LDL cholesterol is demonized, but we’ve told you the other side of the story. Now a new discovery adds to the growing list of health benefits.
There may be a link between low levels of “bad” low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol—that is, not enough of it—and increased cancer risk, according to new research. Scientists at Tufts University looked at 201 cancer patients and 402 cancer-free patients. They found that cancer patients who never took cholesterol-lowering drugs on average had lower LDL cholesterol levels for an average of about 19 years prior to their cancer diagnosis. In other words, they were “healthier” according to the LDL demonizers in today’s medicine.
Previous studies, which looked at patients who did take cholesterol-lowering drugs, also suggested a strong link between low LDL cholesterol levels and higher cancer risk.
This finding underscores what we have said before. The “HDL cholesterol is good and LDL is bad” message being perpetrated by mainstream medicine is at the very least an oversimplification. LDL is needed by the body to build new muscle, which is important as we age. LDL can protect the brain as we age, and low levels of it can escalate problems such as dementia and memory loss. As Dr. Joseph A. Mercola points out, cholesterol is neither “good” nor “bad,” and attempts to artificially lower your cholesterol can be quite dangerous, in part because of serious side effects such as muscle damage.
So why does mainstream medicine demonize LDL cholesterol? Could it be because it benefits the billion-dollar cholesterol drug industry? Statin drugs are taken by one in four Americans over age of 45, and if patients stopped buying cholesterol drugs, Big Pharma would be in a serious financial crisis. In fact, as soon as the study’s cancer findings were published, a heart “expert” immediately warned that “statins used for LDL reduction shouldn’t be stopped if there is an appropriate use to lower heart disease risk.”
So mainstream medicine’s advice is to hang onto these “miracle drugs” even though they have been linked to nerve damage, muscle damage, liver enzyme derangement, tendon problems, anemia, acidosis, cataracts, sexual dysfunction, an increase in type 2 diabetes, and now cancer.
In the long run, statins are going to be a bonanza, but for the trial lawyers, not the drug companies. But by then it will be too late for those taking them now.
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Could you be specific? How high must my LDL be for me to be safe? Mine has not been that high probably because I lift weights and eat a vegetarian diet supplemented with protein shakes and BCAA’s. I would not consider going to McDonald’s, soft drink vendors, and other merchants of blimptitude to bring it up.
So now we isolate information about cholesterol, particularly LDL and correlate low levels with higher levels of cancer. While I agree that taking statins poses a host of problems while trying to treat a symptom instead of the causes of heart disease, this is not the first time that what we thought was good turns out to be not so good and what we thought was bad (coffee) turns out to have some real benefits.
I have always been suspicious of the medical fraternity for increasingly lowering the standard for the so called safe level of total cholesterol and particularly LDL. Nevertheless, I think that the old arguments for not taking statins because they do not properly treat the causes of heart attacks (poor diet, stress, lack of exercise and inflammation) remain valid in of themselves. Regrettably drugs have become the standard for treating everything that bothers us with the FDA and the AMA repudiating many successful non-drug treatments for heart disease and other illnesses. We are on our own.
I have know about the dangers of statin mess. They are under reported by the medical community. My former fiancee still has muscle scaring due to adverse effect of statin use. The pain was tremendous and debilitating.
You may be confusing the message. Isn’t it more likely that statins and similar drugs are the cause of the outcome you mention rather than lower levels of LDL?
JFD
Surely these two sentences in the article answer the question:
“They found that cancer patients who never took cholesterol-lowering drugs on average had lower LDL cholesterol levels for an average of about 19 years prior to their cancer diagnosis. In other words, they were “healthier” according to the LDL demonizers in today’s medicine.”
I think they mean lower than the normal range, ie the normal ratio between HDL and LDL is 3 to 2 with normal range of cholestrol being 5mmol/L, were LOW levels of LDL would be under that 2 in the ratio.
I don’t believe the article is saying HIGH levels of LDL are protective just that low levels of LDL over the long term, seem to be an indicator or precurser to Cancer.
It makes sense that HIGH levels of LDL are predictive of hardening of the arteries or rather inflammation within the arteries.
I suspect it has been known for at least ten years that looking at the all causes risk of death, the best results are with levels between 160 and 200 for total cholesterol. I believe it is also known that the only persons likely to benefit from statins are those who either already have coronary heart disease and men under sixty with total cholesterol over 240 and at least one more risk factor. For women and men over 60 there is no benefit from statin drugs unless the person already has coronary heart disease.
