 00:07:47.58\00:07:49.51 And the other ones, they probably are just looking 00:07:49.54\00:07:51.64 at you like you're from the planet somewhere - you know. 00:07:51.67\00:07:53.99 They've had their heart attack; 00:07:54.02\00:07:55.05 they've had their wakeup call, 00:07:55.08\00:07:57.47 and knowing that 40% will actually die 00:07:57.50\00:08:01.79 during their first heart attack. 00:08:01.83\00:08:03.26 So they're part of that 60% obviously, 00:08:03.30\00:08:06.19 and now we're very interested in secondary prevention. 00:08:06.22\00:08:09.49 Let's go back for a minute to PRIMARY prevention though. 00:08:09.52\00:08:12.32 What role does estrogen replacement therapy 00:08:12.35\00:08:14.95 have in primary prevention? 00:08:14.98\00:08:16.63 In other words, they haven't had a heart attack yet, 00:08:16.66\00:08:18.51 and they want to avoid it. 00:08:18.54\00:08:19.96 Well let me answer that by saying that the 00:08:19.99\00:08:23.94 pharmaceutical companies, the drug companies 00:08:23.97\00:08:26.04 in this country market estrogen very heavily as a way 00:08:26.07\00:08:30.37 to prevent heart disease and they make those claims 00:08:30.40\00:08:33.45 based on retrospective studies; 00:08:33.48\00:08:36.10 that is studies that look back at a patient's history, 00:08:36.13\00:08:41.78 and they don't have good control groups... 00:08:41.81\00:08:44.64 And so they've looked at these retrospective studies 00:08:44.67\00:08:48.24 that have indicated as much as a 00:08:48.27\00:08:50.40 50% reduced risk of heart attack, primary prevention, 00:08:50.43\00:08:55.58 in women who take estrogen replacement therapy. 00:08:55.61\00:08:59.33 And so they use that data and say... 00:08:59.36\00:09:01.69 "Wow, all women need to be on 00:09:01.72\00:09:03.82 estrogen in order to prevent heart disease. " 00:09:03.85\00:09:08.00 And it gets a lot of press; 00:09:08.03\00:09:11.05 it gets in the Ladies Home Journal, 00:09:11.08\00:09:13.76 and Time Magazine and all these things, 00:09:13.79\00:09:16.40 Good Housekeeping and all those, 00:09:16.43\00:09:18.72 and then we have women coming in and saying, 00:09:18.75\00:09:20.96 "Well, I think I need to take estrogen because 00:09:20.99\00:09:23.50 there is heart disease in my family. " 00:09:23.53\00:09:26.67 But interestingly enough, 00:09:26.70\00:09:28.44 there are a couple of very good studies that are ongoing 00:09:28.47\00:09:32.27 right now and one of them is the Women's Health Initiative. 00:09:32.30\00:09:35.82 "WHI" Study that has actually changed the recommendations 00:09:35.85\00:09:40.06 for estrogen in association with primary prevention, 00:09:40.09\00:09:45.85 and as a result of that study, 00:09:45.88\00:09:47.87 the American Heart Association does not recommend 00:09:47.90\00:09:50.84 HRT which is hormone replacement therapy 00:09:50.87\00:09:53.93 or ERT - that is estrogen replacement therapy, 00:09:53.96\00:09:56.72 just estrogen by itself - for the prevention of 00:09:56.75\00:10:00.13 coronary heart disease or heart attacks. 00:10:00.16\00:10:03.57 So that's completely different than what they're saying... 00:10:03.60\00:10:05.48 That's exactly right! 00:10:05.51\00:10:07.14 So they're not recommending... 00:10:07.17\00:10:08.54 they don't think it really has any primary role in 00:10:08.57\00:10:10.99 preventing. 00:10:11.02\00:10:12.30 Absolutely... The American Heart Association does not, 00:10:12.33\00:10:15.22 and that's because this was a large prospective 00:10:15.25\00:10:18.40 placebo-controlled study designed to impact 00:10:18.43\00:10:24.28 on women's use of both unopposed estrogen, 00:10:24.31\00:10:27.95 and that is estrogen where you take it by itself, 00:10:27.98\00:10:30.50 as well as hormone replacement therapy which would be 00:10:30.53\00:10:33.85 estrogen plus progesterone. 