Meet our writers

Health March 2014

Aid for Age

Busting the Cholesterol Myth

By Tait Trussell

Statin drugs block cholesterol production. For such an important substance how could we think that blocking production of something that does not directly cause heart disease, and something that is so important for the function of our body, would not have unintended consequences.

A new book, “The Great Cholesterol Myth” written by Drs. Jonny Bowden and Stephen Sinatra, knocks statins for a loop. Bowden is a board certified nutritionist. Sinatra is a board certified cardiologist.

The authors make the following claims and support them with sound references. “The relationship between blood cholesterol levels and heart disease is, at best weak” and more complex than usually pictured, they say.

“Half of patients with heart attacks have normal cholesterol levels and half of those with high cholesterol have heart disease.” The definitions of “good” cholesterol and “bad” cholesterol is much more complicated than usually portrayed, the doctors declare. There are good types of “bad” cholesterol and vice versa.

Like practically everything produced in the body, cholesterol is regulated by a “complex homeostatic [relatively stable] mechanism.”

Most importantly, regardless of the complicated correlation between levels of cholesterol and cardiac risk, “there is no correlation between dietary intake of cholesterol and blood levels.” In spite of this, government agencies still encourage restricting dietary cholesterol. This assumed correlation is oversimplified.

Drs. Bowden and Sinatra state that cholesterol is “vital for many bodily functions and forms the walls of our cells as well as many of our hormones. Cholesterol is produced mainly in the liver. If we eat less, the body produces more.” The authors state specifically that dietary saturated fats are not harmful, and the alternatives (such as hydrogenated vegetable fats and sugar) are worse for you.

“Unintended consequences” come from the use of statins. Some $37 billion a year is spent on statins, such as Lipitor, Crestor, and Zocor.

Dr. John McDougall, who runs a health Center in Santa Rosa, Calif., says, “In my practice over the past decade I have limited my prescriptions for cholesterol-lowering medications to people who are at high risk for future troubles. Unless there is a contraindication, I have recommended statins to patients with a history of heart surgery, heart disease, TIAs, or strokes, with a goal to take a dosage sufficient to lower their blood cholesterol levels…

“Furthermore, I have advised that otherwise healthy people, even those with high cholesterol, not take cholesterol-lowering statins.”

In their book, Drs. Bowden and Sinatra write: “Statin drugs block cholesterol production. For such an important substance how could we think that blocking production of something that does not directly cause heart disease, and something that is so important for the function of our body, would not have unintended consequences.

“The side effects are not uncommon and are important, including sexual dysfunction, memory loss, muscle dysfunction, and diabetes.”

The two authors are not alone in their opinion that cholesterol is not a direct culprit in heart disease, that dietary cholesterol does not influence heart disease or longevity, and that statins are over-prescribed and their side effects are under-reported.

 

Tait Trussell is an old guy and fourth-generation professional journalist who writes extensively about aging issues among a myriad of diverse topics.

Meet Tait