Actually, the levels I’ve recommended for years are 180-240 for total cholesterol. More importantly, however, is that HDL be at least 25% of total cholesterol and triglycerides no more than double the HDL. So long as the HDL and triglycerides are within the ranges just mentioned, the LDL is irrelevant as it will be predominantly Pattern A, which is a larger molecule without any connection to plaque formation. And according to the new book THE CHOLESTEROL DELUSION, just a few decades ago “normal” total cholesterol was over 300! These new, lowered levels have been created by the drug companies to get most every man, woman and child on statins.
I have a true story. Back in 1990, my cholesterol was over 300, with a 1,063 Triglyceride number. I took the blood test 2X’s…the doctor was astonished!! He started me on a statin drug. I took that med for 14 yrs, and my numbers only slightly came down. OK, then in 1995 I was placed on another statin drug…(new doctor)….numbers still elevated. I stopped taking the statin drug, started eating organic (or almost all organic/natural), cut out soda pop and processed foods, and began drinking RAW milk…..guess what? My numbers are normal, for the first time in over 21 yrs. My doctor was aware that I stopped the statin drug (much to his dismay) and he kept hammerin’ on me
“Your numbers are gonna be off the chart…you’re hurting yourself…..you’ll have a heart attack!”
When my tests results came back totally normal (6 months into it), the doc called my home. He stated “I don’t know how you did it, but however it was done, KEEP IT UP!!”
My sister has been on a stain drug for 15 yrs…she now has Type ll diabetes. Go figure.
I meant “I took the first statin drug for 4 yrs…without any significant lowering. The new statin drug was started in 1994…took it until 2004.” People aren’t being told the truth about statin drugs…how they affect your brain, muscles, your total body. GOD gave us bodies that will heal themselves, if given the correct foods…..folks
need to leave alone soda pop, processed foods, JUNK……eat fresh, raw veggies, drink raw cows milk, and try to eat organic/grass fed meats and try to know where the meat comes from. No added hormones or antibiotics. Remember too: Cattle and chickens are fed grains…grains from GMO’s….then you eat it. Try to get grass fed beef….if organic is too expensive. Tastes wonderful….smells even better when cooking!!!!
Yes ! have just read some astonishing facts about feed lot beef, how it is so much higher in omega 6 and so much lower in omega 3. So it much more than a question of hormone and antibiotic supplements in the feed, but the very nature of the food. Also I have been wanting to get raw milk for a long time. I live in Mexico. Maybe I can go into the hills and get some fresh, raw goat’s milk! Talk about Mexico, the beef here is tough as nails. But maybe it is really a lot healthier!
Don’t forget your heart is a muscle (muscle damage) so not sure how someone would continue with the drugs.
So mainstream medicine’s advice is to hang onto these “miracle drugs” even though they have been linked to nerve damage, muscle damage, liver enzyme derangement, tendon problems, anemia, acidosis, cataracts, sexual dysfunction, an increase in type 2 diabetes, and now cancer.
Ah…one more nail in the coffins of the medical establishment and the military-industrial-pharmaceutical complex. Lies…lies…lies; so die vampires, die…die!
I started to get hounded by my doctors some 15 yrs ago about high LDL cholesterol and triglicerides, and against my real instincts went on statins. Over a period of a few years it would seem that initially the levels were lowered and then they would gradually rose. So the had me change the brand. Same thing, two or three times over. Went off statins for a numbr of years and then again scared by doctor (LDL 300, HDL 25) triglicerides 350 (all more or less). But after taking again I said to myself screw it. I decifded to rather just take fish oil and mild thistle to help raise the HDL. I believe the problems with heart and plaque were basically understood 20 years ago, that it was inflammation — inflammation detectable with the C-reactive protein test — that really accounts for the heart problems. The cholesterol is just coming to the rescue! What is going on with this research now?
The whole high cholesterol thing is a complete scam invented by the drug companies. High cholesterol does not cause any disease what so ever, Current science shows that reducing cholesterol with drugs does nothing to prevent death. Actually, high cholesterol is caused by poor nutrition. I am 73, and have figured out how to be healthy. My doctor says that I am perfectly healthy, and in fact healthier then most of the people that he sees that 30 or 40 years younger. I eat a high-protein, high-fat diet, low in carbs, and I stay away from poisons like whole wheat. I use some supplements, but I take no drugs of any sort, and I am not overweight, and my cholesterol level never goes over 170. Maybe in another 50 years, the idiot doctors will figure this out.
So glad to hear! Many of the older generation grew up with the conventional wisdom that the doctors knew best. Many of them believed that the health sciences which promoted margarine over butter, and canola oil over lard. These people then taught their children and in turn their grand children not to trust the natural nourishing foods which have been apart of human civilization for thousands of years, but rather to trust the newest scienctific discouvery. I am so happy to hear that not all of my grandparents generation bought in to all the doctors hype about this drug and that treatement. Lower your cholesterol with drugs? But why, when cholesterol is one of the only antioxidants our body can create? So many people simply trust without any type of logical reasoning.