00:10:33.88\00:10:36.26 Okay, so in other words, when you say - double-blind 00:10:36.29\00:10:38.89 and all controlled placebo and all that, 00:10:38.92\00:10:40.75 that means - they've looked at everything, 00:10:40.78\00:10:43.08 and now they're really getting real data instead of just 00:10:43.11\00:10:45.45 looking back and anecdotally maybe saying... 00:10:45.48\00:10:49.22 "Well, we THINK we see this," as a marketing tool 00:10:49.25\00:10:52.81 the drug companies were using that but now there are real 00:10:52.84\00:10:54.82 studies saying - "No, there is not really a role in 00:10:54.85\00:10:58.04 preventing cardiovascular disease. " 00:10:58.07\00:10:59.63 Not only is there not a role, but they actually 00:10:59.66\00:11:03.72 found that there is a small increase in the number of 00:11:03.75\00:11:06.51 cardiovascular events in those women taking 00:11:06.54\00:11:09.68 hormone replacement therapy. 00:11:09.71\00:11:11.07 Now it's not enough to stop the study, 00:11:11.10\00:11:12.94 the study is still ongoing, it's not due to be 00:11:12.97\00:11:15.34 completed until the year 2005. 00:11:15.37\00:11:18.06 But, you have to be concerned about those kind of findings. 00:11:18.09\00:11:22.98 Okay, so in other words, instead of finding that it prevents it, 00:11:23.01\00:11:25.77 it could even potentiate it or make it worse, 00:11:25.80\00:11:29.08 but it's not to the level where they had to stop 00:11:29.11\00:11:31.25 a study because it's really a dangerous thing. That's right 00:11:31.28\00:11:34.44 Okay - Wow, so that's completely different. 00:11:34.47\00:11:36.82 So again, everything you see on TV, 00:11:36.85\00:11:40.35 and, of course, we're on TV right now - 00:11:40.38\00:11:42.55 it kind of shoots us in the foot but everything you see on TV 00:11:42.58\00:11:45.36 or everything you hear on the radio, 00:11:45.39\00:11:46.45 or everything you read in whatever magazine or journal, 00:11:46.48\00:11:48.80 it doesn't necessarily match with the facts 00:11:48.83\00:11:53.45 if you're trying to avoid the #1 killer of women 00:11:53.48\00:11:55.49 which is heart disease. That's right 00:11:55.52\00:11:57.48 There is the Nurses' Health Study 00:11:57.51\00:12:01.13 which is another prospective study with over 70,000 00:12:01.16\00:12:05.99 postmenopausal women. 00:12:06.02\00:12:07.46 That study did show a small decrease in the 00:12:07.49\00:12:11.08 risk of coronary events; however, it wasn't enough 00:12:11.11\00:12:16.61 that the American Heart Association is convinced, 00:12:16.64\00:12:20.85 and that study is ongoing as well and we're going to see 00:12:20.88\00:12:24.44 what that has to say about some of these risks. 00:12:24.47\00:12:27.18 It looks like that the women that actually have a decreased 00:12:27.21\00:12:32.16 risk in coronary events in the Nurses' Health Study 00:12:32.19\00:12:36.66 are those who are also seeking medical care 00:12:36.69\00:12:40.97 and have better lifestyle as well, 00:12:41.00\00:12:43.86 and so there may be some confounding factors that 00:12:43.89\00:12:48.55 are making it difficult to tell whether estrogen 00:12:48.58\00:12:52.97 is having that much of an effect on cardiovascular disease or not 00:12:53.00\00:12:56.89 So the one study says - Absolutely no effect. 00:12:56.92\00:12:59.58 This next study says - Well there may be some 00:12:59.61\00:13:01.59 kind of increase or decrease but it's probably 00:13:01.62\00:13:03.94 related to some other kind of factor. 00:13:03.97\00:13:05.63 That's what they're saying. Yes, that's right 00:13:05.66\00:13:08.82 So the bottom line then and there is no 00:13:08.85\00:13:11.79 bottom line yet, is what you're saying... Yes 00:13:11.82\00:13:13.46 You can't give a bottom line yet, 00:13:13.50\00:13:14.85 but it appears to be that this is not really 00:13:14.89\00:13:19.44 estrogen replacement therapy in preventing heart disease 00:13:19.47\00:13:23.65 is not really the right tree to be barking up. 00:13:23.68\00:13:26.72 Yes and really, you think about it, 00:13:26.75\00:13:29.29 it doesn't make that much sense to be looking 00:13:29.32\00:13:32.97 at that anyway because there are so many other 00:13:33.00\00:13:36.05 lifestyle factors that we probably should be 00:13:36.08\00:13:39.42 talking about at some point, 00:13:39.45\00:13:41.53 but estrogen, I'm not sure is really one of those 00:13:41.56\00:13:45.77 lifestyle factors that we need to be looking at 00:13:45.80\00:13:48.19 certainly for cardiovascular disease. 