The Dangers of Low Cholesterol
In today's society, cholesterol is considered a villain. Everyone "knows" that high cholesterol "causes" heart disease. TV ads warn us that "diet and exercise may not be enough," and drugs are increasingly prescribed to reduce cholesterol levels.
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You may think you know what the problem of cholesterol is all about, but before you jump on the anti-cholesterol bandwagon, consider these studies:
* A 3 year study on 11,500 patients showed that low cholesterol resulted in increased lung cancer, increase in other cancers, higher risk of cardiac death, erectile dysfunction and infertility, and a loss of memory and mental focus. (European Heart Journal 1997, 18, 52-59)
* A Swedish researcher discovered that individuals with low cholesterol suffer from frequent and severe infections, while individuals with high cholesterol had a lower mortality than the average population. (Uffe Ravnskov, MD, PhD, independent researcher Magle Stora Kyrkogata 9, S-223250 Lund, Sweden)
* A 30 years follow-up on one of the original studies linking cholesterol and heart disease showed no correlation between high cholesterol and mortality, but did show a correlation between low cholesterol and mortality. Death rates from coronary heart disease increased 14% for every 1 mg/dl drop in total cholesterol per year
(Anderson KM. Cholesterol and Mortality, 30 years of Follow-up from the Framingham study. JAMA 1987 Apr 24;257(16):2176-80)
* A paper in the Journal of Cardiac Failure on an analysis of 1,134 patients with heart disease showed that low cholesterol was associated with worse outcomes in heart failure patients and impaired survival rates. It also showed that elevated cholesterol was not associated with hypertension, diabetes or coronary heart disease.
(Horwich TB. Et.al. Low Serum Total Cholesterol is Associated with Marked Increase in Mortality in Advanced Heart Failure. J Card. Fail. 2002 Aug;8(4):216-214)
High cholesterol is a "disease" that was created by the pharmaceutical industry in order to sell more cholesterol-lowering drugs, i.e., statins. These drugs have a high profit margin, so the lab ranges for cholesterol have been altered over the last 7-10 years so that more people will show up as having "high" cholesterol and be persuaded to take medications.
Normal (i.e., non-pathological) cholesterol ranges should be 175 to 275, with people with Blood Type O running at the higher end of this spectrum because of the way their body utilizes protein. Since, these are the pathological ranges, levels above or below these values mean the body is seriously imbalanced and probably diseased.
However, for optimal health, one should be in the middle third of this range. So healthy cholesterol should be between 208 and 242. Oddly enough people with these perfectly normal and healthy cholesterol ranges are being encouraged to take drugs to reduce their cholesterol to unhealthy low levels.
This is particularly bad considering that statins have a lot of potentially dangerous side effects. The common side effects of the statins include upset stomach, headache, fatigue, skin rash, memory loss, difficulty concentrating, erectile dysfunction, difficulty sleeping, nightmares and peripheral neuropathy. Another common side effect is liver damage.
Statins deplete CoQ10, an important co-enzyme for cardiac health. Since the real cause of heart disease is oxidative damage and inflammation, lowering CoQ10 can actually increase your risk of dying of heart disease.
A very serious side effect of statins is their tendency to cause inflammation of the muscles and create muscle damage. The inflammation makes the muscles painful. If the inflammation is severe enough, the cells in the inflamed muscle tissue may disintegrate (a process called rhabdomyolysis). They then release myoglobin, a protein present in very large amounts within the muscle cells, into the blood. The myoglobin reaches the kidneys, damages them and may even cause them to fail. In some cases, the kidneys may recover; however the damage to the kidneys from the myoglobin may be permanent and necessitate lifelong kidney dialysis.
So, before you take statin drugs to reduce your cholesterol, do a little research on the dangers of low cholesterol. There are other ways of protecting yourself from heart disease that are much more effective.
Related Themes:
Natural Cures for Lowering High Cholesterol, Home Remedies
The foods and the drinks which contain high fat contribute to the cause of high cholesterol. It is also caused due to high stress and alcoholism. When the cholesterol level is very high in the blood then it results into high blood cholesterol. It is not a disease itself but it may be the cause of specific diseases like cardiovascular disease. High blood cholesterol is related to enhanced levels of lipids (hyperlipidemia) and high levels of proteins (hyperlipoproteinemia).
Cholesterol Causes and Home Remedy and Diet Tips to Maintain Cholesterol Level
Cholesterol is one of the essential ingredients of the body and is generally produced in the liver. However, about twenty to thirty per cent generally comes from the food we eat. It is measured in milligrams per 100 millimeters of blood. The normal level of cholesterol varies between 150 - 200 mg per 100 ml. In blood, cholesterol occurs in combination with certain lipids (fats), hence, known as lipoproteins.
What Are You Doing to Lower Your Cholesterol?
Cholesterol is substance that is wax like and produced by the liver It is found in certain foods and the body can use it to make Vitamin D, hormones, build cell walls, and help you digest fat
Understanding Several Types Of LDL Cholesterol
Cholesterol can be either good or bad and the amount of each type of cholesterol that you have in your body can make a real difference when it comes to developing heart disease and atherosclerosis. Of the different types of cholesterol, the types of LDL cholesterol are the biggest enemy of the human body as they contain as much as between seventy-five and eighty percent of cholesterol which in turn results in plaque formation. That means that the arteries become narrower and thus the body is unable to receive enough blood because the blood flow becomes blocked.
Change Your Diet to Change Your Cholesterol Levels
Cholesterol is a soft way substance found in all parts of the human body Some of the cholesterol is produced by the body and some of it comes from the food you eat
Low cholesterol dieting
If you have found out from your physician or from doing home cholesterol test that you got a high total cholesterol level, one of the first things you need to do is to change your diet to a low cholesterol diet to help you lower your cholesterol.
How High Should Your Cholesterol Levels Be?
A 2007 report from the Women's Health Study showed that high levels of cholesterol, even in healthy women, was a risk factor that increased a woman's chances of having a stroke. Other studies have shown a link between high levels of cholesterol and Alzheimer's disease. And the media has been warning us for years to cut down our intake of cholesterol because high cholesterol leads to hardening of the arteries. But what is cholesterol and why is it even it our bodies?
