US Doctors Urge Wider Use Of Cholesterol Drugs

[Psephos]

79. Science has moved on.

Last edited Wed Nov 13, 2013, 06:05 PM - Edit history (1)

Cholesterol is not unitary. One can have higher cholesterol but lower disease potential, if the increase is due to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Furthermore, cholesterol (a vital substance in a healthy body) only becomes implicated in disease when chronic vascular inflammation is present. With few exceptions, no inflammation = no vascular disease, regardless of cholesterol.

All that said, there is now good evidence that increased saturated fat, in a diet that avoids industrial foods (especially grain products and sugars), actually lowers cholesterol.

Here are a couple of the defining studies in this new understanding of the effects of saturated fats on CV health.

Siri-Tarino PW, Sun Q, Hu FB, Krauss RM. Meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies evaluating the association of saturated fat with cardiovascular disease. Am J Clin Nutr. 2010;91:535-46.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20071648

Micha R, Mozaffarian D. Saturated fat and cardiometabolic risk factors, coronary heart disease, stroke, and diabetes: a fresh look at the evidence. Lipids. 2010;45:893-905.


Here are a couple of good overviews of the new thinking.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/267834.php

http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/80/5/1102.full

Is the science settled? No, science is never settled. But the new research shows that the old thinking needs revision.