Mark Reynolds @MarkR205

A Paradigm Shift is now Underway in the Cancer Field. The mitochondrial metabolic theory has replaced the genetic theory as the most credible explanation for the origin of cancer. According to the American Cancer Society over 618,000 people are projected to die from cancer in the US this year (DOI: 10.3322/caac.21871). Shockingly, this comes to almost 1,700 people dying each day or about 70 people dying each hour from cancer! The anti-smoking campaign of the 1990’s was largely responsible for preventing the number of yearly cancer deaths from being even higher. The failure to reduce yearly deaths from malignant cancers has been due in large part to the dogmatic ideology that cancer is a genetic disease according to the long-standing somatic mutation theory. Based on the new understanding that cancer is a metabolic disease, the field can now advance in using more effective and less toxic therapeutic strategies for cancer management & prevention. The biochemical evidence supporting the mitochondrial metabolic theory of cancer is presented in our new paper published in the Journal of Bioenergetics & Biomembranes (doi.org/10.1007/s10863…). The content of the paper is technical but it is important for lay people to see the historical and current scientific evidence required to force a paradigm shift in the cancer field.

Why do some people with crazy high LDL-C and ApoB develop no plaque in their arteries, while others – including those with far lower LDL and lower ApoB – do develop plaque? 🫀- featuring @Drlipid So, let’s tackle one possible explanation centered around the following term: “Transcytosis.” ✋Quick Definition & Analogy  Transcytosis is the process whereby a cell – in this case, the endothelial cells lining your arteries – sucks up something from outside (here, an LDL particle containing cholesterol), passes that something through its interior, and then out the other side.   By way of analogy, think of your artery wall like an exclusive nightclub. Some particles get waved in VIP-style. Others get stuck outside. But what if LDL wasn’t just passively slipping through a hole in the wall, but was actually being escorted through by a bouncer? That is - more or less - transcytosis. #LDL #ApoB #heartdisease #cholesterol #LEM #LMHR #HDL #hearthealth #insulinresistance #metabolichealth #cholesterolcode #staycurious @realDaveFeldman @AdrianSotoMota @lipo_fan @DudzLightLime

@ellymelly Ron Swanson

I believe context matters. And the more my platforms build, to more people seem to go out of their way to take me out of context. This happened recently in a manner that - unfortunately - led to a profound spiral of hate speech and violent rhetoric. Rather than feeding into that, I've decided to just release the 'context.' Here's the 20 min 8 Carnivore Myths video that’s “done the rounds.” It was picked up and posted by some major media outlets and provoked emotions. Mission accomplished, I suppose? The prevailing feedback is that it’s ‘provocatively reasonable.’ Specifically, with respect to my claims on the carnivore diet, as made clear at multiple points throughout the video, the research is far too early to recommend carnivore as standard of care. Further research needs to be conducted. But for this to happen, we need to have sincere conversations because the research will be grass roots. Big pharma isn’t funding our next $3M study… Furthermore, I will point out that when I say these are “impressive,” I’m referring to the quality of the clinical histories, including published cases of severe inflammatory bowel disease remission supported by complete medical histories, lab reports, and colonoscopy reports. (Not just patient self-report.) When someone with a multi decade, history of inflammatory bowel disease who was not served by surgeries or multiple severe medication goes into remission with nutritional therapy… Is that not impressive? Patient stories – – you can call them anecdotes if you want – – do matter. They shouldn’t change standard of care, but they should inspire more research. That’s what we’re doing. #carnivore #metabolism #ketodiet #contextmatters #guthealth #staycurious

