The Hidden Truth About “Reducing Your Cholesterol”

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The Hidden Truth About “Reducing Your Cholesterol”

You may be surprised at the REAL causes of heart disease — and it’s NOT saturated fat or cholesterol

by Mike Geary, Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer

We all know that heart disease is one of the leading killers of people around the world, particularly highest in countries such as the US and Australia.

However, did you know that there are several medical studies worldwide that clearly show that higher cholesterol levels in the body actually increases longevity instead of decreasing it? Yes, you heard that right! People with high cholesterol have been statistically shown to live longer and healthier than people with low cholesterol in several studies. There are multiple references for this phenomenon in Shane Ellison’s controversial book, The Hidden Truth about Cholesterol Lowering Drugs, Dr. Uffe Ravnskov’s (MD, PhD) book entitled The Cholesterol Myths, as well as Sally Fallon and Mary Enig’s book, Nourishing Traditions.

So why in the world are the pharmaceutical and medical industry pushing for practically everyone on the planet to “lower their cholesterol”? Well, the first, and more innocent answer, is flawed medical studies from decades ago that have been accepted as fact and never fully analyzed for their validity. Another answer is that this practice of recommending that half of the damn planet takes a cholesterol lowering medication (currently, statins), regardless of whether they truly have any real risk for heart disease, creates insane multi-squillion dollar profits for the drug companies!

As a perfectly absurd example of how doctors have been wrongly influenced by the drug companies… a couple years ago, I was a perfectly healthy 28 yr old, in great shape, exercising daily, eating a balanced healthy diet full of antioxidants and quality nutrition, no smoking, and with no real risk factors for heart disease, and just because my cholesterol level has been consistently measured over 200 for my entire life, my doctor recommended I consider using a cholesterol lowering statin drug.

Consider how outlandish this scenario is! The drug companies have hypnotized doctors into prescribing unnecessary prescription drugs to healthy young people with perfectly normal cholesterol levels that just happen to be over this arbitrary number of 200 that they’ve come up with. Luckily, I refused to be a guinea pig and fork over my hard earned duckets for potentially dangerous drugs, and decided to start researching this whole cholesterol and heart disease connection myself. Consider also that my father, who is now 60 years old, has had cholesterol levels slightly over 200 his entire life also (just like me), yet he is perfectly healthy at his ripe age of 60.

High Cholesterol is NOT the Villain!

As time goes on and scientists continue to learn more about heart disease, it has become quite clear over the recent years that inflammation within the body (NOT cholesterol levels) is what causes plaque build up in the arteries and eventual heart disease. Inflammation can be caused by many personal factors such as stress, smoking, viruses, consumption of refined and/or hydrogenated fats (man-made trans fats), an imbalance of omega-6 polyunsaturated fats to omega-3 polyunsaturated fats in the diet, excess refined sugars in the diet, etc.

Here’s a quick and dirty of how it works in general. Cholesterol is a healing substance within the body (among many other important functions), and responds to arterial inflammation by getting deposited in combination with other substances, forming “plaque” as a healing agent on the artery lining.

Levels of inflammation in your body can be measured with what’s called a CRP test (c-reactive protein). The accuracy of this test still has room for improvement, as it can vary depending on the time of day and other factors, but it is a much better indication of heart disease risk than a cholesterol test (which is practically useless for determining heart disease risk).

Another more important test than cholesterol levels for heart disease risk is a test for serum homocysteine levels. The next time your doctor wants you to get blood cholesterol tests, request CRP and homocysteine tests instead. He/she should be well aware of the validity of these tests if they are up to date.

Basically, if you have significant internal inflammation, this plaque will be deposited as a healing agent regardless of whether you have high or low cholesterol. On the other hand, if you don’t have inflammation, high cholesterol levels just keep circulating without getting deposited on the artery linings. Therefore, it is more important to control inflammation rather than trying to lower your cholesterol.

