A bacon sandwich for breakfast is a 'health time bomb in a bun'

What a lot of rubbish!  This study showed temporary effects only.  No evidence of lasting damage at all.  There SHOULD be various temporary effects of what you eat. 

I have had a big lot of bacon as part of my breakfast most days for many years and my blood pressure in my 70th year is normal.  Am I a superman?  Hardly!

A bacon butty [sandwich] for breakfast is a health time bomb in a bun, according to a new study.  Researchers found that just one high-fat meal can affect your heart health and people who eat a sarnie [sandwich] loaded with fat for breakfast will be feeling the ill effects well before lunch.

Just one day of eating a fat-laden breakfast sandwich of processed cheese and meat on a bun - and 'your blood vessels become unhappy,' says Heart and Stroke Foundation researcher Doctor Todd Anderson who is head of cardiac science at the University of Calgary in Canada.

Delegates at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress heard about a study at Dr Anderson’s lab, led by student researcher Vincent Lee. The key ingredients: breakfast sandwiches and a group of healthy, non-smoking university students.

He wanted to see what would happen to the university students after starting their day with a fatty breakfast.  The objective of the study was to assess the acute effects of just one high-fat meal on microvascular function, an indicator of overall vascular, or blood vessel, health.

The students were studied twice, once on a day they had no breakfast, and once on a day when they ate two commercially available breakfast sandwiches, total of 900 calories and 50g of fat. Dr Anderson found that two hours after eating the sandwiches, their VTI had decreased by 15 to 20 per cent.

From just one isolated meal, the results are temporary. But the study shows that such a high-fat offering can do more harm, and do it more quickly, than people might think.

Dr Anderson said: 'I won’t say don’t ever have a breakfast sandwich. But enough of a diet like that, and you can see how you can build up fat in the walls of your arteries.'

SOURCE






Why the drugs don't work: Scientist discover why statins aren't effective in 40% of patients

A big admission!  How many people are told that?

Statins are taken by millions of Britons, yet nearly half of patients are resistant to their cholesterol-lowering effects.

Now scientists think they have pinpointed the cause - a protein called resistin.

A team from McMaster University in Canada said their research suggests high levels of resistin in the blood could stop statins from working effectively.

The protein is secreted by fat tissue and causes high levels of 'bad' cholesterol also known as low-density lipoprotein or LDL. This accumulates in the arteries and increases the risk of heart disease.

The researchers found that resistin also degrades LDL receptors in the liver. As a result, the liver is less able to clear 'bad' cholesterol from the body.

It not only causes high levels of LDL, but also counteracts the beneficial effects of statins - the main drug used to tackle the problem.

Dr Shirya Rashid, senior author of the study said: 'The bigger implication of our results is that high blood resistin levels may be the cause of the inability of statins to lower patients' LDL cholesterol,' said Dr Rashid.

She noted that a staggering 40 per cent of people taking statins are resistant to their impact on lowering blood LDL.

However, she believes their discovery could lead to revolutionary new therapeutic drugs, especially those that target and inhibit resistin and thereby increase the effectiveness of statins.

Heart and Stroke Foundation spokesperson Dr Beth Abramson said: 'The possibilities for improved therapy for the causes of cardiovascular disease are very important.'

The findings were presented at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress.

SOURCE