00:13:48.22\00:13:49.98 So nobody, watching the program, needs to go out 00:13:50.01\00:13:52.61 and buy those pills and start taking them to prevent it. 00:13:52.64\00:13:54.93 Not to prevent heart disease, that's right. 00:13:54.96\00:13:56.78 Now what about secondary? 00:13:56.81\00:13:58.23 We were talking about primary prevention, 00:13:58.26\00:13:59.82 what about secondary prevention? 00:13:59.85\00:14:02.85 Should we be taking some hormones then or... 00:14:02.88\00:14:05.47 You know, you would think that secondary prevention, 00:14:05.50\00:14:08.62 if estrogen is going to decrease the risk for heart disease, 00:14:08.65\00:14:12.76 it would decrease it for secondary prevention 00:14:12.79\00:14:16.18 more certainly than primary... 00:14:16.21\00:14:18.76 Because, if you look at these lifestyle live-in programs 00:14:18.79\00:14:23.42 that affect how we eat and they teach us... exercise, cooking, 00:14:23.45\00:14:32.71 decreased fat intake and that kind of thing, 00:14:32.74\00:14:35.25 what you want to find are the sickest people. 00:14:35.28\00:14:38.63 The people that have the heart attacks, 00:14:38.66\00:14:40.60 the people that have the most weight, 00:14:40.63\00:14:42.38 the people that have the worst cholesterol and diabetes 00:14:42.41\00:14:46.00 and all that - and you see dramatic change. 00:14:46.03\00:14:49.42 So you would expect to see the same thing with estrogen. 00:14:49.45\00:14:52.32 You want to find the sickest people to see the biggest change 00:14:52.35\00:14:56.74 if there is something that's going to affect it. 00:14:56.77\00:14:59.03 And so with estrogen, we certainly expected to 00:14:59.06\00:15:03.20 see that in secondary prevention studies, 00:15:03.23\00:15:05.99 and there is something called... "The HERS Study" 00:15:06.02\00:15:11.36 with a little over 2700 postmenopausal women 00:15:11.39\00:15:17.08 under the age of 80 who already had coronary heart disease, 00:15:17.11\00:15:23.86 and what we found with this study - was that they actually 00:15:23.89\00:15:30.48 had an increased risk for coronary events if they were 00:15:30.51\00:15:34.58 taking hormone replacement therapy during that first year. 00:15:34.61\00:15:37.92 So the women who were taking hormone replacement therapy 00:15:37.95\00:15:41.94 in the HERS Study, they've already had a heart attack, 00:15:41.97\00:15:45.14 you put them on hormone replacement, 00:15:45.17\00:15:47.44 that's estrogen and progesterone, 00:15:47.47\00:15:49.80 and you find that there is an increase in the number of 00:15:49.83\00:15:53.53 heart attacks in that first year! 00:15:53.56\00:15:55.48 Wow! So in other words, what does that mean? 00:15:55.51\00:15:58.87 It could mean, if playing off of what we said about 00:15:58.90\00:16:01.83 primary prevention, it could mean that 00:16:01.86\00:16:03.57 these are the type of people that think - 00:16:03.60\00:16:05.39 "Hey, I'm just going to take a pill - instead of changing 00:16:05.42\00:16:08.15 my lifestyle" That's right, that's right. 