4A COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL October 28, 2015
O PINION
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Fire levy may help you
a long way in those efforts.
Please help me support our fi re district
in its mission to protect us by voting YES
on 20-237.
I would like to begin this letter by
thanking the residents of South Lane
County for supporting the Fire District’s
operating levy a few years ago. Our fi re
and ambulance services would have been
dramatically cut without that support.
The District is now seeking our help
again to replace aging fi re apparatus that’s
out of date and doesn’t meet the needs of
our changing community. An example is
the fact that our ladder truck won’t reach
the top of our tallest buildings.
Supporting this bond measure may, in
turn, support you. Supporting this bond
could lower your homeowner’s insurance
rate. Many insurance companies use ISO
ratings as part of their process in deter-
mining insurance rates. The rating evalu-
ates key factors in a fi re department’s
ability to fi ght fi res, equipment being a
vital piece of that rating. The District has
been working on lowering its ISO ratings
for several years, and this measure will go
Mike Fleck
Cottage Grove
Levy can help fi ght fi res
in rural areas
Living in the country is something many
of us enjoy. How much is it worth to help
our fi refi ghters have the necessary equip-
ment to put out a fi re in the rural areas?
The sum of 18 cents a day is not too much
to help the fi re district buy fi re engines
with all-wheel drive to climb the hills and
water tenders to bring more water to fi res
in the country. Vote yes on 20-237 and
support South Lane Fire and Rescue.
Paul and Anita Hughes
Cottage Grove
Offbeat Oregon History
Tillamook Lighthouse ghost greeted
new keeper on fi rst night
BY FINN J.D. JOHN
For the Sentinel
O
ne grim winter morning near the
end of the Second World War, a
Coast Guard seaman named James A.
Gibbs, Jr., was looking apprehensively
out over an angry sea from the rail of
the 52-foot motor lifeboat Triumph. Far
out over the fi eld of towering pyramid-
shaped waves, a tiny speck was just
coming into view — his destination.
“Tillamook Rock,” the boatswain
muttered, as a seasick Gibbs silently
fought to hang onto his breakfast. “I
wouldn’t take that duty on a bet.”
Gibbs might not have either, but he
didn’t have much choice. That tiny,
lonely speck in the middle of an angry
gray ocean was his new duty station:
Tillamook Rock, a half-acre hunk of
granite with a lighthouse perched du-
biously upon its crest in the middle of
the open sea, known to the initiated as
“Terrible Tilly.”
In his book, written many years later,
Gibbs referred to Tillamook Rock as
a “pint-size Alcatraz,” and indeed, his
transfer there had a lot in common with
a prison sentence. It was widely known
that assignments to Tillamook Rock
were given as a punishment for trouble-
makers, and Gibbs fi t that profi le pretty
well. His record with the Coast Guard
was, as he puts it, “checkered.”
Gibbs’ trouble had started one night
very early in the war, when he was on
beach patrol duty. His patrol dog, Plu-
to, had fallen off a bluff while chasing
birds and was injured. In trying to call
for help, Gibbs and his partner had got-
ten the codes mixed up and accidental-
ly sent a message that an enemy force
had landed.
As if that weren’t enough, while wait-
ing for the help they thought was com-
ing for poor Pluto, they doctored him
up a bit with a few nips from a bottle of
whiskey that they claimed (with, shall
we say, less than 100-percent believ-
ability) to have “found on the beach.”
(Gibbs doesn’t mention, specifi cally,
whether he and his comrade “shared”
Pluto’s whiskey, but anyone who thinks
they didn’t probably still believes in the
Tooth Fairy.)
All of this wouldn’t have ordinar-
ily been a problem. But because of
the mixed-up radio codes, their call
for help was being answered not by
a friend with a Jeep and blanket for
Pluto, but by a massive detachment
of Army soldiers ready for a fi refi ght
— all of whom were furious when they
learned the truth. They’d been rousted
out of their warm bunks and turned out
locked and loaded to do their heroic bit
— only to learn their mission was just
to rescue two bumbling Coast Guard
mopes and their drunk dog.
This incident had humiliated the
Coast Guard in front of the Army,
and Gibbs’ part in it earned him some
special attention from his supervisors
— attention that he’d responded poorly
to. One thing had led to another, and
by early 1945 he’d racked up enough
minor and major disciplinary infrac-
tions that he was on every command-
ing offi cer’s “Usual Suspects” list, and
was actually worried about getting a
dishonorable discharge.
Instead, he found himself assigned
for duty on Tillamook Rock.
