Dr. Rath’s Scientific Discovery in Heart Disease
Dr. Rath’s research reveals that coronary heart disease occurs exactly for the same reason that clinical (early) scurvy does – a deficiency of vitamin C in the cells composing the artery wall. Humans, unlike animals, develop heart disease because their bodies cannot produce vitamin C. The average diet provides enough vitamin C to prevent scurvy, but not enough to guarantee stable artery walls. As a consequence of vitamin C deficiency, millions of tiny cracks and lesions develop in the artery walls. Subsequently, cholesterol, lipoproteins and other blood risk factors enter the damaged artery walls to repair these lesions.
In the case of chronic vitamin deficiency, this repair process becomes continuous. Over the course of many years, atherosclerotic deposits develop. Deposits in the arteries of the heart eventually lead to heart attack; deposits in the arteries of the brain lead to stroke.
Dr. Rath identified and our research has proven that atherosclerosis is nature’s plaster cast for weak and cracked arterial walls that are chronically deficient in vitamin C and other essential nutrients. One of these nutrients is the amino acid lysine. Lysine is called an essential amino acid because, similar to vitamin C, it cannot be produced in the human body. Lysine, together with another amino acid, proline, is the main component of collagen. These two amino acids comprise about 25% of all amino acids in the collagen molecule. A deficiency of lysine and proline can also trigger blood vessel wall weakness and instability.
Research and clinical studies conducted by Dr. Rath confirm that the most important function of vitamin C in preventing heart attacks and strokes is its ability to increase the production of collagen, elastin, and other reinforcement molecules in the body. This groundbreaking discovery in heart disease should be taught in every medical textbook and school and explains why other cardiovascular conditions, including heart failure, irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure and circulatory problems in diabetes, occur in the case of long-term vitamin deficiencies.
http://www.drrathresearch.org/sci_discoveries/heart_disease.html
Showing posts with label cholesterol. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cholesterol. Show all posts
Sunday, September 13, 2009
The Cholesterol Myths
UFFE RAVNSKOV
author of The Cholesterol Myths
UFFE RAVNSKOV is radical. He is so radical that, on a television show in Finland, his critics set his book on fire!
His website (or a website about him) says: If you think this is written by another internet crackpot, take a look at Dr Ravnskov's credentials and the reviews of his book.
The book in question is titled The Cholesterol Myths. Its main argument is that cholesterol is not harmful to health but, in fact, healthy. Its author is certainy no internet crackpot. His credentials are, indeed, impressive.
Uffe Ravnskov graduated with a medical degree in 1961 and, in 1973, obtained a PhD in Chemistry. Between 1975 and 1979, he was Assistant Professor at the Department of Nephrology, University Hospital, in Lund, Sweden. Ravnskov went into private practice in 1980 and, in 2000, retired to become a full-time independent researcher.
More significantly, Uffe Ravnskov has published over 80 scientific papers and letters in peer-reviewed journals criticizing what is commonly called the Lipid Hypothesis of heart disease – the belief that dietary saturated fats and cholesterol clog arteries and cause atherosclerosis and heart disease.
Uffe Ravnskov began studying cholesterol in 1989, the year Sweden launched an anti-cholesterol campaign.
“Very soon I realised that the scientific evidence behind the campaign was non-existing,” he writes.
Among the many research findings published in scientific journals, Uffe Ravnskov discovered that:
lowering cholesterol did not result in lower death rates from heart disease, but in HIGHER death rates from all causes.
drug trials with an allegedly positive outcome was cited almost only by the trial directors, although the numbers of trials with an allegedly positive and a negative outcome were identical.
the successful dissemination of the diet-heart idea is due to authors systematically ignoring or misquoting discordant studies.
Uffe Ravnskov also discovered that LDL, commonly called “bad cholesterol”, actually protects against infections. This led him to put forward the hypothesis that high cholesterol, rather than promoting atherosclerosis, in fact may protect against it.
Uffe Ravnskov first summarised his research findings in a book, first published in Sweden in 1991, whose title translates to The Cholesterol Myths.
In 1992, the book was published in Finland. That was when his critics burned the book during a television show about it.
In 2000, an updated and expanded English edition of The Cholesterol Myths was published in the United States.
In 2002, a German edition of The Cholesterol Myths was published.
In his book, Uffe Ravnskov critically analyzes and demolishes the nine main myths of the Lipid Hypothesis:
High-fat foods cause heart disease
High cholesterol causes heart disease
High fat foods raise blood cholesterol
Cholesterol blocks arteries
Animal studies prove the diet-heart idea that diet affects heart disease
Lowering your cholesterol will lengthen your life
Polyunsaturated oils are good for you
The cholesterol campaign (to have people reduce their cholesterol levels) is based on good science
All scientists support the diet-heart idea.
All the above statements, Uffe Ravnskov maintains, are NOT TRUE. And he backs his assertions with solid scientific research.
Ancel Keys' Seven Countries Study
Uffe Ravnskov starts off with a critical analysis of the original 1950s research that gave rise to the idea that saturated fats and cholesterol cause heart disease – Dr Ancel Keys Six Countries Study, which later became the more famous Seven Countries Study published in 1980.
The Seven Countries Study – which gathered data on heart disease of some 13,000 men in Greece, Italy, Croatia, Serbia, Japan, Finland and the Netherlands over several decades – is widely considered to be one of the greatest epidemological studies ever undertaken.
Ancel Keys' Seven Countries Study showed that countries with the highest animal fat intake have the highest rates of heart disease. And this is frequently cited as “proof” that saturated fats and cholesterol cause heart disease.
Uffe Ravnskov informs us, however, that Ancel Keys had deliberately hand-picked the countries he included in his studies. In other words, Ancel Keys chose to study only those countries that supported his hypothesis.
Yet there are many other countries where high consumption of animal fat DID NOT cause heart disease. But, Ufee Ravnskov points out, Ancel Keys ignored those countries.
Dangers of statins and other cholesterol lowering drugs
Uffe Ravnskov is also highly critical of statins, the cholesterol-loweing drugs that are widely hailed as miracle “wonder drugs”.
He presents scientific evidence that show:
drug trials involving statins produced only neglible reductions in the rates of heart disease
lowering cholesterol did not reduce the death rate from heart disease but INCREASED the overall death rate from all causes
whatever positive benefits associated with the use of statins are due to factors other than cholesterol-lowering.
statins are probable carcinogens and women on statins have reported higher rates of breast cancer.
Uffe Ravnskov warns that exposure to carcinogens may result in cancer only after 20 or more years. And since there has not been controlled studies on statins over such long periods, we do not know whether the use of statins will lead to increased rates of cancer in the coming decades.
"“Millions of people are being treated with medications the ultimate effects of which are not yet known.”
– Uffe Ravnskov
Of course, it is not just Uffe Ravnskov saying all this and more. What he tells us about saturated fats and high cholesterol foods comes mainly from studying the reports of other scientists. He further tells us that…
The reason why laymen, doctors and most scientists have been misled is because opposing and disagreeing results are systematically ignored or misquoted in the scientific press.
Cholesterol sceptics
Myth Number 9 in Uffe Ravnskov's book is that “All scientists support the diet-heart idea.”
This certainly is not true and Uffe Ravnskov has gathered a large – and growing – group of doctors, scientists, academics and science writers in The International Network of Cholesterol Skeptics (THINCS).
Members of the group may disagree about what causes heart disease. But they share one thing in common.
The website of THINCS state:
"For decades, enormous human and financial resources have been wasted on the cholesterol campaign, more promising research areas have been neglected, producers and manufacturers of animal food all over the world have suffered economically, and millions of healthy people have been frightened and badgered into eating a tedious and flavorless diet or into taking potentially dangerous drugs for the rest of their lives.