00:16:08.18\00:16:11.37 Is that the conclusion you're drawing? YES 00:16:11.40\00:16:13.27 We'd much rather take a pill 00:16:13.30\00:16:15.46 than have to change our lifestyle 00:16:15.49\00:16:17.68 because sometimes that seems too difficult to do. 00:16:17.71\00:16:22.07 And so, physicians shy away from talking about 00:16:22.10\00:16:25.95 those kind of things and certainly people - 00:16:25.98\00:16:27.49 if they can just take a pill, and still be having 00:16:27.52\00:16:29.93 whatever they want to eat, they're going to do that. 00:16:29.96\00:16:32.01 I think so... Physicians don't talk 00:16:32.04\00:16:34.35 about it much because - first of all most physicians 00:16:34.38\00:16:38.47 need to change their lifestyle, to be honest with you... 00:16:38.50\00:16:41.53 And so it's kind of hard to tell your patient to change 00:16:41.56\00:16:45.65 a lifestyle factor when you're not living that way yourself. 00:16:45.68\00:16:51.55 That's right, yes. 00:16:51.58\00:16:52.73 So it becomes very difficult. 00:16:52.76\00:16:55.71 So then what role does diet play in the prevention 00:16:55.74\00:16:59.48 of cardiovascular disease? What have you seen? 00:16:59.51\00:17:02.44 Well to me, diet is really the lifestyle factor that we 00:17:02.47\00:17:08.27 need to be talking about with cardiovascular disease, 00:17:08.30\00:17:11.87 and it affects so many parts of our lives, 00:17:11.90\00:17:15.64 and obviously it affects so many different diseases 00:17:15.67\00:17:20.68 that we might have. 00:17:20.71\00:17:22.02 We really need a cholesterol of under 160, 00:17:22.05\00:17:25.73 maybe even under 150 to reduce plaque that is 00:17:25.76\00:17:30.58 already in our arteries and to prevent cardiovascular disease, 00:17:30.61\00:17:36.49 and yet in this country, what we find is that 00:17:36.52\00:17:42.07 we actually have levels of 190 or 200 that is 00:17:42.10\00:17:49.50 considered normal in this country. 00:17:49.53\00:17:51.76 But we have multiple studies that definitely demonstrate 00:17:51.79\00:17:55.32 a link between diet and cardiovascular disease. 00:17:55.35\00:18:00.59 So you really then focus in on that... 00:18:00.62\00:18:04.54 You know, you can take drugs now, like your statins, 00:18:04.57\00:18:08.12 and all these different things; 00:18:08.15\00:18:09.71 statin medications that they make your cholesterol just 00:18:09.74\00:18:13.85 go down - that's another pill and it's not estrogen, 00:18:13.88\00:18:16.72 but it's another pill and are there any hazards 00:18:16.75\00:18:20.25 to just saying - "Hey, I took care of the problem that way" 00:18:20.28\00:18:22.31 Well, taking these statin medications which do lower 00:18:22.34\00:18:28.17 our cholesterol, does appear to decrease one's 00:18:28.20\00:18:32.50 cardiovascular risk. 00:18:32.53\00:18:33.56 You would expect it to if you can get your 00:18:33.59\00:18:36.96 cholesterol down. 00:18:36.99\00:18:39.26 The concern that I have, first of all, 00:18:39.29\00:18:43.49 it doesn't make much sense to be taking a medication 00:18:43.52\00:18:46.54 to lower cholesterol - when we're eating 00:18:46.57\00:18:49.57 a lot of cholesterol and when we're eating a lot of 00:18:49.60\00:18:51.76 saturated fats and animal proteins, 00:18:51.79\00:18:55.08 it is going to raise our cholesterol. 00:18:55.11\00:18:57.94 It seems to me much wiser to lower our 00:18:57.97\00:19:02.37 cholesterol by making a few simple changes in our diet. 00:19:02.40\00:19:08.29 We're talking with Dr. Eric Shadle 00:19:08.32\00:19:11.14 We've been talking about women's health issues. 00:19:11.17\00:19:13.08 We've been talking about cardiovascular disease; 00:19:13.11\00:19:15.52 talking about estrogen replacement therapy, 00:19:15.55\00:19:18.31 and the doctor has just said, 00:19:18.34\00:19:20.05 "Look, we need to take a closer look at lifestyle issues" 00:19:20.08\00:19:22.65 And when we come back, we're going to look at some 00:19:22.68\00:19:25.06 practical things about what you can do to decrease 00:19:25.09\00:19:28.19 your risk of the #1 killer of women, #2 killer of women, 00:19:28.22\00:19:31.63 all those are related together, so join us when we come back. 00:19:31.66\00:19:35.45 Have you found yourself wishing 00:19:40.74\00:19:42.06 that you could shed a a few pounds? 