Ask anyone what high cholesterol causes and you'll get a dozen different answers. Ask those same people what LOW cholesterol causes and you're bound to be greeted by silence.

I was recently published in Illinois Pharmacists Association Magazine. The article is titled "Back In My Day" and is about the changes in pharmacy over the years from my perspective as a compounding pharmacist.

This might not be something people outside of pharmacy would care to read, but if you use another compounding pharmacist, maybe you should send this on to them to read.

Ask Larry:

Question: My cholesterol check was 48 HDL and 199 LDL and they want me to take a drug with terrible side effects. I know it is all heredity. My diet is like a nun's and I swim 1/2 mile daily.

Ask Larry:

Question: Regarding your article on watching your intake of sweets, how much fruit is healthy when you eat it every day? I drink fresh fruit juice in the morning, fresh fruit at lunch, sometimes a second glass of fresh juice in the afternoon.

My blog post about quitting the use of sunblock produced a large number of emails with questions, comments and concerns. Rather than keeping this correspondence private, I've decided to post them here. Maybe you had a question you didn't ask that might be answered through some of these conversations.

Below is one such email I've received since publsihing my original article. My response follows.

Received July 28th 2010 5:20pm:

3 words:
Melanoma
Heart disease
Stroke

I suggest to use sunblock, take supplemental vitamin D, and take your statin if indicated.

I also suggest to review the evidence carefully.

My response: Thank you for taking time to write with your suggestions. After decades of study and work in the health field, I stand in firm opposition to most of what passes as health information and advice. I am saddened that so many people believe without question that drug makers are working on their behalf. This dismay also applies to most doctors, and certainly the FDA.