As the scientific evidence in support of the cholesterol campaign is non-existent, we consider it important to stop it as soon as possible."
http://www.stop-trans-fat.com/uffe-ravnskov.html
author of The Cholesterol Myths
UFFE RAVNSKOV is radical. He is so radical that, on a television show in Finland, his critics set his book on fire!
His website (or a website about him) says: If you think this is written by another internet crackpot, take a look at Dr Ravnskov's credentials and the reviews of his book.
The book in question is titled The Cholesterol Myths. Its main argument is that cholesterol is not harmful to health but, in fact, healthy. Its author is certainy no internet crackpot. His credentials are, indeed, impressive.
Uffe Ravnskov graduated with a medical degree in 1961 and, in 1973, obtained a PhD in Chemistry. Between 1975 and 1979, he was Assistant Professor at the Department of Nephrology, University Hospital, in Lund, Sweden. Ravnskov went into private practice in 1980 and, in 2000, retired to become a full-time independent researcher.
More significantly, Uffe Ravnskov has published over 80 scientific papers and letters in peer-reviewed journals criticizing what is commonly called the Lipid Hypothesis of heart disease – the belief that dietary saturated fats and cholesterol clog arteries and cause atherosclerosis and heart disease.
Uffe Ravnskov began studying cholesterol in 1989, the year Sweden launched an anti-cholesterol campaign.
“Very soon I realised that the scientific evidence behind the campaign was non-existing,” he writes.
Among the many research findings published in scientific journals, Uffe Ravnskov discovered that:
lowering cholesterol did not result in lower death rates from heart disease, but in HIGHER death rates from all causes.
drug trials with an allegedly positive outcome was cited almost only by the trial directors, although the numbers of trials with an allegedly positive and a negative outcome were identical.
the successful dissemination of the diet-heart idea is due to authors systematically ignoring or misquoting discordant studies.
Uffe Ravnskov also discovered that LDL, commonly called “bad cholesterol”, actually protects against infections. This led him to put forward the hypothesis that high cholesterol, rather than promoting atherosclerosis, in fact may protect against it.
Uffe Ravnskov first summarised his research findings in a book, first published in Sweden in 1991, whose title translates to The Cholesterol Myths.
In 1992, the book was published in Finland. That was when his critics burned the book during a television show about it.
In 2000, an updated and expanded English edition of The Cholesterol Myths was published in the United States.
In 2002, a German edition of The Cholesterol Myths was published.
In his book, Uffe Ravnskov critically analyzes and demolishes the nine main myths of the Lipid Hypothesis:
High-fat foods cause heart disease
High cholesterol causes heart disease
High fat foods raise blood cholesterol
Cholesterol blocks arteries
Animal studies prove the diet-heart idea that diet affects heart disease
Lowering your cholesterol will lengthen your life
Polyunsaturated oils are good for you
The cholesterol campaign (to have people reduce their cholesterol levels) is based on good science
All scientists support the diet-heart idea.
All the above statements, Uffe Ravnskov maintains, are NOT TRUE. And he backs his assertions with solid scientific research.
Ancel Keys' Seven Countries Study
Uffe Ravnskov starts off with a critical analysis of the original 1950s research that gave rise to the idea that saturated fats and cholesterol cause heart disease – Dr Ancel Keys Six Countries Study, which later became the more famous Seven Countries Study published in 1980.
The Seven Countries Study – which gathered data on heart disease of some 13,000 men in Greece, Italy, Croatia, Serbia, Japan, Finland and the Netherlands over several decades – is widely considered to be one of the greatest epidemological studies ever undertaken.
Ancel Keys' Seven Countries Study showed that countries with the highest animal fat intake have the highest rates of heart disease. And this is frequently cited as “proof” that saturated fats and cholesterol cause heart disease.
Uffe Ravnskov informs us, however, that Ancel Keys had deliberately hand-picked the countries he included in his studies. In other words, Ancel Keys chose to study only those countries that supported his hypothesis.
Yet there are many other countries where high consumption of animal fat DID NOT cause heart disease. But, Ufee Ravnskov points out, Ancel Keys ignored those countries.
Dangers of statins and other cholesterol lowering drugs
Uffe Ravnskov is also highly critical of statins, the cholesterol-loweing drugs that are widely hailed as miracle “wonder drugs”.
He presents scientific evidence that show:
drug trials involving statins produced only neglible reductions in the rates of heart disease
lowering cholesterol did not reduce the death rate from heart disease but INCREASED the overall death rate from all causes
whatever positive benefits associated with the use of statins are due to factors other than cholesterol-lowering.
statins are probable carcinogens and women on statins have reported higher rates of breast cancer.
Uffe Ravnskov warns that exposure to carcinogens may result in cancer only after 20 or more years. And since there has not been controlled studies on statins over such long periods, we do not know whether the use of statins will lead to increased rates of cancer in the coming decades.
"“Millions of people are being treated with medications the ultimate effects of which are not yet known.”
– Uffe Ravnskov
Of course, it is not just Uffe Ravnskov saying all this and more. What he tells us about saturated fats and high cholesterol foods comes mainly from studying the reports of other scientists. He further tells us that…
The reason why laymen, doctors and most scientists have been misled is because opposing and disagreeing results are systematically ignored or misquoted in the scientific press.
Cholesterol sceptics
Myth Number 9 in Uffe Ravnskov's book is that “All scientists support the diet-heart idea.”
This certainly is not true and Uffe Ravnskov has gathered a large – and growing – group of doctors, scientists, academics and science writers in The International Network of Cholesterol Skeptics (THINCS).
Members of the group may disagree about what causes heart disease. But they share one thing in common.
The website of THINCS state:
"For decades, enormous human and financial resources have been wasted on the cholesterol campaign, more promising research areas have been neglected, producers and manufacturers of animal food all over the world have suffered economically, and millions of healthy people have been frightened and badgered into eating a tedious and flavorless diet or into taking potentially dangerous drugs for the rest of their lives.
As the scientific evidence in support of the cholesterol campaign is non-existent, we consider it important to stop it as soon as possible."
http://www.stop-trans-fat.com/uffe-ravnskov.html
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Saturated Fat - The misunderstood nutrient
by by Vreni Gurd | Fri, 04/06/2007 - 11:15pm
We are told that saturated fat and trans fat are terrible for us. The distinction must be made. Saturated fats are healthy, trans fats are not.
Saturated fats have been vilified as being the cause of heart disease, some cancers, and the obesity epidemic. Although heart disease and cancer were rare before 1920, the incidences of these diseases have increased dramatically since then. By as early as 1950, heart disease was the leading killer of Americans. However, contrary to what one would expect if the saturated fat/heart disease hypothesis were true, the consumption of animal fat between 1910 and 1970 DECREASED by 21% and the consumption of butter DECREASED from eighteen pounds per person per year to only four, according to the research of Sally Fallon and Mary Enig. Furthermore, over that same time span the consumption of refined vegetable oils much of it consumed as partially hydrogenated or trans fat, INCREASED by 400%, and the consumption of sugar and processed foods INCREASED by 60%. Current Canadian 2006 data (thank you Chris Williams!) suggest that those trends are continuing, with a continued decrease in the consumption of high saturated- fat foods like full-fat milks, eggs and red meat between 1970 and 2006. Since 1981, butter consumption (a saturated fat) has decreased by a third, while the consumption of salad oil (refined and therefore rancid polyunsaturated vegetable oils) has more than tripled. Shortening consumption (a trans fat) has remained relatively constant. So considering the continued decline in saturated fat consumption, blaming heart disease on saturated fat makes no sense (see this study published in the Lancet). To fully understand how it is possible that we find ourselves in this position where we are being told to eat refined polyunsaturated vegetable oils which are disease-causing and avoid saturated fats which are health promoting, read The Oiling of America by Mary Enig, PhD, fats and oils researcher, and Sally Fallon. The insight into the politics of food is scary.