Gibbs’ arrival on the island was a
punishment all by itself. The motor
lifeboat stood off several dozen feet
from the sheer rocky cliff face, rising
and falling a good 10 feet with each
swell it rode through. Gibbs, wearing
a breeches buoy — basically a pair of
big heavy pants with a life ring around
the hips, attached to a heavy cable with
a hook at the end — stood on the boat’s
deck while the boatswain’s mate ma-
neuvered it to within grabbing distance
of a big ring dangling from the end
of a crane. The terrifi ed Gibbs had to
grab the ring and hook it, whereupon
the crane picked him up off the deck of
the boat and swung him over sea and
rocks and down onto the cement land-
ing pad.
It was the beginning of a new chap-
ter in Gibbs’ life, and one that would
change him in a hundred ways — an
experience he wouldn’t have given up
for anything. But before he could enjoy
those benefi ts, he had to get through his
fi rst night on the rock — the roughest
night of his life.
The thing was, Tillamook Rock
Lighthouse was haunted. Or at least,
so Gibbs’ three fellow crewmembers
assured him over dinner that night.
They spoke darkly but matter-of-factly
of mysterious footsteps and unexplain-
able noises in the tower.
Convinced this was nothing more
than an attempt to razz the new guy,
Gibbs fi nished supper and retired to
catch a few hours of sleep before his
midnight watch started. Opening,
for ventilation, the heavy porthole of
storm-battered inch-thick glass that
served for a window, he climbed into
his bunk and went to sleep.
He awoke with a start several hours
later. What had that noise been? He
peered out, but the blackness in the
lighthouse, a mile and a half away from
shore, was absolute. The light switch
was by the door; he’d have to get out of
bed and cross the room to fl ip it on.
There it was again! A footstep. And
another, and another — heel, toe; heel-
toe. And they were coming closer.
“For some reason, I just couldn’t
move,” Gibbs recalled in his book. “I
grew rigid and tried to call out, but
the utterances seemed to choke in my
throat. After hearing two more steps, I
knew that whatever it was was standing
next to my bed. Then came that terri-
fying moment when something passed
near my throat, so close that the breeze
fanned my face.”
Now, at last, Gibbs’ paralysis passed.
With a desperate roar, seizing the pillow
and holding it before him, he charged
his attacker — tripped over something
— went sprawling to the fl oor at the
foot of the light switch — scrambled to
his feet and fl ipped it up. There, before
him, stood the “ghost”:
Please see OFFBEAT, Page 10A
Risks associated with statin drugs
E
levated blood cholesterol
is an important risk fac-
tor for cardiovascular disease.
Higher LDL cholesterol lev-
els mean that more LDL from
the blood-
s t r e a m
makes its
way
into
the
arte-
rial wall.
There, LDL
is oxidized,
setting off
a chain of
events leading to the formation
of atherosclerotic plaque.
Statin drugs work by block-
ing an enzyme involved in the
liver’s production of cholester-
ol. Statins are one of the most
frequently prescribed classes of
drugs, and more than 25 percent
of adults age 45 and older take
statins.
In the most recent analysis of
statins in patients who have not
had a previous cardiovascular
event, a 14 percent reduction in
all-cause mortality and a 25 per-
cent reduction in cardiovascular
events were reported. However,
the validity of these numbers
has been questioned; some re-
searchers have claimed that
studies conducted by scientists
without confl icts of interest did
not fi nd any reduction in cardio-
vascular events, in contrast to
studies supported or conducted
by pharmaceutical companies.
In a 2010 study that analyzed
the medical records of two mil-
lion statin users, increases in the
risk of liver dysfunction, mus-
cle-related side effects, acute
kidney injury and cataracts as-
sociated with statin use were
reported. Larger doses of statin
drugs are associated with great-
er likelihood of side effects, and
additional risk factors such as
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other drugs, older age, diabetes
and high triglycerides also in-
crease the likelihood of adverse
effects. In addition to these
known adverse effects, there
is debate over whether statins
may have detrimental effects on
brain function. Approximately
17 percent of patients who take
a statin experience an adverse
effect. Even if this seems like
a low level of risk, statins treat
a condition that is preventable
and reversible via dietary and
lifestyle modifi cation. So why
take any risk at all?
It is now well established that
there is an increased risk of type
2 diabetes in statin users, one
meta-analysis reporting a nine
percent increase in risk, with an-
other reporting a 13 percent in-
crease in risk. Statin use appears
to promote diabetes by impair-
ing insulin secretion by the beta
cells of the pancreas and also by
reducing insulin sensitivity.