I am 68 and in excellent health and not overweight. Like many above, I avoid sugar, starch, and eat very few grains. I control my carb intake with diet and stay away from margarine, and so-called “healthy” seed oils, especially that poison known as canola. I eat plenty of natural fats. I am not hungry and have maintained this health and and weight for years. My GP tries to insist that I take statins because I am slightly over the HDL/LDL limits set by Big Pharma. I refuse absolutely to take statins. I was taking fish oil to keep the cholesterol levels down (actually just to satisfy my GP) but after reading this study, that is now over. My triglycerides are OK.
Hello Peter !! I am greatful for your testamonial as I now have total confidence in saying no to drugs at my next check-up. I am 79 but am actually much younger because of my great fortune in learning about REDOX SIGNALING MOLECULES. You were born with plenty of it, but it goes down as we age. I thought I was healthy and didn’t need it, but decided to try it. It is so amazing !!! IT simply enables every cell in your body to reproduce itself 100%, so that whatever part of your body the cells are in, has to improve. I feel a moral obligation to share this info. with everyone I possibly can. Your cells can better use the good nutrition you give it. For all the info. even to all the research, please go to http://www.amazingmolecules.com and click only on Amazing Molecules. If on the right site you will see 3 vertical circles to click on and more at the bottom. Please call or e-mail with questions. (301)-460-0547 Thank you, Walda
Look folks, don`t TAKE STATINS!!!!!!!!! it`s that simple! The PHARMA CARTELS will do anything to keep the dollars flowing!!!!!
AMEN!
The truth that no Doc and nobody from big pharma wants us to see is that by simply removing processed sugar and starch from our diet and re-embracing our natural fat sources for energy our body will normalize our cholesterol all by itself.
Sadly we live in a quick fix mentality society still seeking health in a pill.
Please don’t say “no DOC,” since there are many, especially alternative docs, such as chiropractors, naturopaths and the like, who have been preaching this for YEARS!!! My husband is one of them. But, because many think of him as “alternative” they don’t think he knows what he is talking about. Well they sure are finding out now that he was right!!!
The best way to reduce triglycerides is to cut way down on carbs and eat plenty of good natural fats, including animal fats. Normal, healthy cholesterol levels vary widely among individuals, as do LDL levels. The important figures to watch are triglycerides and HDL, as explained by a previous post. Statins have no benefit that can’t be had in a healthier and more effective fashion with a proper diet and appropriate supplements. Unfortunately what constitutes a “proper diet” remains a contentious issue.
a major study in japan has found a that low blood levels LDL cholesterol leads to increased mortality from heart disease
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2010/sep/28/japan-study-high-ldl-has-lower-death-rate-than/
This being a mortality study means there is little or no selection-bias.this is clear evidence that the medical profession are doing the wrong thing in seeking to lower patients’ LDLC levels.
I read that, for people over 65, the cholesterol level doesn’t impact health one way or another. Then, a few years later, a study came out that found that old people with high cholesterol lived longer than those with low cholesterol. Unfortunately, they didn’t give numbers as to what was high and what was low. Nevertheless, since elderly people are rarely included in the research, it would be wise to take what the doctors say with a grain of salt.
Surely an arithmetic article. You add trouble, take away pleasure, part attention, together with multiply ignorance
My LDL Cholesterol is so high that the Dr says that 3500 is as high as they measure and mine is worse than that. Also after all the specialists I’ve been too I’ve learned that the over or under 200 # is all Hogwash. The Specialist told me the Main # Real Drs look at is called the LP/a. Supposed to be 30 or under, mines 59. Not sure what to do as I hate statins but I’m back on em. Any replys are appreciated. I do like reading that bad ldl maybe just maybe isn’t as bas as it’s supposed to be Thx Tom Johnstone
Nope. I have high cholesterol and low inflammation. I am thin and a regular exerciser. HDL 64, trig 67 and LDL 200! Totaly colesterol 290.
My C reactive protein is very low.
My brother now has liver damage from Lipitor. The statins caused muscle problems for me, and also cramps. Statins also made my blood sugar go up from 85 fasting to over 100. After two years the fasting glucose is starting to go down into the 90’s again.
Dr. wants me on statins and thinks it reasonable to take diabetes medicine for the statin induced diabetes, when I get that. I’ll take my chances with my 200 ldl.
The natural way to lower your cholesterol levels.