All fats and oils are made up of a mixture of saturated, mono and polyunsaturated fatty acids. Calling animal fats "saturated fats" is very misleading, as many animal fats are actually more than 50% unsaturated, and chicken fat is actually 70% unsaturated. If a fat were completely saturated it would be very solid with the consistency of hard wax. For example, beef fat or tallow is made up of about 50% saturated fatty acids (25% palmitic acid, 22% stearic acid and others), 40% monounsaturated fatty acids (oleic acid, the main fatty acid in olive oil), and the balance polyunsaturated fatty acids (linoleic and linolenic, the ratio depending on the diet of the cattle).
Saturated fatty acids are critical to maintaining the structure and rigidity of our cells by making cell membranes out of phospholipids and cholesterol, and they act as enzyme and hormone regulators thereby playing an integral role in cell messaging. When the body is fooled and incorporates trans fats into the cell membrane instead of saturated fats, cell messaging no longer works, which is one of the reasons trans fats are so dangerous.
Saturated fats are necessary for calcium to be incorporated into our bones, so no-fat or skim milk won't work as a calcium source, unless you eat some saturated fat in your meal. Saturated fats are needed to boost immune function, and to build a healthy nervous system and digestive tract. Saturated fats are the base material out of which the body makes cholesterol, which is the precursor to such critical hormones as vitamin D, cortisol, testosterone, estrogen and progesterone, as well as bile acids which are necessary for the digestion of fats. Fats also are needed as carriers for the fat soluble vitamins (the antioxidant vitamins), like vitamin A, E, D, K, and a low fat diet can lead to deficiencies in these nutrients. Saturated fats are also needed to be able to utilize omega 3 fatty acids easily. Breast milk is high in saturated fat for a reason - it is vital for the healthy development of the baby! Does it make sense that saturated fats which are vital for a baby are suddenly poison for an adult?
Fat is also needed to feel satisfied after a meal. Mary Enig says in her book Know Your Fats: The Complete Primer For Understanding the Nutrition of Fats, Oils, and Cholesterol that "as a result of the presence of fat in the small intestine, special hormones are produced that prevent hunger contractions. ... Too much fat in the diet and the loss of weight is thwarted; too little and the hunger pangs play havoc with good intentions and usually lead to overeating carbohydrates."
Saturated fatty acids can be broken down into three groups - short chain, medium chain and long chain. The short and medium chain saturated fatty acids don't turn into body fat unless consumed in very large quantities, but rather are utilized immediately by the body for energy. Therefore fats that contain more short to medium chain fatty acids have less calories than the same amount of longer chain fatty acids. According to Mary Enig, in her book Know Your Fats: the Complete Primer for Understanding the Nutrition of Fats, Oils and Cholesterol, a pound of coconut oil has 100 kilocalories less than a pound of soybean oil. And yes, butter has less calories than margarine, although not much less.
If you are eating high quality fats, such as pasture fed, non-medicated, organic eggs, dairy, poultry, and meat, you are doing your body good. If you are eating conventionally raised poultry and meat, it is a good idea to cut off the fat, as the medications, hormones and pesticides consumed by the animal will be concentrated in the fat, which will in turn be concentrated in your fat. Cook only with pasture-fed organic butter, ghee, tallow or chicken fat, or organic coconut oil, or unrefined or cold pressed extra virgin olive oil (low to medium temperatures only), as these fats are stable and won't oxidize and go rancid when heated. To find out what ratio of fat, protein and carbohydrates are appropriate for you according to your own personal biochemistry, get yourself metabolically typed at Healthexcel, and receive a food list of appropriate foods for you. Some people require more quality fats to be healthy than others.
We are told that saturated fat and trans fat are terrible for us. The distinction must be made. Saturated fats are healthy, trans fats are not.
Saturated fats have been vilified as being the cause of heart disease, some cancers, and the obesity epidemic. Although heart disease and cancer were rare before 1920, the incidences of these diseases have increased dramatically since then. By as early as 1950, heart disease was the leading killer of Americans. However, contrary to what one would expect if the saturated fat/heart disease hypothesis were true, the consumption of animal fat between 1910 and 1970 DECREASED by 21% and the consumption of butter DECREASED from eighteen pounds per person per year to only four, according to the research of Sally Fallon and Mary Enig. Furthermore, over that same time span the consumption of refined vegetable oils much of it consumed as partially hydrogenated or trans fat, INCREASED by 400%, and the consumption of sugar and processed foods INCREASED by 60%. Current Canadian 2006 data (thank you Chris Williams!) suggest that those trends are continuing, with a continued decrease in the consumption of high saturated- fat foods like full-fat milks, eggs and red meat between 1970 and 2006. Since 1981, butter consumption (a saturated fat) has decreased by a third, while the consumption of salad oil (refined and therefore rancid polyunsaturated vegetable oils) has more than tripled. Shortening consumption (a trans fat) has remained relatively constant. So considering the continued decline in saturated fat consumption, blaming heart disease on saturated fat makes no sense (see this study published in the Lancet). To fully understand how it is possible that we find ourselves in this position where we are being told to eat refined polyunsaturated vegetable oils which are disease-causing and avoid saturated fats which are health promoting, read The Oiling of America by Mary Enig, PhD, fats and oils researcher, and Sally Fallon. The insight into the politics of food is scary.
All fats and oils are made up of a mixture of saturated, mono and polyunsaturated fatty acids. Calling animal fats "saturated fats" is very misleading, as many animal fats are actually more than 50% unsaturated, and chicken fat is actually 70% unsaturated. If a fat were completely saturated it would be very solid with the consistency of hard wax. For example, beef fat or tallow is made up of about 50% saturated fatty acids (25% palmitic acid, 22% stearic acid and others), 40% monounsaturated fatty acids (oleic acid, the main fatty acid in olive oil), and the balance polyunsaturated fatty acids (linoleic and linolenic, the ratio depending on the diet of the cattle).
Saturated fatty acids are critical to maintaining the structure and rigidity of our cells by making cell membranes out of phospholipids and cholesterol, and they act as enzyme and hormone regulators thereby playing an integral role in cell messaging. When the body is fooled and incorporates trans fats into the cell membrane instead of saturated fats, cell messaging no longer works, which is one of the reasons trans fats are so dangerous.
Saturated fats are necessary for calcium to be incorporated into our bones, so no-fat or skim milk won't work as a calcium source, unless you eat some saturated fat in your meal. Saturated fats are needed to boost immune function, and to build a healthy nervous system and digestive tract. Saturated fats are the base material out of which the body makes cholesterol, which is the precursor to such critical hormones as vitamin D, cortisol, testosterone, estrogen and progesterone, as well as bile acids which are necessary for the digestion of fats. Fats also are needed as carriers for the fat soluble vitamins (the antioxidant vitamins), like vitamin A, E, D, K, and a low fat diet can lead to deficiencies in these nutrients. Saturated fats are also needed to be able to utilize omega 3 fatty acids easily. Breast milk is high in saturated fat for a reason - it is vital for the healthy development of the baby! Does it make sense that saturated fats which are vital for a baby are suddenly poison for an adult?
Fat is also needed to feel satisfied after a meal. Mary Enig says in her book Know Your Fats: The Complete Primer For Understanding the Nutrition of Fats, Oils, and Cholesterol that "as a result of the presence of fat in the small intestine, special hormones are produced that prevent hunger contractions. ... Too much fat in the diet and the loss of weight is thwarted; too little and the hunger pangs play havoc with good intentions and usually lead to overeating carbohydrates."
