Cholesterol: The Good, the Bad and the Awful!

[Guest guest]

Cholesterol:

The Good, the Bad and the Awful!

JoAnn Guest

May 09, 2003 16:27 PDT

 

Cholesterol always gets a bad rap—and it should. But it's

important to understand that cholesterol is a fatty acid that is

naturally

found in the brain, nerves, liver, blood and bile—and is needed to

build cell membranes, insulate nerves, produce vitamin D, hormones,

and bile acid for digestion.

 

It even helps provide antioxidant protection when your vitamin and

mineral stores are low.

Cholesterol is so crucial, in fact, that each cell is equipped with

the means to synthesize its own membrane cholesterol, regulating the

fluidity of those membranes when they are too loose or too stiff.

 

Necessary for hormone production

 

The hormones, estrogen, progesterone and testosterone are

manufactured from cholesterol.

Also, adrenal corticosteroid hormones, which regulate water balance

through the kidneys, and cortisone, the anti-inflammatory hormone

that also controls our stress response,

all come from cholesterol.

 

Normally, the liver makes all the cholesterol your body needs.

 

Problem is, because of our poor dietary habits and sedentary life

styles, we produce way too much LDL cholesterol …

which increases our risk of cardiovascular disease, heart attack and

stroke.

 

 

A cholesterol primer

 

Cholesterol is carried in blood in the form of substances called

lipoproteins.

Cardiovascular risk can be assessed by measuring total

blood cholesterol, as well as the proportions of the different types

of lipoproteins.

 

1) Total cholesterol is the most common measure of blood cholesterol

and the only number many people get from their doctor.

 

Cholesterol is measured in milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) of

blood. A total cholesterol reading less than 200 mg/dL means a lower

risk of heart disease, which everyone should try to attain.

 

(Although cholesterol is not the only marker for heart disease

risk. 200-239 is borderline high cholesterol, and 240 and over is

high cholesterol.

 

Lipoproteins

2) HDL cholesterol, the " good " cholesterol, helps carry LDL

cholesterol out of the body,...

including cholesterol deposited inside blood vessels,

 

where it may block the flow of blood.

 

If there is too much cholesterol for the HDLs to pick up, or an

inadequate supply of HDLs,

cholesterol may aggregate into plaque groups that block arteries.

Those blockages are the main cause of heart attacks.

Remember that higher HDL is healthier.

 

A reading of less than 40 is low, at or greater than 60 is high.

 

3) LDL cholesterol, the " bad " cholesterol, hauls cholesterol from

the liver to all cells in the body.

Remember that lower is healthier.

 

A reading of less than 100 is optimal; 100-129 is near or above

optimal; 130-159, borderline high; 160-189, high; 190 or great is

very high.

 

Rule of thumb:

You want to raise your HDL and lower your LDL.

 

 

4) Triglycerides make up most of the body's fat, and are the

storehouse for energy.

Refined sugars, transfats, certain refined edible oils and animal

fats also are composed mainly of triglycerides.

 

They may not be as corrosive as LDL, but *excess* triglycerides

exacerbate heart disease potential when they *oxidize* and damage

artery linings or induce blood cells to clump.

 

A reading of under 100 is optimal; under 200 is normal; 200-400 is

borderline high; over 400 is high.

 

When high triglycerides and low HDL occur together, risk of

cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, heart and kidney

failure

and other degenerative diseases increase.

 

In fact, another up-and-coming index of heart disease risk is your

triglyceride-to-HDL ratio. A ratio of less than 2 is considered good.

 

 

 

The best ways to lower your triglyceride levels are:

1) to reduce your intake of simple carbohydrates, especially sugar

and starchy foods and 2) to take a high-quality fish oil product.

 

 

 

The new cholesterol guidelines

 

In May 2001 27 of America's top cholesterol experts issued new

guidelines. This is only the second time the National Institutes of

Health has revised its guidelines for preventing heart disease. Here

are the highlights:

 

• While artery-clogging, low-density lipoproteins are still

considered the chief target for diet and therapy, the report from

the

National Cholesterol Education Program established new parameters

for " HDL " cholesterol.

 

Any HDL level below 40, rather than 35, is now considered low.

This sets up a new risk-assessment regime for everyone starting at

age 20.

 

• A complete lipoprotein profile should be done every five years,

beginning at age 20. This covers total LDL, HDL and triglycerides.

• Reduce *saturated* fat intake to less than 7% of total calories

and your cholesterol intake to less than 200 mg a day.