00:19:42.09\00:19:43.75 Have you been on a diet for most of your life, 00:19:43.78\00:19:45.86 but not found anything that will really keep the weight off? 00:19:45.89\00:19:49.22 If you've answered "yes" to any of these questions, 00:19:49.25\00:19:52.02 then we have a solution for you that works. 00:19:52.05\00:19:54.60 Dr. Hans Diehl and Dr. Aileen Ludington 00:19:54.63\00:19:57.65 have written a marvelous booklet called... 00:19:57.68\00:19:59.82 "Reversing Obesity Naturally" 00:19:59.85\00:20:02.03 and we'd like to send it to you free of charge. 00:20:02.06\00:20:04.67 Here's a medically sound approach successfully 00:20:04.70\00:20:07.27 used by thousands who were able to eat more and lose weight 00:20:07.30\00:20:10.63 permanently without feeling guilty or hungry 00:20:10.66\00:20:13.38 through lifestyle medicine. 00:20:13.41\00:20:15.26 Dr. Diehl and Dr. Ludington have been featured on 3ABN 00:20:15.29\00:20:18.80 and in this booklet, they present a sensible approach 00:20:18.83\00:20:21.77 to eating, nutrition and lifestyle changes that can 00:20:21.80\00:20:24.79 help you prevent heart disease, diabetes and EVEN cancer. 00:20:24.82\00:20:28.12 Call or write today for your free copy of... 00:20:28.15\00:20:30.26 "Reversing Obesity Naturally" 00:20:30.29\00:20:32.18 and you could be on your way to a healthier, happier YOU! 00:20:32.21\00:20:35.34 It's ABSOLUTELY free of charge, so call or write today. 00:20:35.37\00:20:40.12 Welcome back, we've been talking with Dr. Eric Shadle, 00:20:46.49\00:20:49.66 and we've been talking about women's health issues. 00:20:49.69\00:20:51.46 We've been talking about heart disease; 00:20:51.49\00:20:52.93 we've been talking about how 00:20:52.96\00:20:54.11 estrogen replacement therapy relates to that... 00:20:54.14\00:20:56.74 And you kind of shocked me but what you suggested, 00:20:56.77\00:21:00.86 and you've had the studies and whatnot is that 00:21:00.89\00:21:02.71 although the bottom line is not yet known, 00:21:02.74\00:21:05.12 it appears that it's not as helpful as we've been led 00:21:05.15\00:21:07.50 to believe over the last couple of years. That's right 00:21:07.53\00:21:09.75 And so we need to look at more than just taking a pill 00:21:09.78\00:21:12.61 because there maybe are some problems with pills. 00:21:12.64\00:21:16.38 Are there problems with pills? 00:21:16.41\00:21:17.44 I mean, one of the things you do a lot as a physician, 00:21:17.47\00:21:19.79 is help people access what's behind that nice little 00:21:19.82\00:21:23.36 counter at the pharmacy. That's right 00:21:23.39\00:21:25.22 Are there any problems with that? 00:21:25.25\00:21:26.61 And part of it is that patients have an expectation for that... 00:21:26.64\00:21:29.52 So they come in - they're not expecting me to tell them 00:21:29.55\00:21:32.96 "well maybe you could eat more fruits and vegetables" 00:21:32.99\00:21:36.05 They're wanting me to take out 00:21:36.08\00:21:37.77 my prescription pad and write them... 00:21:37.80\00:21:39.52 And help you get behind that counter! 00:21:39.55\00:21:40.65 And then all their problems will be solved, 00:21:40.68\00:21:43.87 but the problem with medications is that every single medication 00:21:43.90\00:21:47.51 has side effects and the statins, 00:21:47.54\00:21:51.05 the medication that you were talking about earlier 00:21:51.08\00:21:54.01 that lower our cholesterol certainly have problems 00:21:54.04\00:21:57.65 with our liver and perhaps the kidneys, 00:21:57.68\00:22:01.08 and they really should be taken as the very last resort. 