Saturated fatty acids can be broken down into three groups - short chain, medium chain and long chain. The short and medium chain saturated fatty acids don't turn into body fat unless consumed in very large quantities, but rather are utilized immediately by the body for energy. Therefore fats that contain more short to medium chain fatty acids have less calories than the same amount of longer chain fatty acids. According to Mary Enig, in her book Know Your Fats: the Complete Primer for Understanding the Nutrition of Fats, Oils and Cholesterol, a pound of coconut oil has 100 kilocalories less than a pound of soybean oil. And yes, butter has less calories than margarine, although not much less.
If you are eating high quality fats, such as pasture fed, non-medicated, organic eggs, dairy, poultry, and meat, you are doing your body good. If you are eating conventionally raised poultry and meat, it is a good idea to cut off the fat, as the medications, hormones and pesticides consumed by the animal will be concentrated in the fat, which will in turn be concentrated in your fat. Cook only with pasture-fed organic butter, ghee, tallow or chicken fat, or organic coconut oil, or unrefined or cold pressed extra virgin olive oil (low to medium temperatures only), as these fats are stable and won't oxidize and go rancid when heated. To find out what ratio of fat, protein and carbohydrates are appropriate for you according to your own personal biochemistry, get yourself metabolically typed at Healthexcel, and receive a food list of appropriate foods for you. Some people require more quality fats to be healthy than others.
High Cholesterol does NOT cause heart disease
by Vreni Gurd | Fri, 04/13/2007 - 11:48pm
The lipid hypothesis needs to be re-evaluated - it has very serious flaws.
First of all, it is important to understand that that "risk factor" does not mean the same thing as "cause". A risk factor is a characteristic that is associated with a diagnosis. For example, for women, being tall is associated with breast cancer. Does that mean that being tall causes breast cancer? Of course not.
It is also important to understand cholesterol is an essential component of our cell membranes, it acts as an anti-oxidant, it is a precursor for the synthesis of vitamin D as well as bile for digesting fats, and is the only source out of which our steroid hormones, such as cortisol, as well as estrogen, progesterone and testosterone which are key to reproduction, can be made. Therefore it is safe to say that without cholesterol we would not survive. Cholesterol is also the precursor to calcitrol, the steroid hormone that regulates calcium levels in our bodies by helping us absorb calcium from our food, thus playing a key role in the mineralization of our bones and teeth. Cholesterol is also manufactured in the glial cells of the brain to aid with synapses.
Cholesterol is used by our bodies to repair lesions in the arteries. Dr. Mary Enig, fat researcher, suggests that blaming cholesterol for heart disease is something like blaming firefighters for starting fires. Is it really a good idea to reduce our arteries' firefighters? The key to stopping heart disease is to stop the lesions (fires) in the arteries from occurring in the first place, by minimizing glycation by eating less sugar and high fructose corn syrup, and minimizing free radical damage by not consuming refined and therefore rancid vegetable oils AND by reducing systemic stress.
Our bodies consider cholesterol to be so essential to our survival, that every cell in our body can manufacture it as needed. If we eat little or no cholesterol, our bodies manufacture more, and if we eat a lot, our bodies don't manufacture as much. This way our cholesterol levels maintain homeostasis irrespective of our diet, and this is the reason it is so difficult to reduce or raise cholesterol levels much with diet alone.
Dr. Uffe Ravnskov, MD, PhD, who wrote the book The Cholesterol Myths, goes through study after study destroying the idea that high cholesterol levels are the cause of heart disease. In the Framingham heart study done near Boston that spanned 30 years , the researchers concluded that high cholesterol was a risk factor for heart disease, but when one really dissects the data, one must question how they came to that conclusion. For example, when the participants of the study are plotted on a graph it clearly shows that those with cholesterol levels between 182 and 222 did not survive as long as those with higher cholesterol levels of between 222 and 261. The study shows that about half the people with heart disease had low cholesterol, and half the people without heart disease had high cholesterol.
Most studies have found that for women, high cholesterol is not a risk factor for heart disease at all - in fact, the death rate for women is five times higher in those with very low cholesterol. In a Canadian study that followed 5000 healthy middle-aged men for 12 years, they found that high cholesterol was not associated with heart disease at all. And in another study done at the University Hospital in Toronto that looked at cholesterol levels in 120 men that previously had heart attacks, they found that just as many men that had second heart attacks had low cholesterol levels as those that had high. The Maoris of New Zealand die of heart attacks frequently, irrespective of their cholesterol levels. In Russia, it is low cholesterol levels that are associated with increased heart disease. The Japanese are often cited as an example of a population that eat very little cholesterol and have a very low risk of heart disease. But the Japanese that moved to the US and continued to eat the traditional Japanese diet had heart disease twice as often as those that maintained the Japanese traditions but ate the fatty American diet. This suggests that it is something else, like stress perhaps, that is causing the heart disease.
Dr. Malcolm Kendrick noticed that in the MONICA study that has been going on for about 40 years, there is no association between high cholesterol levels and heart disease. See the graph for yourself at the bottom of the article. (Dr. Kendrick wrote another interesting piece about the "disappointing results" of low fat diets in the Women's Health Initiatives heart intervention study, and the lack of association between death rates from CVD and saturated fat consumption based on the MONICA study).
These are but a small sample of the studies that contradict the idea that cholesterol is the villain in heart disease. So why has this idea held on so long? Perhaps pharmaceutical companies and the processed-food industry have a lot to gain by keeping this belief alive. Statin drugs (Lipitor, Mevacor, Zocor etc.) are mega money makers, and they definitely do lower cholesterol, but if high cholesterol does not cause heart disease, why are they necessary?
Furthermore, statin drugs may not lower overall mortality rates, as lower cholesterol levels seem to be associated with higher rates of cancer. Statin drugs work by blocking the synthesis of mevalonate, which is a vital step in the body's
synthesis of cholesterol. By blocking this step, every following step is also blocked, and this is a problem, because the synthesis of Coenzyme Q10 (ubiquinone) and squalene, both precursors to cholesterol, is also blocked. Coenzyme Q10 is very important for heart function, it acts as an antioxidant in conjunction with Vitamin E, and it is important in energy metabolism in the mitochondria of muscles, which is why muscle pain is a common side effect of statin drugs. Coenzyme Q10 is important for healthy brain function as well, and when Coenzyme Q10 levels are low, through statin use or otherwise, memory is affected. Squalene is also an antioxidant and is a potent cancer fighter. If you are on statin drugs, supplementing with Coenzyme Q10 and squalene may be very helpful.
I realize that suggesting that cholesterol levels are not associated with heart disease goes against current dogma. I am not making this suggestion in order to create controversy. After looking at the evidence, I am convinced that we are going down the wrong path. I am not alone in thinking this way - there are more and more scientists and physicians that believe that cholesterol and saturated fat stand wrongly accused. For me, the epidemiological evidence is most convincing. If we ate saturated fat and cholesterol in the form of animal fats, eggs, and full-fat dairy liberally for millennia and were heart-disease free up until the early 1900s, and just as we reduced our consumption of these foods and replaced them with sugar, vegetable oils and processed food, heart disease rates began to climb - to me it seems rather obvious that we are putting the blame on the wrong thing. Feel free not to believe this idea, but please don't simply dismiss it out of hand, either. If you have high cholesterol and you are taking, or thinking about taking cholesterol-lowering drugs, please read The Cholesterol Myths: Exposing the Fallacy that Saturated Fat and Cholesterol Cause Heart Disease so that you can make an informed decision regarding this important issue. Two other very well researched books worth reading, written by scientists but geared to the lay person are Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, by Dr. Weston A. Price, on primitive cultures, their health and their eating habits versus more modern cultures, their health and their eating habits (probably the most important book on nutrition ever written), and Mary Enig's book on lipid chemistry, Know Your Fats: The Complete Primer For Understanding the Nutrition of Fats, Oils and Cholesterol. These books are each very different from the other, but they will open your eyes to the other side of the argument, and only then will you be able to come to an informed conclusion on this issue.
