Is cholesterol really deadly? Jury is still out! We need some cholesterol!

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--- *A study of elderly French women living in a nursing home showed that those with the highest cholesterol levels lived the longest (The Lancet, 4/22/89). The death rate was more than five times higher for women with very low cholesterol. Several other studies have shown similar results. Ironically, Dr. Ravnskov noted that in his practice it was usually the elderly women who were most worried about their cholesterol levels.

The Lipitor ad on TV says in small print "Lipitor has NOT been shown to prevent heart disease"

>>>>>>>There is much evidence that blood lipids play a key role in the immune defence system. Bacterial endotoxin and Staphylococcus aureus α-toxin bind rapidly to and become inactivated by low-density-lipoprotein (LDL). Exogenous and endogenous hypercholesterolaemia increase the survival of mice challenged with endotoxin or live bacteria; and exogenous hypocholesterolaemia decreases it, unless the mice are injected with lipoprotein. Individuals with low LDL-cholesterol have significantly fewer circulating lymphocytes, total T cells, helper T-cells and CD8 + cells than individuals with high LDL-cholesterol; and monocytes from hypercholesterolaemic individuals have greater phagocytic activity than monocytes from normal individuals.<<<<

Quarterly Journal of Medicine 2003;96:927-34

Statin drugs lower the cholesterol levels but some are questioning whether high cholesterol levels are really dangerous and whether in this case, the cure might be worse than the disease it's addressing. Scientists are concerned about the troubling observation that heart attacks seem to happen equally in those with normal cholesterol levels as in those with high cholesterol levels. Also, cholesterol, a natural substance may play an important part in brain function and chemically reducing cholesteral may eventually cause dementia. The side effects of long term treatment with statin drugs may include lessened cognitive abilities and cataracts.

>>>>>Consider the findings of pediatricians at the University of California, San Diego who published a description of a child with an hereditary defect of mevalonic kinase, the enzyme that facilitates the next step beyond HMG-CoA reductase.1 The child was mentally retarded, microcephalic (very small head), small for his age, profoundly anemic, acidotic and febrile. He also had cataracts. Predictably, his cholesterol was consistently low—70-79 mg/dl. He died at the age of 24 months. The child represents an extreme example of cholesterol inhibition, but his case illuminates the possible consequences of taking statins in strong doses or for a lengthy period of time—depression of mental acuity, anemia, acidosis, frequent fevers and cataracts. <<<<

>>>>>Cholesterol is one of three end products in the mevalonate chain. The two others are ubiquinone and dilochol. Ubiquinone or Co-Enzyme Q10 is a critical cellular nutrient biosynthesized in the mitochondria. It plays a role in ATP production in the cells and functions as an electron carrier to cytochrome oxidase, our main respiratory enzyme. The heart requires high levels of Co-Q10. A form of Co-Q10 called ubiquinone is found in all cell membranes where it plays a role in maintaining membrane integrity so critical to nerve conduction and muscle integrity. Co-Q10 is also vital to the formation of elastin and collagen. Side effects of Co-Q10 deficiency include muscle wasting leading to weakness and severe back pain, heart failure (the heart is a muscle!), neuropathy and inflammation of the tendons and ligaments, often leading to rupture.<<<<<

Dangers of Statin Drugs (from the Weston A. Price website)

"There's some indication the statin makers have known about the nutrient depletion - and its dangers - for more than 14 years. In 1989, Merck filed for 2 patents for a combination statin/CoQ10 pill. The patent applications note that the compound can be a treatment for "statin related myopathy" or muscle sickness, and elevated transaminase enzyme levels which are released into the blood as a result of liver damage."

"Statins may cause cognitive problems simply BECAUSE they lower cholesterol. "Cholesterol is the main organic molecule in the brain and constitutes over half the dry weight of the brain," Dr B. Golomb, MD says." (Golomb is a neurobiologist conducting extensive statin research at the University of California-San Diego.)

"A study conducted by Matthew Muldoon of the University of Pittsburgh showed that patients treated with statins for six months compared poorly with patients on a placebo in solving complex mazes, psychomotor skills and memory tests. "Given the wide use of these drugs, any adverse cognitive effects might be interpreted as important, " Muldoon says."

"... The good news about statins can be so deafening that doctors often dismiss patients' complaints of side effects. "My doctor was furious that I stopped taking Lipitor", (one patient recalls)" [1]

"Smart Money Magazine" November 2003 "The Lipitor Dilemma"

The following article is from the "Center for Medical Consumers"

..."Dr. Ravnskov managed to push the envelope further by making a case for high cholesterol as a protective against cancer. He showed slides listing published studies that found higher rates of infectious disease among hospitalized people with low cholesterol levels. Also, several studies found higher cancer rates in people with low cholesterol levels...

"Anyone who questions cholesterol usually finds his funding cut off," said Paul Rosch, MD, who started his talk with a reminder that half of all heart attacks occur in people with normal cholesterol levels. "Stress has more deleterious effects on the heart than cholesterol," said Dr. Rosch,

...hundreds of people wrote in to say they, too, had experienced severe memory loss while on Lipitor. "Patients are reluctant to report amnesia, or they attribute the symptoms to old age or early Alzheimer's," explained Dr. Graveline. "And doctors are reluctant to see that the drug they prescribed was the cause." Still, the official word on Lipitor is that memory loss is not a statin side effect. "Thousands of cases of memory dysfunction have been reported to the FDA's Medwatch program," he said, "but after two years, the agency still hasn't acted. And most practicing physicians are unaware of the problem." Lipitor is not the only statin linked to this side effect, observed Dr. Graveline...

..."In drug trials, the pharmaceutical companies often divide similar adverse effects into six or seven different categories to keep the scarier side effects under 1%."...

...statin drugs deplete the body of an important anti-oxidant (CQ10) with muscle wasting and heart failure as a result.

..."It has been pretty well documented from biopsies that the severity of heart failure correlates with the people who have the lowest levels of Q10."...

..."[People are eating] a diet high in grain and inappropriate fats, instead of the natural animal fats, such as lard, tallow, chicken fat, goose fat, and the natural vegetable fats, such as olive, palm, and coconut oils, that we used to have in our diets," and contrary to the current "propaganda," she explained that these fats and oils are essential components to a healthful diet. These so-called good fats provide the major fuel for the heart, kidneys, and skeletal muscles, said Dr. Enig, who said the inappropriate fats are the highly processed polyunsaturated fats, such as soybean, canola, and corn oils, which are promoted [ironically] as heart protective."...

"CHOLESTEROL SKEPTICS AND THE BAD NEWS ABOUT STATIN DRUGS" Chris Gupta

For more information see: BEYOND THE LIPID HYPOTHESIS - Exposing the Fallacy that Cholesterol and Saturated Fat Cause Heart Disease