 

Add more vegetables and 10-25 grams of " soluble " fiber to your diet

(fruits, vegetables, organic whole grains and cooked dried beans).

 

• People with diabetes who do not have heart disease are in the same

high-risk category as those who already have heart disease

 

" Studies show conclusively that lowering the level of LDL the " bad "

cholesterol, " can reduce the short-term risk for heart disease by as

much as 40%.

 

According to NDS Health, a health-care information services company

based in Atlanta, more than 110 million prescriptions were written

for statin drugs in 2001.

But they're expensive … and they're not without risk.

 

The hidden side effects of cholesterol-lowering drugs

 

Unfortunately, like most pharmaceuticals, these drugs usually have

side effects.

 

The symptoms vary depending on what type of cholesterol drug is

being taken, but they include:

• Hot flashes

• Nausea

• Allergic reaction (skin rashes)

* Heartburn

• Constipation

• Decreased sexual desire

• Vomiting

• Diarrhea

• Peptic ulcers

• Gout

• High blood sugar

• Cholesterol *gallstones*

 

 

In addition to the above side effects, some drugs may carry the risk

of serious side effects, such as:

 

• Rhabdomyolysis -

a muscle condition that can cause kidney failure

• Muscle pain or weakness

• Liver abnormalities

---

-----------

How do statins work?

 

Statins all work by the same mechanism: they inhibit a liver enzyme

called HMG CoA reductase that enables the liver to make cholesterol.

 

 

The liver is the body's main source of cholesterol.

But when the liver can not make its own, it removes cholesterol from

the blood to fulfill your body's other needs for cholesterol.

Ideally, blood levels of cholesterol decrease, which reduces the

tendency for arteries to become clogged with fatty deposits.

-------------

Statin Hazard

 

In a clinical advisory issued recently, the American College of

Cardiology, the American Heart Association and the National Heart,

Lung and Blood warned doctors about possible serious adverse effects

and factors that could

increase the risk of statin-caused *muscle* disorders.

 

In fact, in January 2002 Bayer Pharmaceutical announced that its

cholesterol drug *Baycol* has been linked to approximately

100 *deaths*

 

since its withdrawal from the market in August 2001,

 

and Baycol was recalled after it was linked to about 40 deaths

 

in the US. Bayer is

currently facing several lawsuits from patients who were injured

while taking the drug.

 

New York Times health writer Jane E. Brody recently reported

(December 10, 2002) that last summer an 82-year-old Kansas woman

died as

a result of an undetected muscle disease caused by the statin she

had been taking for years to control her cholesterol.

 

During the entire time she was taking it, the woman had muscle pains

that doctors never attributed to the drug!!.

 

 

 

" She even had a shoulder operation, which did nothing, of course, to

cure the drug-induced pain

that might have been correctly diagnosed through a simple blood

test, " wrote Brody.

 

" Then she was mistreated with an anti-fungal

agent for skin lesions that actually resulted,

not from a fungus, but from the muscle breakdown caused by the

drug. "

 

It's been shown that when anti-fungals are combined with statins,

they can greatly increase the risk and severity of muscle

disorders.

 

" Within three months, the woman's condition worsened and

she became so weak she could not stand or breathe on her own.

 

Two weeks later, she was dead, " reported Brody.

 

Public Citizen Calls for Stronger Warnings on Statins

 

Statins may also cause a liver disorder in about one percent of

patients.

 

Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group, has petitioned

the FDA for stronger warnings on all statin drugs in the wake of the

August 2001 recall of Baycol.

The petition asks the FDA to include a warning that muscle pain or

weakness can lead to muscle damage.

 

 

 

What's wrong with this picture?

 

Consider this metaphor: You're flying an airplane and one of the

meters indicates that the airplane is going down rapidly and that

you're going to plunge to the ground in minutes.

 

You pull out your handgun and shoot the meter, destroying not only

the meter but

causing damage to other electrical equipment.

 

There! Problem solved, right? Obviously not.

 

The situation with statin drugs is strikingly similar yet apparently

this isn't obvious to the conventional medical system.

 

Cholesterol is just a risk factor, one of many.

 

 

References:

 

Vella, C.A., Kravitz, L., & Janot, J.M. (2001). A review of the

impact of exercise on cholesterol levels. IDEA Health & Fitness

Source, 19, 10, p. 48. Retrieved March 26, 2002 from Expanded

Academic ASAP.

 

Lane, Jane, " Cholesterol Conundrum, " Energy Times Feb. 1999, pg. 53.

 

 

 

 

 

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