The lipid hypothesis needs to be re-evaluated - it has very serious flaws.
First of all, it is important to understand that that "risk factor" does not mean the same thing as "cause". A risk factor is a characteristic that is associated with a diagnosis. For example, for women, being tall is associated with breast cancer. Does that mean that being tall causes breast cancer? Of course not.
It is also important to understand cholesterol is an essential component of our cell membranes, it acts as an anti-oxidant, it is a precursor for the synthesis of vitamin D as well as bile for digesting fats, and is the only source out of which our steroid hormones, such as cortisol, as well as estrogen, progesterone and testosterone which are key to reproduction, can be made. Therefore it is safe to say that without cholesterol we would not survive. Cholesterol is also the precursor to calcitrol, the steroid hormone that regulates calcium levels in our bodies by helping us absorb calcium from our food, thus playing a key role in the mineralization of our bones and teeth. Cholesterol is also manufactured in the glial cells of the brain to aid with synapses.
Cholesterol is used by our bodies to repair lesions in the arteries. Dr. Mary Enig, fat researcher, suggests that blaming cholesterol for heart disease is something like blaming firefighters for starting fires. Is it really a good idea to reduce our arteries' firefighters? The key to stopping heart disease is to stop the lesions (fires) in the arteries from occurring in the first place, by minimizing glycation by eating less sugar and high fructose corn syrup, and minimizing free radical damage by not consuming refined and therefore rancid vegetable oils AND by reducing systemic stress.
Our bodies consider cholesterol to be so essential to our survival, that every cell in our body can manufacture it as needed. If we eat little or no cholesterol, our bodies manufacture more, and if we eat a lot, our bodies don't manufacture as much. This way our cholesterol levels maintain homeostasis irrespective of our diet, and this is the reason it is so difficult to reduce or raise cholesterol levels much with diet alone.
Dr. Uffe Ravnskov, MD, PhD, who wrote the book The Cholesterol Myths, goes through study after study destroying the idea that high cholesterol levels are the cause of heart disease. In the Framingham heart study done near Boston that spanned 30 years , the researchers concluded that high cholesterol was a risk factor for heart disease, but when one really dissects the data, one must question how they came to that conclusion. For example, when the participants of the study are plotted on a graph it clearly shows that those with cholesterol levels between 182 and 222 did not survive as long as those with higher cholesterol levels of between 222 and 261. The study shows that about half the people with heart disease had low cholesterol, and half the people without heart disease had high cholesterol.
Most studies have found that for women, high cholesterol is not a risk factor for heart disease at all - in fact, the death rate for women is five times higher in those with very low cholesterol. In a Canadian study that followed 5000 healthy middle-aged men for 12 years, they found that high cholesterol was not associated with heart disease at all. And in another study done at the University Hospital in Toronto that looked at cholesterol levels in 120 men that previously had heart attacks, they found that just as many men that had second heart attacks had low cholesterol levels as those that had high. The Maoris of New Zealand die of heart attacks frequently, irrespective of their cholesterol levels. In Russia, it is low cholesterol levels that are associated with increased heart disease. The Japanese are often cited as an example of a population that eat very little cholesterol and have a very low risk of heart disease. But the Japanese that moved to the US and continued to eat the traditional Japanese diet had heart disease twice as often as those that maintained the Japanese traditions but ate the fatty American diet. This suggests that it is something else, like stress perhaps, that is causing the heart disease.
Dr. Malcolm Kendrick noticed that in the MONICA study that has been going on for about 40 years, there is no association between high cholesterol levels and heart disease. See the graph for yourself at the bottom of the article. (Dr. Kendrick wrote another interesting piece about the "disappointing results" of low fat diets in the Women's Health Initiatives heart intervention study, and the lack of association between death rates from CVD and saturated fat consumption based on the MONICA study).
These are but a small sample of the studies that contradict the idea that cholesterol is the villain in heart disease. So why has this idea held on so long? Perhaps pharmaceutical companies and the processed-food industry have a lot to gain by keeping this belief alive. Statin drugs (Lipitor, Mevacor, Zocor etc.) are mega money makers, and they definitely do lower cholesterol, but if high cholesterol does not cause heart disease, why are they necessary?
Furthermore, statin drugs may not lower overall mortality rates, as lower cholesterol levels seem to be associated with higher rates of cancer. Statin drugs work by blocking the synthesis of mevalonate, which is a vital step in the body's
synthesis of cholesterol. By blocking this step, every following step is also blocked, and this is a problem, because the synthesis of Coenzyme Q10 (ubiquinone) and squalene, both precursors to cholesterol, is also blocked. Coenzyme Q10 is very important for heart function, it acts as an antioxidant in conjunction with Vitamin E, and it is important in energy metabolism in the mitochondria of muscles, which is why muscle pain is a common side effect of statin drugs. Coenzyme Q10 is important for healthy brain function as well, and when Coenzyme Q10 levels are low, through statin use or otherwise, memory is affected. Squalene is also an antioxidant and is a potent cancer fighter. If you are on statin drugs, supplementing with Coenzyme Q10 and squalene may be very helpful.
I realize that suggesting that cholesterol levels are not associated with heart disease goes against current dogma. I am not making this suggestion in order to create controversy. After looking at the evidence, I am convinced that we are going down the wrong path. I am not alone in thinking this way - there are more and more scientists and physicians that believe that cholesterol and saturated fat stand wrongly accused. For me, the epidemiological evidence is most convincing. If we ate saturated fat and cholesterol in the form of animal fats, eggs, and full-fat dairy liberally for millennia and were heart-disease free up until the early 1900s, and just as we reduced our consumption of these foods and replaced them with sugar, vegetable oils and processed food, heart disease rates began to climb - to me it seems rather obvious that we are putting the blame on the wrong thing. Feel free not to believe this idea, but please don't simply dismiss it out of hand, either. If you have high cholesterol and you are taking, or thinking about taking cholesterol-lowering drugs, please read The Cholesterol Myths: Exposing the Fallacy that Saturated Fat and Cholesterol Cause Heart Disease so that you can make an informed decision regarding this important issue. Two other very well researched books worth reading, written by scientists but geared to the lay person are Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, by Dr. Weston A. Price, on primitive cultures, their health and their eating habits versus more modern cultures, their health and their eating habits (probably the most important book on nutrition ever written), and Mary Enig's book on lipid chemistry, Know Your Fats: The Complete Primer For Understanding the Nutrition of Fats, Oils and Cholesterol. These books are each very different from the other, but they will open your eyes to the other side of the argument, and only then will you be able to come to an informed conclusion on this issue.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Big Pharma: Statin Drugs vs. Antioxidants
I was concerned several years ago as the American Heart Association, backed by the pharmaceutical companies, continued to make and revise recommendations regarding how low doctors should reduce their patients' LDL cholesterol levels. At first LDL cholesterol levels were "normal" if they were 130 or below, then the standard was 100 or below, and finally, 70 or below became what we now consider medically "acceptable." With each recommendation the number of people who instantly had the made-up disease of "high cholesterol" increased, and more and more patients were prescribed statin drugs to lower their LDL cholesterol levels. Statin drugs are the top-selling drugs in the world, bringing in more money for Big Pharma than any other class of drugs. It was this con of convincing the public that high cholesterol was the cause of atherosclerosis, heart disease, and stroke that caused me to write the first edition of my book, The Cholesterol Conspiracy, in 2004. It has since been updated (2006) and is in its Second Edition; however, after the latest news from the American Heart Association conference in New Orleans on Nov. 8th, 2008 it appears that I will need to update my book again.
