It is generally recommended by one and all to keep cholesterol levels low. Thanks to the advertisements that do the rounds, the brain is conditioned into taking those drugs that will lower the risk of a cardiac arrest. All the pharmacists and doctors claim that it has been scientifically proven that these drugs are effective. Well, Dr Hyman delves deeper into the truth and surprises everyone.
“Statistics are often made up” we often hear but ignore unless of course, you work in an advertising agency! For who knows better than the advertisers that statistics like ‘99% germ protection’ sell! Don’t these statistics often take us in and the bottle is off the shelf in our shopping carts? There are some situations in which those drugs that claim to lower the risk of a cardiac arrest will not work.
For instance, if you are low on both good cholesterol as well as bad cholesterol, this may not work for you. Also, if there is any kind of inflammation, you will not benefit from these drugs. Moreover, there isn’t any definite proof that it works on people with high cholesterol levels. It hasn’t been tested on women and on men above the age of 69. Thus, these drugs definitely leave out a very large population.
Good Cholesterol and Bad Cholesterol – Which one do you lower?
Merck and Schering-Plough discovered that there are two types of cholesterol and one is actually good for health.Now, it isn’t a good idea to lower good cholesterol and the drugs do reduce cholesterol. Moreover, as Jon Barron puts it, a study conducted by the government proved that there hadn’t been any benefit of taking these drugs unless and until you already are a heart patient. Thus, one can clearly see that lowering cholesterol doesn’t really reduce the risk of a heart stroke. In most parts of the world, the heart disease is no longer prevalent but pharmaceuticals will definitely have you believe otherwise.
The Debate among Medical Practitioners
Medical practitioners have often debated that lowering cholesterol will reduce the risk of a heart attack. In a case study of the Journal of the American Medical Association on a man who is in his 50s and healthy, the doctors argue out the need for drugs that claim to lower the risk of a heart attack. While some medical practitioners were of the opinion that it was necessary to take these drugs, some others deemed it to be absolutely unnecessary. Moreover, they also pointed out how jinxed the statistics were as there have been other similar kinds of researches where the statistics aren’t in favour of statins.
A Little Historical Context to Cholesterol and Cardiovascular Diseases
If one understands the background of heart diseases and cholesterol, one will come to see how the two can be totally unrelated. A German chemist named Adolph Windaus discovered that human aortas have around quarter times more cholesterol than a normal aorta. Other than that, during Czar’s regime, it was found that rabbits that were fed diets consisting of high levels of cholesterol suffered cardio damages. This led to the belief that lowering cholesterol will lower the risk of heart diseases and dieticians and pharmacists cashed in on it. Until today, statins are in high demand owing to their claims. The discovery of statins was begun by Dr. Akira Endo in 1971 which has led to the invention of present day Lipitor among the many other preventive drugs that do nothing but lower cholesterol which may not necessarily reduce the risk of a stroke. Dr Barry Sears clears all the myths by putting hard facts on the line!
Proof through Empirical Evidence
Dr UffeRavnskov who is a Ph.D holding medical practitioner completely dismisses the idea that high level of cholesterol in the blood can cause heart diseases. He says that this is a completely lame concept and is almost never likely to happen. He agrees that cholesterol is an important part of the body and it is used for producing Vitamin D as well as stress hormones and sex hormones. As far as a Cardiac arrest is concerned, he says that the two are completely unrelated and it is silly of anyone to think otherwise.
Yet, at the end of the day, it is a good idea to control the levels of cholesterol not because of the heart but because of the overall health of the body.
It is often believed that high levels of cholesterol are a cause of heart attack. However, it is simply a myth and cholesterol may not have anything to do with a heart attack.