Here is a summary on 'Blood Pressure, longevity and drugs' I have composed for my patients. My conclusions might surprise you. 'Blood Pressure, Longevity and Drugs' High blood pressure (hypertension) is a well-known risk factor for early death. The belief that lowering blood pressure can lead to an increase in life expectancy has driven Australians to spend over $1.2 billion annually on blood pressure medications. However, while these drugs lower blood pressure, they don’t address the most common root cause of hypertension, which is insulin resistance. As a result, the expected longevity associated with a particular blood pressure may well be different in unmedicated and medicated individuals. What’s the Ideal Blood Pressure for longevity? Studies assessing the association between blood pressure and mortality often has significant limitations. These studies are often conducted in developed countries on high-risk populations. This means that many study subjects are likely to be taking blood pressure medications, limiting the generalisability of findings to unmedicated populations. Additionally, the number of very elderly participants in these studies is typically limited, restricting the ability of these studies to inform us about blood pressure and optimal longevity. One study, published in BMJ in 2018, addresses these limitations and is the most methodologically sound study I have found on this topic. This was a prospective longitudinal study of 4,658 elderly Chinese individuals with an average age of 92 years (including 825 centenarians). Given the impressive age of the subjects, this study has the potential to inform us of optimal blood pressure for longevity. There are two numbers in a standard blood pressure reading. The top number refers to systolic blood pressure (SBP) and indicates pressure when the heart pumps. The bottom number refers to diastolic blood pressure (DBP), which is the pressure when the heart relaxes between beats. Systolic blood pressure (the top number reflecting peak pressure when the heart pumps) was shown by this study to predict longevity, with an optimal reading being 129 mmHg. Systolic blood pressures both below and above this level were found to represent an increased mortality risk, though this was not significant between about 120 mmHg and 140 mmHg. Importantly, the risk of premature mortality was greater for lower blood pressures than for higher blood pressures. Diastolic blood pressure (bottom number, reflection pressure when the heart is relaxed), was shown to be all but worthless when it comes to predicting longevitiy. All-cause mortality was bascially identical across a wide range of diastolic blood pressure (40 mmHg to 130 mmHg).# In essence, it is reasonable to only consider systolic blood pressure (the top number) when predicting longevity based on blood pressure**. These findings have been replicated in other populations too. A UK-based study of females over the age of 80 had broadly similar findings, identifying the lowest risk of mortality when systolic blood pressure was between 120 to 139 mmHg.## Another study of 68,901 Korean adults over the age of 65 found that the optimal systolic blood pressure in terms of mortality was 130-139 mmHg. In summary, the optimal systolic blood pressure for longevity in an unmedicated population is likely to be around 130 mmHg, with diastolic blood pressure being all but irrelevant.* Does Treating High Blood Pressure with Drugs Increase Life Expectancy? Perhaps the most influential clinical guidelines on the management of blood pressure in Australia were published by the Australian Heart Foundation in 2016. Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs), calcium channel blockers, and thiazide-type diuretics are all recommended as first-line management for hypertension. Despite the strong recommendation to use these drugs for hypertension, on balance, there is no compelling evidence that taking blood pressure medications for hypertension increases life expectancy. This was demonstrated by a 2017 meta-analysis of 74 individual trials involving over 300,000 patients, which found no evidence that treating hypertension, even when systolic pressures were over 160 mmHg, offered any mortality benefit. Of course, it may be argued that some classes of medication may be superior to others, offering benefits through mechanisms independent of their blood-lowering effect. There is little compelling evidence, however, that any of the four classes of medication commonly initiated for hypertension offer mortality benefit. A Closer Look at Specific Drug Classes: ACE Inhibitors A 2014 meta-analysis published in JAMA examined these drug classes in patients with diabetes. Nine out of 11 studies on ACE inhibitors (e.g., Ramipril, Perindopril) found no benefit. The two outliers were industry-funded, with significant methodological limitations. One of these outliers was not in fact a new study, but rather a 're-analysis' of existing trial data from a previous study which just so happened to come to a different conclusion. The other outlier was the ADVANCE trial which also had major methodolgical limitations. One of these was the use of a run in period (commonly seen in statin trials). Before the study officially started, every eligible subject received the active medications for 6 weeks. If they had any side effects to the drugs, they were removed from eligiblity before the study even started (~14% of subjects who registered for the trial ultimately did not take part in the study). Of course, subjects removed during the run-in period were not included in adverse event data. Consequently, practices such as this load the deck in favour of the drug intervention, leading to an overestimation of the net benefits. Further, these studies were on diabetics, and thus not applicable to the general population. Without these two industry funded outlier studies, the marginal benefit found by this meta-analysis for ACE inhibitors in terms of all cause mortality all but evaporates. ARBs A 2014 meta-analysis published in JAMA examined these drug classes in patients with diabetes. Seven individual studies assessed Angiotensin II Receptor Blockers (e.g., Candesartan, Irbesartan, Losartan, Olmesartan, Telmisartan, Valsartan), with none finding a mortality benefit. Calcium Channel Blockers Calcium channel blockers are another class of medication often used for the management of hypertension. One of the earliest drugs in this class was nifedipine, which was introduced into the Australian market in the 1980's. The immediate-release formulation of nifedipine was discontinued in Australia in October 2020 after it was found to significantly increase the risk of death in patients with heart disease by 2-3 times. Slow release nifedipine remains available, and is often prescribed to lower blood pressure. Despite this, I could not locate any research finding nifedipine to offer benefit when compared to 'no treatment at all' in terms of mortality. Most randomised controlled trials compared nifedipine against other blood pressure drugs rather than placebo, meaning can't tell us whether nifedipine is superior to 'no treatment at all'. The only randomised controlled trial that I could find comparing nifedipine against a placebo in the treatment of hypertension, the 'Systolic Hypertension in Europe trial' found there to be no mortality benefit. & Similarly, there is no evidence of mortality benefit compared to placebo for other calcium channel blockers, including amlodipine, felodipine and lercanidpine. Thiazide diuretics As with other blood pressure lowering medications, there is little if any evidence that thiazide type diuretics (eg. hydro-chlorothiazide) and thiazide 'like' diuretics (eg. indapamide) improve longevity when used to treat hypertension. This was demonstrated by a 2015 meta-analysis and systematic review of 21 studies which failed to find any mortality benefit of either thiazide-type or thiazide-like diuretics when compared to placebo. Conclusion In summary, the use of blood pressure medications appears to offer no compelling mortality benefit. Most studies compare drugs against each other rather than placebo, creating an illusion of benefit. Additionally, non-inferiority trials—where a new drug is compared against an older drug—often perpetuate the recommendation of multiple drugs without clear evidence of efficacy. Medications are simply no substitute for addressing the underlying causes of hypertension. Focusing on improving diet, exercise, and overall metabolic health offers a more effective and sustainable path to longevity and well-being. ****************************************************** *It's worth noting that the systolic blood pressure found to be optimal for longevity, 129 mmHg, is a level the American Heart Association considers to represent elevated blood pressure. Indeed, it is just shy of the 130 mmHg threshold which is considered stage 1 hypertension. That the optimal blood pressure for longevity as identified by this study is considered to represent elevated blood pressure ought to have us rethinking our blood pressure goals. **Importantly, this study also looked at whether or not study participants were taking medications for blood pressure and found these findings to be independent of medication status. #There is another measure called 'pulse pressure,' which is the difference between SBP and DBP (SBP - DBP = pulse pressure). Being derived from both systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure, the predictive value of pulse pressure was found to be midway between the two (inferior to the simpler systolic blood pressure). ##This study also found that blood pressures below 120 mmHg were more common in the last three months of life (despite the absence of any medication changes), with blood pressures below 110 mmHg being associated with the highest risk of all. ******************************************************* If you have read this far, thank you. Grok AI suggested some changes which fairly decimated this post. While clearer, it removed a lot of nuance which I feel is important when communicating science. Please feel free to let me know whether you prefer long form summaries as I provide them to my patients, or if I should 'GROKIFY' my posts.