My contention has always been that it is NOT high cholesterol that is the main cause of plaque formation, heart disease, and stroke, but rather it is the OXIDATION of LDL cholesterol and the INFLAMMATION of the arterial lining (called the endothelium) that is the culprit to the number one cause of death for both men and women. As I discuss in my book, more than half of people who die of heart disease have NORMAL LDL cholesterol levels, ...thus it is NOT high cholesterol that is killing them, but the CONDITION of the LDL cholesterol and the inflammation of the endothelium that leads to the deadly disease. Likewise, there are cases of people with high cholesterol levels who show no signs of arterial plaque due to their high intake of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and the essential fatty acids that reduce the oxidation to LDL cholesterol and inflammation to the endothelium. What's more, antioxidants reduce endothelial inflammation an LDL oxidation better than any drug, ...and without the side effects.
The recent study reported at the American Heart Association in New Orleans, known as JUPITER, proved my case: if you reduce oxidation and inflammation you can reduce the risk of death from heart disease and stroke! However, unlike the JUPITER study, which proposed the way to do it is with statin drugs, I believe the best course to reduce LDL oxidation and arterial inflammation is with nutritional supplements.
If you were to believe the JUPITER study and what is being suggested by the doctors who spoke at the American Heart Association conference on Nov. 8, 2008 in New Orleans you would have to believe that "EVERYONE," young and old, sick and healthy, those with high cholesterol and those with normal cholesterol levels ALL should be on the "life-saving, miracle drugs of this or any other generation" …the statin drugs!
The JUPITER (Justification for the Use of Statins in Primary Prevention) Study, funded by AstraZeneca, makers of Crestor, was unveiled to the delight and awe of doctors and pharmaceutical companies. The study showed that 20 mg of Crestor cut in half one’s risk of heart attacks and stroke, whether they had high cholesterol or not! In other words, healthy people without elevated cholesterol levels ... could now be "saved" by the statin drugs, and like the IRS, the pharmaceutical companies are "here to help."
Doctors and pharmaceutical representatives got on the stage to proclaim that because statin drugs have been shown (in this study of just under two years) to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke in HEALTHY people (those without signs or symptoms of heart disease and normal cholesterol levels) that governments around the world should push the campaign to put every single person on statin drugs.
As has been proposed earlier (documented in my book), they again proposed at this conference that we "drip statin drugs into our water supply" as the best way to get everyone on these "all-important" drugs. They want to take the decision out of our control and force these drugs, which ...oh, by the way, have dangerous, even deadly side effects, upon us ....and of course, run up a huge national medical cost.
Statin drugs are already the number one-selling drug in the world with over $18 billion dollars in sales, and now due to this study, they will likely double in sales. USA Today calculated that the ever-increasing prescribing of statin drugs which this study will generate would add $10 billion a year to the U.S. national debt. (http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/200 )
BUT, what are the facts of this study; what about the risks of such widespread use of statin drugs, particularly in healthy people? …and, more importantly, what about alternatives to statins? Interestingly enough, one of the authors of this study also appeared as an author on another study released the same week of the announcement of this study, showing that vitamin E and vitamin C did NOTHING to reduce the risk of heart disease; ....in fact vitamin E, they reported, might increase the risk for hemorrhagic stroke. So, in a one-two punch knock out …. Big Pharma apparently established that statin drugs are the ONLY salvation for the number one cause of death.
Now, not only are antioxidants NOT the answer, according to Big Pharma, they are the problem. It must be that we, as human beings, are born deficient of statin drugs, ….some kind of an "inborn error of metabolism," and that it is not nutrients that we lack today, but drugs! Apparently Big Pharma is not satisfied with treating the sick, they want to provide “therapy” to the healthy, by actively putting more drugs into our drinking water …as if there are not enough drugs swirling around in the water supply already.
Again, I would like to point out that this JUPITER study proves my point made in my book, The Cholesterol Conspiracy , ....that heart disease (atherosclerosis) is not caused by high cholesterol, but rather oxidation of LDL cholesterol and inflammation of the arterial lining. In my book, I make a case (backed up by medical research) that oxidized LDL cholesterol and homocysteine-induced nicking and inflammation of the arteries leads to arterial plaque and inflammation.
C reactive protein (CRP) is an indirect measure of arterial inflammation (or any inflammation). The more oxidation and inflammation of the arteries, NO MATTER WHAT THE LDL CHOLESTEROL LEVEL (normal or not), the more plaque will build within the arterial lining (known as the endothelium). By reducing oxidation and inflammation (which can be measured directly with lipid peroxides, or indirectly with CRP levels) there is less damage to the LDL cholesterol and the endothelium, and less plaque will form. Less plaque means less heart disease and death.
Vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and omega-3 essential fatty acids have all been shown to decrease CRP, homocysteine, and lipid peroxides levels, and in some cases restore endothelial function ….without any toxic side-effects (unlike statin drugs).
Although I discuss CRP in The Cholesterol Conspiracy, as a review, CRP is a protein produced by the liver in response to inflammation. Any condition that leads to inflammation will cause the production and release of CRP. Smoking, genetics, stress, arthritis, diabetes, obesity, rheumatoid arthritis, dementia, high blood pressure colorectal cancer, the aging process, and damaged and an inflamed arterial endothelium will all cause an elevation of C reactive protein. It is an indirect, non-specific measurement of inflammation and oxidation. Statin drugs have been shown to exert an anti-inflammatory effect, and it is the modest anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory effect that is responsible for a reduction in oxidized LDL cholesterol and arterial inflammation. Less oxidized LDL cholesterol and less arterial inflammation, the less plaque that will build up within the arterial endothelium.
However, natural antioxidants, vitamin C, turmeric extract, essential fatty acids (fish oil) do more to reduce oxidized LDL cholesterol and arterial inflammation and lower CRP than cholesterol-lowering statin drugs, AND without the dangerous side-effects of statins (liver, nerve, muscle, and heart damage, ….let alone death). The B complex vitamins and betaine (tri-methly-glycine) lower homocysteine levels, which means less “scratching up” of the endothelium, i.e., less arterial inflammation, and lower CRP levels.
The JUPITER study showed how important it is to lower inflammation of the arteries in order to reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke, ….as measured by CRP levels, and that people are susceptible to heart attack and stroke even with normal LDL cholesterol levels because oxidation and inflammation. So, let’s look at the facts and my concerns of the JUPITER Study:
Facts of the JUPITER STUDY:
1. Nearly 18,000 men and women with low LDL cholesterol levels (median 108 mg/dL), and C reactive protein levels (CRP) greater than 2.0 mg/L were placed on 20 mg of Crestor or a placebo, and followed for just under 2 years.
2. The group on 20 mg of Crestor decreased their cholesterol levels EVEN FURTHER (to as low as 53 mg/dL), reduced their triglyceride levels, and cut their risk of nonfatal heart attacks by 55%, a 48% reduction in nonfatal strokes, and a 47% reduction in hard cardiac “events” (a composite of nonfatal and fatal heart attack and stroke).
Concerns about the JUPITER STUDY:
1. What are the long-term effects of lowering one’s LDL cholesterol to such low levels? There is already concern about depression, violent behavior, suicide, etc. from lowering one’s LDL cholesterol below 70 (see my book, The Cholesterol Conspiracy). However, what other problems may arise from such low LDL cholesterol, given that the body REQUIRES LDL cholesterol to function properly? Having high LDL cholesterol levels in and of itself is not a problem, it is the oxidation of LDL cholesterol and triglycerides (lipid peroxides) and the inflammation of the endothelium (from homocysteine) that leads to plaque formation.
2. With the study only being 2 years long, AstraZeneca virtually eliminated discovering the long-term effects of such low LDL cholesterol levels AND the long-term effects of statin drugs in this population. However, we do know the long-term of statin drugs, and they are not pretty, ….dangerous and severe side-effects; occasional deadly.
3. Was the study designed to yield the desired results and minimize negative outcomes that would have been revealed had it gone on longer?