A study examining Cana-
dian healthcare records for two
million patients who had been
newly prescribed a statin found
an increase in the incidence of
hospitalization for acute kid-
ney injury during the fi rst six
months of statin use, high po-
tency statins in particular.
The most common adverse
effects of statins are myopathies
(impaired muscle function),
which may be due to impaired
energy production in muscle
cells. These side effects include
muscle pain and a severe break-
down of muscle called rhabdo-
myolysis. Rhabdomyolysis can
also lead to kidney and liver dys-
function. Due to the negative ef-
fects of statins on skeletal mus-
cle, there is evidence that statins
may also blunt the fi tness-build-
ing response to aerobic exercise
training. The likelihood of mus-
cular side effects depends on the
dose of the statin, and they are
more prevalent in physically ac-
tive patients.
Statins have a few side ef-
fects that appear to be helpful,
such as improving endothelial
function and reducing infl am-
matory markers. However, the
question is now being raised
whether statins have effects that
actually promote atherosclerosis
and heart failure with long-term
use, negating these potential
benefi ts. A team of researchers
from Japan and the U.S. has
compiled and described pos-
sible ways statins could actually
accelerate heart disease. The
authors make the argument that
the abnormalities caused to the
energy production machinery in
skeletal muscle imply that heart
muscle could be similarly dam-
aged. They propose that statins
are toxic to the mitochondria
because they promote the deple-
tion of coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10),
an important component of mi-
tochondrial energy production.
Cardiac muscle tissue would be
especially vulnerable to CoQ10
depletion because of its high en-
ergy demands. CoQ10 supple-
mentation is often used as a ther-
apy for statin-associated muscle
pain, although its effi cacy is
debated. The authors make the
case that statin-induced CoQ10
depletion in cardiac muscle pro-
motes damage in the heart that
may lead to atherosclerosis or
heart failure. Accordingly, they
point out certain long-term tri-
als in which cholesterol reduc-
tion with statins was associated
with a greater mortality risk or
worsening of cardiac function.
They also note that statins may
cause coronary calcifi cation by
inhibiting the production of vi-
tamin K2. More research must
be done to confi rm these heart
disease-promoting effects of
statins, but for now they do war-
rant caution.
If you have elevated cho-
lesterol, dietary and lifestyle
modifi cations should be the fi rst
course of action. Medication is
unnecessary in most people who
make the appropriate lifestyle
changes. A high-nutrient diet
containing a portfolio of foods
such as green vegetables, nuts,
beans and berries work synergis-
tically to bring LDL cholesterol
down and restore the health of
the arteries.
A high-fi ber, high-nutrient
diet focusing on vegetables,
fruit and nuts was found to re-
duce cholesterol by 33 percent
within two weeks. Unlike tak-
ing a statin while continuing a
disease-causing eating style,
a Nutritarian diet and lifestyle
does more than address one or
two heart disease risk factors.
This lifestyle combines com-
ponents that promote regres-
sion of atherosclerotic plaque
while reducing cholesterol
levels, blood pressure and in-
fl ammation. These effects of a
Nutritarian diet have now been
published in a peer-reviewed
scientifi c journal, The Ameri-
can Journal of Lifestyle Medi-
cine. Survey data documented
an average 42 mg/dl decrease in
LDL cholesterol in those who
adhered to the diet style at least
80 percent. In addition, those
who started out obese averaged
a sustained weight loss of 50
pounds, which was maintained
even two years after changing
their diet. Those who started
with hypertension reduced their
systolic blood pressure by an
average of 26 mm Hg. Case
studies accompanied this data,
and atherosclerosis reversal was
documented. Living healthfully
produces dramatic changes be-
cause it doesn’t address just one
risk factor; it makes your entire
body healthier. You don’t just
lower your cholesterol, you be-
come more resistant to diabetes
and cancer and improve your
immune function.
In conclusion, I strongly feel
that prescribing statins for el-
evated cholesterol is counter-
productive. Taking a statin drug
allows the patient to psycholog-
ically downplay the urgency of
the lifestyle and dietary changes
that would drastically improve
health, life expectancy and
quality of life. You can choose
to remove the cause or treat the
symptom; treating the symptom
with statin drugs does not re-
verse heart disease and carries
the risk of adverse effects. Re-
moving the cause with a health-
promoting diet and lifestyle not
only reduces cholesterol but
also reduces blood pressure, re-
verses heart disease and protects
against diabetes, dementia and
cancer.
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