Retweet if you think the government has gotten too big, too intrusive, too inefficient and is wasting too much of our money!

The NRFA board member and truck industry veteran says the next generation of transport talent is out there, keen to do it right ownerdriver.com.au/lets-teach-the…

Pretty awesome to see a scientific paper demonstrating that a carnivore diet can put inflammatory bowel diseases like Crohn’s and Ulcerative Colitis into complete remission! The drug companies probably won’t like you retweeting this! frontiersin.org/journals/nutri…

Meat is an incredibly important source of nutrition! Anyone that wants to restrict access or limit your ability to consume it is an enemy of the people and should be treated as such!!

If you think that cows are causing “climate change” you’re basically a fucking idiot!

Fatigue doesnt discriminate………stay safe!!!

If you're concerned about #Omicron, PLEASE stay indoors. If you must go out, wear at least 2 masks. Get a test and a 3rd 'jab' and book in for a 4th. And for God's sake get as much toilet paper, pasta and flour as you can. But don't force me to do any of those things. I'm done.

@GaryMahon_qta The same councils that approve these industrial estates without truck parking provisions then fine heavy vehicle drivers for parking where they can to manage fatigue. Maybe we should be looking at them??

HAVE YOU HAD A HARD SHIFT?… 🥱🥱🥱…ITS OK TO SAY NO!

Out of blokes I've met over 50 years, among those I like best, who put bread on my table, milk in my fridge, work through the night, take risk each time they climb into the rig - world's safest - very few I respect more than the Australian truck driver. #IStandWithTruckies

Can we please remember that for most of us, being locked in our homes is a privilege & brings safety. For hundreds of thousands of our friends, neighbours & fellow aussies it is not. It's a place of danger, harm, financial ruin & emotional damage. That is truth worth repeating.

My 4-point plan: 1. Make the vaccine available to anyone who wants it 2. Cease all restrictions on 31 Dec - No vaccine, fine, take your chances 3. National apology to the Australian people 4. Snap elections in every parl so we can pass judgment on those who did this to us

I am still on a #ShadowBan - if you see this, please give it a retweet. It is my long awaited article on the #WorldEconomicForum's Third Pandemic - the Digital Apocalypse... I'm sure they'd rather you not read it.🧐

The Spectator Australia @SpectatorOz

5 years ago

What happens when world leaders, global corporations, and interested billionaires flick civilisation's digital 'off' switch, ask @ellymelly? Can humanity survive a #GreatReset? Or will the #WorldEconomicForum kill us all? #auspol #BigTech #GreatReset bit.ly/3w7ASKY

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