Posts Tagged ‘myth’

Is High Cholesterol a Hoax?

Friday, February 12th, 2010
“We have one and a half million heart attacks in the U.S.each year. About 50 percent have normal cholesterol. Clearly, current guidelines are not adequate to identify all those individuals who are at increased risk,”
Nader Rifai, MD(2004)

Statistically speaking, cholesterol levels have zero relevance in determining heart attack risk. A 50-50 chance, after all, means a coin flips worth of certainty.  But that’s not all: people with the highest cholesterol may also live the longest…

Consider the finding of Dr. Harlan Krumholz of the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine at Yale University, who reported in 1994 that elderly with low cholesterol died twice as often from a heart attack as did the elderly with high cholesterol. His research also showed that people with higher cholesterol lived longer than those with lower cholesterol.

Cholesterol has long been blamed for the epidemic of heart disease in this country, despite hundreds of peer reviewed studies indicating that – to the contrary – low cholesterol levels may increase the risk of dying from infection, stroke, cancer, and yes, even heart attack itself. Consider the fact that there are scientific organizations composed of concerned scientists and physicians whose sole purpose is to point out inaccuracies of the cholesterol theory of heart disease. For more elaborate information please visit www.thincs.org

The Term “Bad Cholesterol” is a Myth

Let’s begin by acknowledging that cholesterol is an essential substance produced by nearly every cell of our body, and the building block for the cell wall, bile salts, vitamin D, steroid hormones, the myelin sheath of the nerves, and 30% of our brain tissue.  LDL or so-called “bad cholesterol,” transports antioxidants throughout the body and helps fight bacterial infection.  How can something that has so many important functions be so bad for you?

High Cholesterol is not a Disease

It is unscientific to call high cholesterol a disease.  Elevations in cholesterol are often times normal reactions to events in the environment.  Cholesterol production is extremely variable and depends on many factors.  Take into consideration the following: When we have allergy flare ups during the Spring or Fall, our cholesterol can increase to help support immune function.  Catching cold or the flu can cause temporary elevations in cholesterol.  Contrary to popular belief, diets high in processed grains can cause elevations in cholesterol.  And to top it off, medications prescribed for the following conditions elevate cholesterol: high blood pressure, hormone contraceptives, asthma, chronic pain, and acne.

So, why have we been fixated on cholesterol as the enemy for all these years?

The answer to that question has to do with the sad fact that the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) guidelines were written under tremendous bias.  Of the nine members who wrote the guidelines, 8 had direct financial ties to the pharmaceutical companies that profit from the sale of cholesterol lowering medications.  Additionally, the research used to base the NCEP guidelines was paid for by the pharmaceutical industry.

Treating Symptoms Doesn’t Work

Despite medical intervention, there are more than 80 million cases of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in the U.S.  Cholesterol lowering medications cost U.S. taxpayers more than 10 billion annually.  If treating cholesterol with medicine was the answer, why do so many still suffer from CVD? Why does it still kill a million people every year?

What about the side effects of cholesterol lowering medications?  Congestive heart failure, high blood pressure, muscle pain and weakness, fatigue, and nerve damage are some of the possibilities.  What happened to the Hippocratic Oath – “First, do no harm”?

Heart disease is not caused by a lack of medication.  Research and common sense continue to show that the best treatment lies with prevention.  Cultures that do not consume processed refined foods have extremely low to no incidence of CVD.  Diet and lifestyle play a much greater role than do genetics as we did not inherit heart disease from our ancestors.  It is foolish to diminish the role that they play in health and wellness.

The bottom line – people are becoming more and more skeptical about the massive use of pharmaceuticals to treat disease.  They are looking to find the contributing factors and causes of their ailments, not to treat the symptoms.

