Cholesterol: Stuffing Bank Accounts vs. Arteries

Cholesterol-lowering medications such as Lipitor, Zocor and Crestor are the #1 prescribed class of prescription medication in the United States. Over 215 million prescriptions add $26 billion to drug company coffers annually. A recent report from the National Center for Health Statistics shows that 25% of Americans aged 45 and older takes statins. (1)

Heart Disease is the biggest silencer of Americans that is now estimated to be killing one out of every two people. Heart disease kills one American every thirty-four seconds, more than 2,500 people per day. (2) In the medical community it is believed that LDL cholesterol and saturated fats to be the cause of this national tragedy. According to the Centers for Disease Control, 71 million or 33.5% of Americans have “bad” cholesterol levels. (3)

A staggering amount of money has been spent on research to conclusively prove the link between saturated fat, high cholesterol and the need for statin medication intervention. It can be classified one of the greatest scams in healthcare today.

Low Cholesterol Causes Strokes

The Framingham Study studied heart disease indicators of nearly 15,000 participants over three generations. Framingham researchers found no correlation for high cholesterol and heart disease in those participants who were over 50 years of age. (4) In the study Cholesterol and Mortality: 30 Years of Follow-up from The Framingham Study found that high cholesterol levels not to be related to the incidence of strokes. (5)

Participants in the study who were over the age 50 shockingly showed lower cholesterol rates were associated with a higher risk of death from heart disease. In fact, for every one mg/dl drop in cholesterol levels, there was a 14% increase in heart related death. (4)

A very large study spanning two decades in Japan concluded that low levels of blood cholesterol increased the incidence of stroke. (6) Supporting their findings was the MRFIT study in the United States of 350,000 men that showed death from cerebral hemorrhage to be six times greater if they had low cholesterol versus high. (7)

Low Cholesterol Causes Heart Attacks

Research from the University of Hull in England has linked low cholesterol with higher death rates. A study of 10,701 patients with suspected heart failure found that those with low cholesterol were 1.7 times more likely to die within 12 weeks of being hospitalized. The study was based on the Euro Heart Failure survey, which involved 115 hospitals in 24 European countries. (8)

Researchers from Germany also found that the strongest predictor for death in patients with heart failure was the inflammatory process in the body. Higher mortality rates were found in patients who had the lowest cholesterol, LDL and triglyceride blood levels. (9)

C4 Explosives in Your Arteries

C-reactive protein (CRP) is a substance found in blood that is the most reliable marker for inflammation in the body. Elevated levels of CRP have been identified as the primary indicator for the development of cardiovascular disease, not LDL cholesterol.

An eight-year study involving 27,939 women conducted by the Center for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston found that more than half of the women who eventually developed heart disease had high CRP levels and their cholesterol values played a little role. (10)

A Cleveland Clinic study found ultrasound evidence that clogged coronary arteries had not gotten worse among 502 patients who were most successful at lowering their CRP levels. In a Harvard Women's Health Study, results of the CRP test were more accurate than cholesterol levels in predicting heart problems. (11)

Call the Bomb Squad

Omega-3 fatty acids have powerful anti-inflammatory properties that can help disarm the bomb before it’s too late. Omega-3 is found in flaxseeds, walnuts, cashew, olive oil, salmon, tuna, sardine, herring and other oily fish or cod liver oil.

Antioxidants help destroy free radicals that promote inflammation within your blood vessels. Brightly colored vegetables have the highest antioxidant content. Examples of foods include avocado, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, broccoli, green leafy vegetables, and peppers.

A recent study at Johns Hopkins showed that when fitness levels diminish, CRP levels go up. (12) This will explain how sedentary lifestyles promote the inflammatory response thus producing heart disease and other chronic diseases.

Chiropractic adjustments have been found to reduce C-reactive protein and normalize the inflammatory response. (13) The adjustment looks to restore the natural healing ability of the body by eliminating interference that causes the inflammatory response to be present.

The goal is not to rely on the lies and deception by the pharmaceutical companies. You can effectively manage your health and reduce your risk of developing heart disease through lifestyle factors by making healthier choices. You will never be the same when you take self-responsibility, learn the truth and take a stand for you and your family’s health.

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(1) http://www.medpagetoday.com/PublicHealthPolicy/PublicHealth/24913rn(2) http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,142436,00.htmlrn(3) http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2011/02/01/cdc-13-of-u-s-adults-have-high-blood-pressure-high-cholesterol/ (4) http://www.framinghamheartstudy.org/ (5) http://jama.ama-assn.org/content/257/16/2176.abstractrn(6) Takashi Shimamoto et al 1989; Circulation: 3rn(7) http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/459746_2rn(8) http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=e8528d20-c97b-4a45-91d4-89eed2e11c2f&k=57682rn(9) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1768165/ (10) http://www.hearthealthyonline.com/heart-disease-overview/tests-treatments/crp-blood-test_1.htmlrn(11) http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/guide/heart-disease-c-reactive-protein-crp-testingrn(12) http://www.hopkinsguides.com/hopkins/ub/citation/17495273/Diet_exercise_and_C_reactive_protein_levels_in_people_with_abdominal_obesity:_the_ATTICA_epidemiological_study_rn(13) http://www.jou
alchiromed.com/article/S1556-3707%2810%2900065-9/abstract