Cholesterol Management Community

Good for you!

Re prunes: I've become a fan after posts from the experts in the WebMD Diet Community and the WebMD Heart Community. Although I prefer to call them "dried plums" to make myself feel younger

Haylen

I also wanted to ask how your energy level changed. I think sluggish and tired must be status quo for many...

H

It is my firm belief that the "normal" cholesterol levels established by conventional medicine are likely way too low. IMO a cholesterol level up to 300 mg/dl should probably be considered normal.

Also, the biochemical form of cholesterol found in blood serum differs from that found in cardiac plaque. In other words there is LITTLE CORRELATION between plaque buildup in the arteries and bllod serum cholesterol levels. The cholesterol found in plaque is likely manufactured in the liver expressly for transport by the LDL lipid for specific incorporation in the plaque (in an attempt to repair damage to the arterial wall). This is probably due to a vitamin C deficiency, see brief discussion below (since that vitamin is VITAL to the manufacture of collagen and other biochemical entities).

Why are the normal ranges kept so low? Easy answer, so the BIG PHARMA companies will have so many more customers for their highly toxic statin drugs (ALL statins are known depleters of the essential biochemical substance called Ubiquinone (Ubiquinol). This defiiciency (caused by the various STATIN Dugs) can lead to Congestive Heart Disease and Dementia in a certain percentage of patients (since both the cardiac muscle and brain cells have such a high concentration of Ubiquinone). Ubiquinone is also known by the more common term CoQ-10. I bet your doctor did not discuss this statin drug great danger with you.

Read the fine print on STATIN drug circulars and you will find the shocking statement that their statin drugs are essentailly USELESS in preventing death from heart disease. So WHY you may ask are so many people now on statin drugs? Easy answer: "Just "follow the money trail." This can even include monetary 'kickbacks" to prescribing physicians from BIG PHARMA (either direcrtly or indirectly). STATIN Drugs are the BIGGEST fraud ever foisted on the gullible American public.

By the way, there is very strong anecdotal evidence that heart disease from plaque build-up is due to chronic vitamin C defieciency in humans (due to a genetic defect in an enzyme we humans suffered tens of millions of years ago; as a result we can no longer produce vitamin C in vivo). The National Institute of Health acknowledges this powerful anecdotal evidence (easily accessible to those you who bother to take the time and research this a bit). The NIH says that this correlation between vitamin C deficiency and heart disease needs more research. Yet, every time a reputable scientist applies to the NIH, FDA, etc for a grant to study this further the grant is turned down. Why? Because Heart Disease is a multi billion dollar business. We can't have reputable science "killing the $$$ Golden Goose" can we? Think of all those poor Cardiologists that would be no longer needed.

Heart Disease is not caused by a STATIN drug deficiency, nor is it cured by that same statin drug. Likely the cure for much heart disease lies in greatly boosting vitamin C levels (and avoiding like the plague all TRANS Fats, Hydrogenated and Partially Hydrogenated Fats, as well as all Mono and Di-Glycerides.

Take the time and do an Internet Search of: "Vitamin C deficiency and Heart Disease" some time. Scary what you are NOT being told.

Wow, not a fan of statins. My thought;

The cholesterol found in plaque is likely manufactured in the liver expressly for transport by the LDL lipid for specific incorporation in the plaque

This is incorrect, arterial plaques are made up of LDL cholesterol and calcium salts. HDL cholesterol is the lipoprotein that is created in the liver and used to transport LDL to the liver.

I bet your doctor did not discuss this statin drug great danger with you.

Yes he did as a matter of fact.


Easy answer: "Just "follow the money trail." This can even include monetary 'kickbacks" to prescribing physicians from BIG PHARMA (either direcrtly or indirectly).

Would love to, please show me the money trail or give me a link to it.

Yet, every time a reputable scientist applies to the NIH, FDA, etc for a grant to study this further the grant is turned down.

Great, please tell me who or provide a link. FYI, here's a link on how these grants are awarded. They are based on a score given on the study's merit and planning. Those that fail do so because they are scored poorly by the Independent Data Management Board or lack proper planning. But please, provide us with some names that have been unjustly denied.

http://grants.nih.gov/grants/grants_process.htm

Read the fine print on STATIN drug circulars and you will find the shocking statement that their statin drugs are essentailly USELESS in preventing death from heart disease.

Really? Mine does not say that. Mine says;

LIPITOR is a prescription medicine that
lowers cholesterol in your blood. It lowers
the LDL-C ("bad" cholesterol) and
triglycerides in your blood. It can raise
your HDL-C ("good" cholesterol) as well.
LIPITOR is for adults and children over
10 whose cholesterol does not come down
enough with exercise and a low-fat diet
alone.

LIPITOR can lower the risk for heart
attack, stroke, certain types of heart
surgery, and chest pain in patients who
have heart disease or risk factors for heart
disease such as:

Age, smoking, high blood pressure,
low HDL-C, heart disease in the
family.

LIPITOR can lower the risk for heart
attack or stroke in patients with diabetes
and risk factors such as:

Eye problems, kidney problems,
smoking, or high blood pressure.
LIPITOR starts to work in about 2 weeks

That's the finest print I can find on my info page.

Just my opinion.

For a long time statin drugs used the disclaimer "Has not been shown to prevent heart disease, heart attacks or strokes" Then about a year or so ago, they dropped the disclaimer. I don't know if that is what JJTopp99 was referring to or not.

Its true that the current literature does say LIPITOR can lower risk in certain individuals, BUT its important to understand by how much, and just who is making that claim.

Gaining an understanding of the difference between relative risk reduction and absolute risk reduction is way to gain a clearer picture.

A Relative risk reduction could be as high as 40% reduction, while the corresponding absolute risk reduction could be as low as 1%, even less in some cases.

Then it also comes down to individual acceptance of drug company sponsored study results. Some people accept it, others don't claiming bias study results. Everyone has differing attitudes towards this.

Not all studies are Drug industry funded, but many cholesterol lowering drug studies were.

I hate to say it, but it all boils down to what we believe. At this point in time we still don't have a definitive underlying cause for atherosclerosis. We have risk factors identified, but the underlying mechanism has yet to be determined.

On a positive note, hopefully in out lifetime we will all get to see the answer.

Bobby

I also ate a great diet (no meat, except fish) went to the gym 4 times a week, and lost 50 pounds last year. Unfortunately, my cholesterol only lowered by 2 points. I was so disappointed. it went from 235 to 233.

Rose65,

Congratulations on losing 50 lbs and all your hard work at the gym. Obviously you are doing something right.

Don't be discouraged because your cholesterol only dropped two points.

The vast majority of cholesterol is manufactured in the body, to meet the body's demands for cholesterol. Only the smaller portion, roughly 15% comes from diet.

In human physiology, there is a built-in feedback system which regulates how much cholesterol is produced. If a person restricts dietary cholesterol, the body will respond by making more cholesterol to meet current physical needs.

Muscles need cholesterol for cell growth as cholesterol is one of the building blocks to healthy cells.

The brain is the one organ most dependent upon cholesterol to function properly. Its so important, the brain even churns out its own cholesterol for proper neurological function and memory recall.

All our steroid hormones are made from cholesterol. Steroid hormones are required for muscle toning and fitness as well as libido.

Don't be disappointed. Nature is watching out for you.

Bobby

Rose65s -

CONGRATS on the weight loss. That is amazing. Check out some of the resources here. You might find tips and tools to help get your numbers down:

Cholesterol Management Health Center

Bobby, thanks for the info!

H