Word: ncep
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Dates: during 1989-1989
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Nothing is more appealing than a simple solution to a complex problem. That is why so many people have eagerly embraced the notion that eating right can prevent heart disease. Following the advice of the U.S. Government's National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP), millions of Americans have lined up to get their cholesterol checked and have purged their refrigerators of fatty foods. Food manufacturers are pumping up sales simply by touting their products as "cholesterol free." Rarely has a health campaign so quickly become a national obsession...
...diet has little impact on cholesterol levels is an oversimplification. Some patients respond dramatically to diet therapy, others hardly at all. The author cites studies showing that people who change their eating habits generally lower their cholesterol levels by 5% to 10%. But Dr. James Cleeman, coordinator of the NCEP, maintains that the typical reduction range is more like...
Moore is on firmer ground in sounding an alarm about drug therapy. While the NCEP says cholesterol-lowering drugs should be used only after diet modification fails, many doctors are too quick to reach for the prescription pad. Reason: patients find it easier to take pills than to give up steak and eggs. Yet taking drugs for a lifetime can have unintended and perhaps dangerous side effects. The well-established anticholesterol drugs, including cholestyramine and nicotinic acid, seem to be relatively safe, but they can produce such discomforts as nausea and intestinal pain. Newer drugs, like the heavily promoted lovastatin...