4. There was a higher incidence in insulin resistence and type 2 diabetes among those who took Crestor than in the control group. And, this was all happened within 2 years. As mentioned, what other complications would we have seen had the study gone longer than 2 years, ...especially since now all people, even those with normal cholesterol levels, are "supposed" to be on statin drugs for the REST OF THEIR LIVES? It would be good to know what people can expect.4. According to Stanford University cardiologist Dr. Mark Hlatky, about 120 people would have to take Crestor for two years in order to prevent a single heart attack, stroke or death; and how many people would then suffer moderate to severe side-effects over the long-term? Again, as people would be encouraged to be on these drugs for the rest of their lives!
5. Crestor gave clear benefit in the study, but with so few heart attacks and deaths occurred among these low-risk people that treating EVERYONE in the U.S. alone with statin drugs would cost up to $10 billion a year.
6. Big Pharma presents statin drugs as the only choice to reduce CRP levels, when this is not the case.
What We Can Learn From This Study:
1. It is important to lower C Reactive Protein levels as a means to lower inflammation, which in turn reduces the risk of heart disease and stroke.
2. This study confirms that it is NOT the lowering of LDL cholesterol that is key to reducing the risk of heart attack and stroke, but the reducing of inflammation, as is evident by the lowering of C reactive protein (CRP). Therefore, what about all the studies that show alternative means (vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and essential fatty acids) for lowering CRP, inflammation, and lipid peroxidation without any adverse effects?
What Can You Do?
1. Know, and lower your high-sensitivy CRP levels (as mentioned in my book): a. CRP less than 1.0 mg/L = Low Risk for CardioVascular Disease (CVD) b. CRP of 1.0 – 2.9 mg/L = Moderate Risk for CVD c. CRP greater than 3.0 = High Risk for CVD 2. Know, and lower your Homocysteine levels: a. Homocysteine less than 6.5 = Low Risk for CVD b. Homocysteine 6.6 to 8.0 = Low-Moderate Risk for CVD c. Homocyseine 8.1 to 10.4 = Moderate-High Risk for CVD d. Homocysteine greater than 10.4 = High Risk for CVD 3. Know, and lower your Lipid Peroxides a. This test is not commonly performed by most labs, but can be obtained. b. Keep Lipid Peroxidation low (according to print out on lab results)
How You Can Lower CRP, Homocysteine, and Lipid Peroxidation to Reduce Heart Attack & Stroke:
1. Statin Drugs: expensive; dangerous and sometimes deadly side-effects. a. See list of side-effects in The Cholesterol Conspiracy.
OR, .... even BETTER:
2. Lifestyle Changes: inexpensive, non-dangerous, …and it promotes health! a. Maintain a Healthy Weight b. Maintain a Low-Glycemic Diet (plenty of vegetables) c. Exercise d. Don’t Smoke e. Reduce Stress f. Adequate Sleep g. Drink Plenty of Pure Water h. Maintain Gum Health (brush, floss, and use Co-Q10) i. Use Full-Range Vitamins, Minerals, Antioxidants, and Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids: (a few examples of many vitamins and antioxidants are shown below, though I personally recommend a full-range of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and essential fatty acids):
Vitamin C 2000 mg/day (vitamin C alone reduces CRP similar to statins)
B Complex Vitamins
Fish Oil (4000 mg per day)
Vitamin D (1000 to 5000 IU/day)
Turmeric Extract (400 to 800 mg/day)
Olive Extract (75 to 200 mg/day)
Grape Seed Extract and Resveratrol (200 to 400 mg/day)
Co-Enzyme Q10 (200 to 400 mg/day)
Betaine (TMG) (1800 to 3000 mg/day)
Magnesium (400 mg/day)
To see references (please see http://www.laddmcnamara.com/)
Posted by Ladd McNamara at 7:51 AM
My contention has always been that it is NOT high cholesterol that is the main cause of plaque formation, heart disease, and stroke, but rather it is the OXIDATION of LDL cholesterol and the INFLAMMATION of the arterial lining (called the endothelium) that is the culprit to the number one cause of death for both men and women. As I discuss in my book, more than half of people who die of heart disease have NORMAL LDL cholesterol levels, ...thus it is NOT high cholesterol that is killing them, but the CONDITION of the LDL cholesterol and the inflammation of the endothelium that leads to the deadly disease. Likewise, there are cases of people with high cholesterol levels who show no signs of arterial plaque due to their high intake of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and the essential fatty acids that reduce the oxidation to LDL cholesterol and inflammation to the endothelium. What's more, antioxidants reduce endothelial inflammation an LDL oxidation better than any drug, ...and without the side effects.
The recent study reported at the American Heart Association in New Orleans, known as JUPITER, proved my case: if you reduce oxidation and inflammation you can reduce the risk of death from heart disease and stroke! However, unlike the JUPITER study, which proposed the way to do it is with statin drugs, I believe the best course to reduce LDL oxidation and arterial inflammation is with nutritional supplements.
If you were to believe the JUPITER study and what is being suggested by the doctors who spoke at the American Heart Association conference on Nov. 8, 2008 in New Orleans you would have to believe that "EVERYONE," young and old, sick and healthy, those with high cholesterol and those with normal cholesterol levels ALL should be on the "life-saving, miracle drugs of this or any other generation" …the statin drugs!
The JUPITER (Justification for the Use of Statins in Primary Prevention) Study, funded by AstraZeneca, makers of Crestor, was unveiled to the delight and awe of doctors and pharmaceutical companies. The study showed that 20 mg of Crestor cut in half one’s risk of heart attacks and stroke, whether they had high cholesterol or not! In other words, healthy people without elevated cholesterol levels ... could now be "saved" by the statin drugs, and like the IRS, the pharmaceutical companies are "here to help."
Doctors and pharmaceutical representatives got on the stage to proclaim that because statin drugs have been shown (in this study of just under two years) to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke in HEALTHY people (those without signs or symptoms of heart disease and normal cholesterol levels) that governments around the world should push the campaign to put every single person on statin drugs.
As has been proposed earlier (documented in my book), they again proposed at this conference that we "drip statin drugs into our water supply" as the best way to get everyone on these "all-important" drugs. They want to take the decision out of our control and force these drugs, which ...oh, by the way, have dangerous, even deadly side effects, upon us ....and of course, run up a huge national medical cost.
Statin drugs are already the number one-selling drug in the world with over $18 billion dollars in sales, and now due to this study, they will likely double in sales. USA Today calculated that the ever-increasing prescribing of statin drugs which this study will generate would add $10 billion a year to the U.S. national debt. (http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/200 )
BUT, what are the facts of this study; what about the risks of such widespread use of statin drugs, particularly in healthy people? …and, more importantly, what about alternatives to statins? Interestingly enough, one of the authors of this study also appeared as an author on another study released the same week of the announcement of this study, showing that vitamin E and vitamin C did NOTHING to reduce the risk of heart disease; ....in fact vitamin E, they reported, might increase the risk for hemorrhagic stroke. So, in a one-two punch knock out …. Big Pharma apparently established that statin drugs are the ONLY salvation for the number one cause of death.
Now, not only are antioxidants NOT the answer, according to Big Pharma, they are the problem. It must be that we, as human beings, are born deficient of statin drugs, ….some kind of an "inborn error of metabolism," and that it is not nutrients that we lack today, but drugs! Apparently Big Pharma is not satisfied with treating the sick, they want to provide “therapy” to the healthy, by actively putting more drugs into our drinking water …as if there are not enough drugs swirling around in the water supply already.
Again, I would like to point out that this JUPITER study proves my point made in my book, The Cholesterol Conspiracy , ....that heart disease (atherosclerosis) is not caused by high cholesterol, but rather oxidation of LDL cholesterol and inflammation of the arterial lining. In my book, I make a case (backed up by medical research) that oxidized LDL cholesterol and homocysteine-induced nicking and inflammation of the arteries leads to arterial plaque and inflammation.
