More on red yeast rice and cholesterol

The Archives of Internal Medicine published a study which evaluated different red yeast rice supplements and found them highly variable in the amount of monacolin (sometimes spelled monocolin) they contained. This ingredient is the active ingredient lowering cholesterol, which is similar to that in lovastatin. They also found that some of the supplements contained a compound toxic to the kidneys.

The important distinction here is between red yeast rice and red yeast rice supplements. This study evaluated 12 supplements in capsule form. While the study raises a caution about purchasing extract supplements in capsule form, I stand by my previous post on the subject with respect to the whole grain. Buying the whole grain red yeast rice and preparing it just as one would prepare any other type of rice should not be subject to regulation as a drug.

Modifiable factors in stroke risk

The INTERSTROKE study, an international study of stroke risk factors was recently published in the Lancet, and shows as you might have expected the modifiable risk factors which play the greatest role in stroke risk. The number one factor is high blood pressure, which can be reduced by reducing salt intake and exercising more, and if that doesn't work, taking medications to reduce blood pressure. Smoking, abdominal obesity (fat around the middle!), diet, and reduced physical activity were other factors which together with high blood pressure accounted for 80% of ischemic stroke risk (ischemic stroke means a stroke that happens because of a reduction of oxygen flow to the brain, usually due to a clot in a blood vessel), and 90% of the risk of having a hemorrhagic stroke (due to bleeding into the brain) in the study.
Additional risk factors for a clot-type stroke included diabetes, alcohol intake, psychosocial factors, the ratio of apolipoproteins B to A1, and other heart diseases (arrhythmias such as atrial fibrillation or atrial flutter, previous heart attack, and valve disease). Hypertension, smoking, abdominal obesity, diet, and alcohol intake were the most important risk factors for a stroke due to bleeding into the brain. '

Anything new here? No! But it's interesting to note that these results were the same all around the world.