Lowering your cholesterol doesn’t attack the root of the problem (what is actually causing the inflammation in you). Lowering your cholesterol does nothing except to make the drug companies rich, and possibly leave you with a whole assortment of possible negative side-effects.

The good news is that preventing heart disease is about living a healthy lifestyle, not about throwing down a drug pill everyday. Controlling your inflammation to prevent heart disease is as easy as reducing the stress in your life (try deep breathing exercises, Qigong, yoga, etc.), maintaining a healthy weight, eating a high-antioxidant, highly nutritious unprocessed diet (as recommended in my Truth about Six Pack Abs program), and avoiding smoking and other causes of heavy free radical production in the body.

I hope this article has given you some helpful info about the real causes of heart disease and not the propaganda that has been shoved down your throat for years, based on flawed medical studies from 40-50 years ago, making drug companies filthy rich.

If you or anyone you care about is currently taking statins, or if you just want to learn more about cholesterol and the scandal that is revolving currently around statin drugs, please see The Cholesterol Myths.

On a related topic, were you aware that there is also quite a controversy these days in the health industry over the fact that saturated fat is not necessarily bad for you, and can actually be downright good for you in some cases? I posted this article a few months ago, but thought I would mention this article again
http://www.truthaboutabs.com/cholesterol-myths.html

Are You Having A Heart Attack?-Symptoms you should never Ignore.

Pending heart attack symptoms mask themselves as:

Indigestion

Feeling overworked and tired all the time

Taking naps several times a day

During a real heart attack, you may feel:

Feverish

A Nauseous Sick Feeling

Shortness of Breath or Labored Breathing

Sweating

Tingling in Arms

Chest Pain

Heaviness in the chest area like someone is pushing on your chest.

Your life may depend on you making the right decision within minutes; if what you are feeling is a heart attack…a quick response time in calling for help…call your Doctor.
www.healthstatus.com/health_blog/2010/01/12/are-you-having-a-heart-attack/

Body clock link to heart disease

Read more on this subject my blog under Health.
Scientists have raised the possibility that cardiovascular disease is linked to disturbances in the body’s 24-hour clock.
Working on mice, the Japanese team found a genetic risk factor for a form of high blood pressure is influenced by 24-hour or circadian rhythms.
The study appears online in the journal Nature Medicine.
Malfunctions in the body clock – which influences much of the body’s chemistry – have been linked to many diseases.

We know that there is a strong correlation between time of day and cardiovascular events which often coincide with the early morning surge in blood pressure
Professor Bryan Williams
University of Leicester
And lead researcher Professor Hitoshi Okamura said the latest study was in line with data which suggested shift workers, long-distance flight crews and people with sleep disorders have a heightened risk of heart problems.
High blood pressure – known as hypertension – can lead to heart attack, stroke, kidney damage, and many other medical problems.
Many genes have been identified as being essential elements making up the circadian clock.
For example, mice lacking a pair of molecules known as cryptochromes have an abnormal circadian rhythm.
The latest study, by Kyoto University, found these mice were vulnerable to high blood pressure because of abnormally high levels of a hormone called aldosterone that prompts water retention in the kidneys.
Strong correlation
The researchers showed that the circadian clock directly controls a gene that plays a key role in production of the hormone.
The researchers say a similar gene is found in humans.
They stress more work is needed to determine whether a misfiring circadian clock can lead to high blood pressure in humans.
But Professor Okamura said the research raised the prospect of new ways to treat hypertension.
Professor Bryan Williams, an expert in hypertension at the University of Leicester, described the study as “fascinating”.
He said: “We know that there is a strong correlation between time of day and cardiovascular events, which often coincide with the early morning surge in blood pressure.
“So this does provide some insights into the mechanism that might underpin blood pressure deregulation in some people.”
Professor Williams said some people with high blood pressure were known to have high levels of aldosterone.
But he added: “What we don’t know is how common this mutation might be in human hypertension.”
Professor Jeremy Pearson, associate medical director at the British Heart Foundation, said: “Hypertension is common, but the genes controlling blood pressure are not well understood.
“Their identification will help design better treatments for high blood pressure.”
But he also stressed more research was needed before it became clear whether the study had identified a potential target for new treatments.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8404097.stm