C reactive protein (CRP) is an indirect measure of arterial inflammation (or any inflammation). The more oxidation and inflammation of the arteries, NO MATTER WHAT THE LDL CHOLESTEROL LEVEL (normal or not), the more plaque will build within the arterial lining (known as the endothelium). By reducing oxidation and inflammation (which can be measured directly with lipid peroxides, or indirectly with CRP levels) there is less damage to the LDL cholesterol and the endothelium, and less plaque will form. Less plaque means less heart disease and death.
Vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and omega-3 essential fatty acids have all been shown to decrease CRP, homocysteine, and lipid peroxides levels, and in some cases restore endothelial function ….without any toxic side-effects (unlike statin drugs).
Although I discuss CRP in The Cholesterol Conspiracy, as a review, CRP is a protein produced by the liver in response to inflammation. Any condition that leads to inflammation will cause the production and release of CRP. Smoking, genetics, stress, arthritis, diabetes, obesity, rheumatoid arthritis, dementia, high blood pressure colorectal cancer, the aging process, and damaged and an inflamed arterial endothelium will all cause an elevation of C reactive protein. It is an indirect, non-specific measurement of inflammation and oxidation. Statin drugs have been shown to exert an anti-inflammatory effect, and it is the modest anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory effect that is responsible for a reduction in oxidized LDL cholesterol and arterial inflammation. Less oxidized LDL cholesterol and less arterial inflammation, the less plaque that will build up within the arterial endothelium.
However, natural antioxidants, vitamin C, turmeric extract, essential fatty acids (fish oil) do more to reduce oxidized LDL cholesterol and arterial inflammation and lower CRP than cholesterol-lowering statin drugs, AND without the dangerous side-effects of statins (liver, nerve, muscle, and heart damage, ….let alone death). The B complex vitamins and betaine (tri-methly-glycine) lower homocysteine levels, which means less “scratching up” of the endothelium, i.e., less arterial inflammation, and lower CRP levels.
The JUPITER study showed how important it is to lower inflammation of the arteries in order to reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke, ….as measured by CRP levels, and that people are susceptible to heart attack and stroke even with normal LDL cholesterol levels because oxidation and inflammation. So, let’s look at the facts and my concerns of the JUPITER Study:
Facts of the JUPITER STUDY:
1. Nearly 18,000 men and women with low LDL cholesterol levels (median 108 mg/dL), and C reactive protein levels (CRP) greater than 2.0 mg/L were placed on 20 mg of Crestor or a placebo, and followed for just under 2 years.
2. The group on 20 mg of Crestor decreased their cholesterol levels EVEN FURTHER (to as low as 53 mg/dL), reduced their triglyceride levels, and cut their risk of nonfatal heart attacks by 55%, a 48% reduction in nonfatal strokes, and a 47% reduction in hard cardiac “events” (a composite of nonfatal and fatal heart attack and stroke).
Concerns about the JUPITER STUDY:
1. What are the long-term effects of lowering one’s LDL cholesterol to such low levels? There is already concern about depression, violent behavior, suicide, etc. from lowering one’s LDL cholesterol below 70 (see my book, The Cholesterol Conspiracy). However, what other problems may arise from such low LDL cholesterol, given that the body REQUIRES LDL cholesterol to function properly? Having high LDL cholesterol levels in and of itself is not a problem, it is the oxidation of LDL cholesterol and triglycerides (lipid peroxides) and the inflammation of the endothelium (from homocysteine) that leads to plaque formation.
2. With the study only being 2 years long, AstraZeneca virtually eliminated discovering the long-term effects of such low LDL cholesterol levels AND the long-term effects of statin drugs in this population. However, we do know the long-term of statin drugs, and they are not pretty, ….dangerous and severe side-effects; occasional deadly.
3. Was the study designed to yield the desired results and minimize negative outcomes that would have been revealed had it gone on longer?
4. There was a higher incidence in insulin resistence and type 2 diabetes among those who took Crestor than in the control group. And, this was all happened within 2 years. As mentioned, what other complications would we have seen had the study gone longer than 2 years, ...especially since now all people, even those with normal cholesterol levels, are "supposed" to be on statin drugs for the REST OF THEIR LIVES? It would be good to know what people can expect.4. According to Stanford University cardiologist Dr. Mark Hlatky, about 120 people would have to take Crestor for two years in order to prevent a single heart attack, stroke or death; and how many people would then suffer moderate to severe side-effects over the long-term? Again, as people would be encouraged to be on these drugs for the rest of their lives!
5. Crestor gave clear benefit in the study, but with so few heart attacks and deaths occurred among these low-risk people that treating EVERYONE in the U.S. alone with statin drugs would cost up to $10 billion a year.
6. Big Pharma presents statin drugs as the only choice to reduce CRP levels, when this is not the case.
What We Can Learn From This Study:
1. It is important to lower C Reactive Protein levels as a means to lower inflammation, which in turn reduces the risk of heart disease and stroke.
2. This study confirms that it is NOT the lowering of LDL cholesterol that is key to reducing the risk of heart attack and stroke, but the reducing of inflammation, as is evident by the lowering of C reactive protein (CRP). Therefore, what about all the studies that show alternative means (vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and essential fatty acids) for lowering CRP, inflammation, and lipid peroxidation without any adverse effects?
What Can You Do?
1. Know, and lower your high-sensitivy CRP levels (as mentioned in my book): a. CRP less than 1.0 mg/L = Low Risk for CardioVascular Disease (CVD) b. CRP of 1.0 – 2.9 mg/L = Moderate Risk for CVD c. CRP greater than 3.0 = High Risk for CVD 2. Know, and lower your Homocysteine levels: a. Homocysteine less than 6.5 = Low Risk for CVD b. Homocysteine 6.6 to 8.0 = Low-Moderate Risk for CVD c. Homocyseine 8.1 to 10.4 = Moderate-High Risk for CVD d. Homocysteine greater than 10.4 = High Risk for CVD 3. Know, and lower your Lipid Peroxides a. This test is not commonly performed by most labs, but can be obtained. b. Keep Lipid Peroxidation low (according to print out on lab results)
How You Can Lower CRP, Homocysteine, and Lipid Peroxidation to Reduce Heart Attack & Stroke:
1. Statin Drugs: expensive; dangerous and sometimes deadly side-effects. a. See list of side-effects in The Cholesterol Conspiracy.
OR, .... even BETTER:
2. Lifestyle Changes: inexpensive, non-dangerous, …and it promotes health! a. Maintain a Healthy Weight b. Maintain a Low-Glycemic Diet (plenty of vegetables) c. Exercise d. Don’t Smoke e. Reduce Stress f. Adequate Sleep g. Drink Plenty of Pure Water h. Maintain Gum Health (brush, floss, and use Co-Q10) i. Use Full-Range Vitamins, Minerals, Antioxidants, and Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids: (a few examples of many vitamins and antioxidants are shown below, though I personally recommend a full-range of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and essential fatty acids):
Vitamin C 2000 mg/day (vitamin C alone reduces CRP similar to statins)
B Complex Vitamins
Fish Oil (4000 mg per day)
Vitamin D (1000 to 5000 IU/day)
Turmeric Extract (400 to 800 mg/day)
Olive Extract (75 to 200 mg/day)
Grape Seed Extract and Resveratrol (200 to 400 mg/day)
Co-Enzyme Q10 (200 to 400 mg/day)
Betaine (TMG) (1800 to 3000 mg/day)
Magnesium (400 mg/day)
To see references (please see http://www.laddmcnamara.com/)
Posted by Ladd McNamara at 7:51 AM
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