“The Doctor of the future will give no medicine but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet and in the cause and prevention of disease.” – Thomas Edison

Related Articles:

Cholesterol Myth

Cholesterol Myth

Sunday, November 15th, 2009

stethoscope lying on a ekgWhat You Should Know About Cholesterol Before Taking Medication

By Dr. Osborne

High cholesterol is a household word in America. We have been told that it causes heart disease and stroke. We have been told to eat less animal fat. We have been told to eat more carbohydrates and fiber. We have been told that children as young as 2 years old should have their cholesterol checked. We have been marketed to by cereal companies. They tell us to eat whole grain sugar loaded cereals (i.e. Honey Nut Cheerios and Lucky Charms) to lower our cholesterol and prevent heart disease. Drug companies like Merck and Pfizer have told us that we need to take artificial chemicals to lower cholesterol. Our doctors have told us that we should use these medications for the rest of our lives…

Has anyone stopped to ask why?   Does it sound reasonable to put an 8 year old on cholesterol medication?  It is reasonable to think that a processed cereal with excessive sugar be used as a tool to improve health?  Is it reasonable to believe that we need to avoid eggs and animal protein and take a drug to keep the body functioning normally? What did we do before the medicine?   Statistically speaking, heart disease and stroke are on the rise in spite of the use of preventative cardiovascular medicines.  So the big question is: If taking these medications prevents heart disease, why are people dying from heart disease in record numbers?

Let’s take a look at the scientific facts surrounding this issue:

High cholesterol as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease is a disproven theory.   Many medical experts have refuted this hypothesis for years.(1-2)  Studies using cholesterol medications to lower the risk for heart disease are funded and sponsored by pharmaceutical companies.   Both the editors of the New England Journal of Medicine & Journal of the American Medical Association have admitted that published papers in the two journals are often times fraught with conflicts of interest and that many studies that yield non beneficial drug effects go unreported. Many studies overstate the benefit of medication use by manipulating statistics and reporting relative risk reduction instead of actual risk reduction. For example, a recent study reported a 53% “relative” reduction in heart disease using Crestor, but the actual risk reduction was only 0.9%.

Multiple studies have shown that people with higher cholesterol live longer.(5)   High cholesterol has not been shown to be a risk factor for heart disease in women, diabetics, coronary heart disease patients, or the elderly.(3)  As a matter of fact, several studies have shown that higher cholesterol levels in the elderly population is associated with greater longevity and a reduced risk of dying from cancer and infection.(4-5)

Add the following facts to the above information: Low cholesterol has been linked to an increased risk of stroke, depression, aggressive and violent behavior, and suppression of immunity.

Risk Vs. Benefit
When considering the use of any medication it is important to know what NNT (numbers needed to treat) means. NNT is a value that rates the efficacy of a medication. The NNT for statin drugs is about 100. This means for one person to receive the benefit of the medication, 100 people have to be taking it. That’s a whopping 1% efficacy value. When you take into account the side effects of cholesterol lowering medications the question becomes: Is it worth it?

How can something responsible for so many critical functions be so bad?

1. Cholesterol is a precursor to all sex steroids (progesterone, testosteron, estrogen)
2. Cholesterol allows your body to make vitamin D (deficiency of vitamin D causes heart disease)
3. Cholesterol allows your body to make Coenzyme Q10 (Deficiency of CoQ10 causes congestive heart failure and high blood pressure.)
4. Cholesterol helps fight viral and bacterial infection
5. Cholesterol is necessary for brain cells to form communication synapses.

References: (Not all are listed, but they are available by request.)

1. Rosch PJ. Cholesterol does not cause coronary heart disease in contrast to stress. Scand Cardiovasc J. 2008 Aug;42(4):244-9.
2. Ravnskov U, Rosch PJ, Houston MC. Should we lower cholesterol as much as possible? BMJ2006;332:1330-1332.
3. Ravnskov U. Should medical science ignore the past? BMJ 2008;337:a1681.
4. Krumholz HM, et al. JAMA 1994;272(17):1335-1340.
5. Weverling AW, et al. Lancet 1997;18(9085):1119-23.

Learn More About Cholesterol Drugs and CoQ10…

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