00:22:01.11\00:22:05.44 I've got to tell you that I had many of the same views 00:22:05.47\00:22:10.11 about 5 years ago as most of my medical colleagues 00:22:10.14\00:22:13.90 do in town and that is that you give every 00:22:13.93\00:22:19.92 menopausal woman estrogen and you'll help her 00:22:19.95\00:22:22.60 with heart disease and all this 00:22:22.63\00:22:24.42 until Dr. Diehl came to Rockford, Illinois 00:22:24.45\00:22:27.10 and put on the CHIP Program; 00:22:27.13\00:22:29.27 the "Coronary Health Improvement Project" 00:22:29.30\00:22:31.54 and I can just give a personal testimony that it absolutely 00:22:31.57\00:22:35.38 changed my life and as I have looked at research 00:22:35.41\00:22:40.54 looked at these studies, I just am absolutely convinced 00:22:40.57\00:22:45.88 that what we need to be doing is changing our lifestyles 00:22:45.91\00:22:49.83 particularly in the area of our diet, 00:22:49.86\00:22:53.62 and we need to be eating less fat, less animal protein. 00:22:53.65\00:22:57.92 We need to eat the grains and the vegetables, 00:22:57.95\00:23:02.82 and the fruits, nuts - those types of things 00:23:02.85\00:23:09.06 And we're going to get everything that we need, 00:23:09.09\00:23:12.90 and it's going to impact so many different levels. 00:23:12.93\00:23:16.01 Here today, we're talking about cardiovascular disease, 00:23:16.04\00:23:18.96 and it definitely impacts that, but it also impacts 00:23:18.99\00:23:24.37 so many other areas of our health as well. 00:23:24.40\00:23:26.61 So instead of just taking the pill... 00:23:26.64\00:23:28.21 I mean what we've talked about so far is women 00:23:28.24\00:23:32.02 #1 think that the thing that's going to get them is 00:23:32.05\00:23:35.20 breast cancer. That's right 00:23:35.23\00:23:36.54 But if you take these plant foods and whatnot, 00:23:36.57\00:23:39.48 that has been shown to have protective things 00:23:39.51\00:23:41.52 even against cancer. 00:23:41.55\00:23:42.66 Even against breast cancer, absolutely! 00:23:42.69\00:23:44.61 And then the second one, we talked about 00:23:44.64\00:23:46.68 cardiovascular disease as it relates to 00:23:46.71\00:23:48.74 estrogen replacement therapy and you're saying... 00:23:48.77\00:23:51.15 "Hey, the things are not behind the counter, 00:23:51.18\00:23:53.99 they are down the aisle and they're all different colors" 00:23:54.02\00:23:56.78 That's right! That's right! 00:23:56.81\00:23:58.47 And so Dr. Hans Diehl - tell me a little bit more 00:23:58.50\00:24:01.76 about this - the "Coronary Health Improvement Project" 00:24:01.79\00:24:05.74 or they sometimes call it "CHIP" 00:24:05.77\00:24:08.27 And this has been really now effective in helping patients 00:24:08.30\00:24:12.24 in your practice. That's right 00:24:12.27\00:24:14.06 Actually, our church - we are currently doing our third 00:24:14.09\00:24:18.75 CHIP Program and I'm involved in it because I like 00:24:18.78\00:24:22.64 to refer my patients to the CHIP Program. 00:24:22.67\00:24:25.42 I have patients that have concerns about heart disease; 00:24:25.45\00:24:29.21 they have menopausal symptoms; 00:24:29.24\00:24:30.80 they have all these issues; they're overweight; 00:24:30.83\00:24:34.85 they might have high blood pressure... 00:24:34.88\00:24:36.42 And instead of just giving them a pill, 00:24:36.45\00:24:39.07 I can sit down and talk to them about - 00:24:39.10\00:24:41.03 There might be some changes that they could do 00:24:41.06\00:24:44.05 to simplify their lives... 00:24:44.08\00:24:45.81 And I can send them to the CHIP Program 00:24:45.84\00:24:49.09 which is a program that we do over the course of 30 days - 00:24:49.12\00:24:54.80 that changes peoples lives in ways that I've never 00:24:54.83\00:24:58.95 seen before in my medical career. 00:24:58.98\00:25:01.18 So it's addressing - you mentioned these things... 00:25:01.21\00:25:03.59 You mentioned hypertension, high blood pressure, 00:25:03.62\00:25:06.19 you mentioned overweight, you mentioned diabetes, 00:25:06.22\00:25:09.08 you've mentioned all those different things 00:25:09.11\00:25:10.49 which I guess the reason you're mentioning those 00:25:10.52\00:25:12.80 is because this program we've been saying... 