September 22, 2009

Cholesterol conundrum

By Kelley Luckstein

The TV commercial is enticing: A crestfallen man, whose doctor has ordered him to lower his cholesterol, is dragging a bulging bag of junk food out to the trash when a postal carrier happens by and hands him a free sample of a breakfast cereal that, viewers are told, can lower cholesterol.

 

The Mayo Clinic, for instance, offers patients information about suggested dosages and potential side effects of various, largely unproven cholesterol-lowering alternatives on its MayoClinic.com website. “Most of the information consumers get are from commercial sites that over-hype the benefits [of alternative medications],’’ said Dr. Brent Bauer, director of the complementary and integrative medicine program at the Mayo Clinic.

 

Boston Globe By Kay Lazar, 09/21/09

Tags: cholesterol, Complementary/Alternative Medicine, Nutrition

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