Heart Diseases XI-Heart attack

A heart attack occurs when blood flow to part of the heart is blocked, often by a blood clot, causing damage to the affected muscle.
This is usually caused by atherosclerosis – hardening of the artery walls. The clot, often caused by rupturing or tearing of plaque in an artery is sometimes called a coronary thrombosis or a coronary occlusion.
If blood supply is cut off for a long time, muscle cells are irreversibly damaged and die, leading to disability or death depending on the extent of the damage to the muscle.
A heart attack, also known as myocardial infarction, can also occur when a coronary artery temporarily contracts or goes into spasm, decreasing or cutting the flow of blood to the heart.
An unexpected and abrupt heart attack occuring soon after the onset of symptoms can result in sudden death.
It accounts for about half of all coronary heart disease deaths and can be caused by nearly all types of heart disease.
Three main symptoms of a heart attack:
1. Pressure or pain in the centre of the chest, lasting more than a few minutes or going away and coming back
2. Pain spreading to the shoulders, neck or arms
3. Chest discomfort combined with light-headedness, fainting, sweating, nausea or shortness of breath
Other common warning signs of heart attack include unusual chest, stomach or abdominal pain, nausea or dizziness, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, unexplained anxiety, weakness or fatigue, palpitations, cold sweat or paleness.

What to do if someone has a heart attack
Check the victim for a response
If no response, ask someone to call for an ambulance. If you are on your own, do this yourself; you may need to leave the victim
Check the victim is breathing normally
If breathing is normal, place them in the recovery position and await help
If not, open their airway using a head tilt and chin lift and begin 30 chest compressions
Open the airway again and give two rescue breaths (mouth to mouth)
Continue the chest compressions and rescue breaths in a ratio of 30:2
For detailed instructions, visit the Resuscitation Council website.
Anybody experiencing these symptoms should call an ambulance immediately, but should not try to drive themselves to hospital, as complications can begin to occur before they get there.
Most people do have time to get to hospital and be treated before collapsing, but they do need to act quickly.
Some people wait for hours or even days before seeking help – they are the ones that get into trouble.
After a heart attack
Diagnosis of a heart attack usually involves a clinical examination, an electrocardiogram, heart rhythm monitoring and blood tests.
Echocardiograms or angiograms will detect the extent of damage to the heart.
Immediately after a heart attack, clot-busting drugs will be used to restore blood flow. Aspirin, to aid blood flow, and beta-blockers, to ease the heart’s work rate, may also be used.
In the days or weeks after a heart attack, surgery – either angioplasty or coronary artery bypass surgery – may be performed.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/medical_notes/g-i/764015.stm

Angry young men risk heart attacks.BBC

Please read this along with my piece on’Stifling anger at work can kill-Reuters.’ filed under Health and draw your conclusions.

Story:
A bad temper can lead to a risk of premature heart attack, scientists claim.
Their comments are based on findings that young men who quickly react to stress with anger are three times more likely to develop heart disease.

Research shows these men were five times more likely than their calmer counterparts to have an early heart attack, even without a family history of the condition.

Some expressed their anger, others were able to conceal it, while many became irritable or engaged in “gripe sessions”.

The most important thing angry young men can do is get professional help to manage their tempers

Dr Patricia Chang, who co-ordinated the US-based research, said: “In this study, hot tempers predicted disease long before other traditional risk factors like diabetes and hypertension became apparent.

“The most important thing angry young men can do is get professional help to manage their tempers, especially since previous studies have shown that those who already have heart disease get better with anger management.”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/1939094.stm