00:25:12.83\00:25:14.40 Hey, estrogens are supposed to protect us from this, 00:25:14.43\00:25:16.90 and they don't really protect us from heart disease, 00:25:16.93\00:25:19.70 and these other things, but if you really want to 00:25:19.73\00:25:22.33 get a handle on what to do about that, 00:25:22.36\00:25:24.09 these are the things to do and the CHIP Program 00:25:24.12\00:25:25.92 sort of covers that. That's right 00:25:25.95\00:25:27.27 That's right and in our particular program, 00:25:27.30\00:25:30.17 we find 20% decrease in cholesterol levels 00:25:30.20\00:25:34.43 in just 4 weeks. 00:25:34.46\00:25:35.73 So here we are having people come in to the program 00:25:35.76\00:25:40.18 and in 4 weeks, by making a few simple lifestyle changes 00:25:40.21\00:25:45.35 including cutting out the meats and the high fats, the dairy, 00:25:45.38\00:25:50.06 and some of that that we so readily consume, 00:25:50.09\00:25:53.35 their cholesterol goes down, their weight comes down, 00:25:53.38\00:25:59.02 they find the pounds coming off, 00:25:59.05\00:26:00.99 and they all have so much more energy, 00:26:01.02\00:26:03.72 and it's just a tremendous program. 00:26:03.75\00:26:05.95 That's really quite a testimony and really it puts 00:26:05.98\00:26:08.21 the individual in the driver's seat when you address 00:26:08.24\00:26:10.55 these major components of heart disease 00:26:10.58\00:26:13.65 like a CHIP Program or other programs mentioned here on 3ABN. 00:26:13.68\00:26:17.68 They can really be involved! That's right 00:26:17.71\00:26:19.76 That should reduce their stress 00:26:19.79\00:26:21.57 which is one thing I want to ask you about... 00:26:21.61\00:26:23.10 What's the role of stress in 00:26:23.14\00:26:24.54 cardiovascular disease and how can we reduce it? 00:26:24.57\00:26:26.90 Well, that's an interesting question because a study at 00:26:26.94\00:26:30.44 Duke University which involved patients who had heart disease 00:26:30.47\00:26:34.38 found that negative emotions such as tension, 00:26:34.41\00:26:38.65 sadness, frustration actually could triple 00:26:38.68\00:26:42.14 the risk of significant decreases in blood supply 00:26:42.17\00:26:45.53 to the heart muscle and thus cause more heart attacks. 00:26:45.56\00:26:50.25 Whereas positive emotions could actually improve 00:26:50.28\00:26:53.87 blood supply to the heart muscle... 00:26:53.90\00:26:55.63 And so, I think the spiritual life - here's another 00:26:55.66\00:26:59.35 example of where one's spiritual life 00:26:59.38\00:27:01.80 getting in connection with God, 00:27:01.83\00:27:03.45 can actually have a positive physiologic effect 00:27:03.48\00:27:06.95 on our beings and actually make us healthier. 00:27:06.98\00:27:13.40 I think what you've shared with us today, 00:27:13.43\00:27:15.19 in terms of women's health, has HOPEFULLY REDUCED 00:27:15.22\00:27:18.29 the STRESS of a lot of people watching 00:27:18.32\00:27:20.10 because, really, what you're saying is... 00:27:20.13\00:27:22.30 We so often want to take pills and potions and lotions 00:27:22.33\00:27:26.14 and this and that, but really, God has provided 00:27:26.17\00:27:28.63 all kinds of things for us to help us - 00:27:28.66\00:27:30.72 that are not behind a counter in some sort of 00:27:30.75\00:27:33.94 most holy place, but they are out there 00:27:33.97\00:27:36.57 in the supermarket where you can be involved 00:27:36.60\00:27:38.70 and as you come to know Him and His plan for your life 00:27:38.73\00:27:42.86 both in diet and in stress reduction, 00:27:42.89\00:27:45.72 and all these different things, 00:27:45.75\00:27:47.99 you can live longer and healthier as a result. 00:27:48.02\00:27:51.05 Thank you so much for being with us, 00:27:51.08\00:27:53.30 and thank you for being with us at home. 00:27:53.33\00:27:55.48 We hope you join us on the 00:27:55.51\00:27:56.68 next episode of "Health for a Lifetime" 00:27:56.72\00:27:58.79