Is Cholesterol and Heart Disease related ?

A few years ago I went for my yearly physical exam and as I always do, I asked for my blood profiles ahead of time. That way during my physical I can discuss with my doctor areas of concern. Much to my chagrin my overall cholesterol was 210. But, I had always had overall cholesterol levels over 200. To my surprise my doctor recommended a statin drug. What I failed to understand was the overall cholesterol limit had been lowered from 250 to 200. This was just another push to get us 40+ aged people on statins by the drug companies.

My response was “Not going to happen.” He just kinda stared at me like "Why not?". I had seen to many friends adversely affected by statins. Instead of helping, statins seemed to weaken and create side effects. I challenged him to produce any data supporting the use of statin drugs over a period of time without side affects. He became angry-I suppose-because I should not question his vast amazing knowledge. Wait a minute I said, “this is my body and I have a right to understand what effect a drug might have.” He mentioned there were many studies showing positive benefits of using statins. I asked him for literature or online data supporting his theory. Needless to say he did not produce any.

Doctors should never bagger a person into taking any medication. Doctors should produce the findings, recommend the various cures and reveal the drug side effects and let the patient make the final decision. Drugs in my estimation should be a last resort.

So began my research on this topic with some amazing finds. There was some good data and also some skewed data. What I come to find out was Cholesterol was not really the issue with heart disease . It has some components that produce problems but it is not the biggest component here.

To be sure, cholesterol indeed has its proper function in the body. It is produced by the liver and is a precursor to the sex hormones, it is necessary to break down and digest dietary fats. I found one study that showed that higher cholesterol levels actually increase longevity not decrease it. I even saw a study where a doctor studied the cholesterol levels of deceased people who died of heart disease and found that a significant percentage of them had normal cholesterol levels.

So then, if cholesterol is not the main problem, what is? Inflammation. Anything that produces free radicals generates inflammation in the body. Free radicals are like little bullets striking and wounding the body. They are oxidized molecules freely flowing throughout the body creating damage. These free radicals are produced by high blood pressure, weight gain, trans or hydrogenated fats consumption, stress, smoking, processed food consumption, low activity or no exercise , refined sugars and possibly gluten found in wheat products. The link between gluten and heart disease is not fully established. But excessive consumption of wheat products (breads, pasta, pizza etc.) is known to produce inflammation.

Like I said, cholesterol has a part to play. Medical professionals look at 4 components in a cholesterol profile, LDL, HDL, Triglycerides and Overall cholesterol. The Overall cholesterol is a combination of the other 3. LDL and HDL are the most important in the profile. HDL, the good cholesterol prevents arterial plaque build up in the vascular system. LDL, on the other hand can promote plaque build up. So if your blood profile shows a high LDL/HDL ratio (high LDL and low HDL readings) you could develop arterial plaque sometime in your lifetime. LDL interestingly enough is related to inflammation.

There are early signs to heart disease. Check the website below to find out what they are and how to include them in your next physical exam.