Cholesterol Levels Dont Always Indicate Cardiac Risk
More research that points to the fact that its the size of LDL particles and having an adequate HDL level(and not the amount of cholesterol) that determines heart attack risk in most cases.
Despite the fact that nearly 20% of cases having LDL lower than 70mg still had heart attacks, the researchers want to lower LDL guideline levels even further from the existing 100/130mg as the answer. This would mean almost everbody in the country taking high doses of the statin Crestor.
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A new national study has shown that nearly 75 percent of patients hospitalized for a heart attack had cholesterol levels that would indicate they were not at high risk for a cardiovascular event, according to current national cholesterol guidelines.
Specifically, these patients had low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels that met current guidelines, and close to half had LDL levels classified in guidelines as optimal (less than 100 mg/dL).
"Almost 75 percent of heart attack patients fell within recommended targets for LDL cholesterol, demonstrating that the current guidelines may not be low enough to cut heart attack risk in most who could benefit," said Dr. Gregg C. Fonarow, Eliot Corday Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine and Science at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and the study's principal investigator.
While the risk of cardiovascular events increases substantially with LDL levels above 40–60 mg/dL, current national cholesterol guidelines consider LDL levels less than 100–130 mg/dL acceptable for many individuals. The guidelines are thus not effectively identifying the majority of individuals who will develop fatal and non-fatal cardiovascular events, according to the study's authors.
Researchers also found that more than half of patients hospitalized for a heart attack had poor high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels, according to national guidelines.
Published in the January issue of the American Heart Journal, the study suggests that lowering guideline targets for LDL cholesterol for those at risk for cardiovascular disease, as well as developing better treatments to raise HDL cholesterol, may help reduce the number of patients hospitalized for heart attack in the future.
"The study gives us new insight and intervention ideas to help reduce the number of heart attacks," said Fonarow, who is also director of the Ahmanson–UCLA Cardiomyopathy Center.
Researchers analyzed data from 136,905 patients hospitalized for a heart attack nationwide between 2000 and 2006 whose lipid levels upon hospital admission were documented. This accounted for 59 percent of total hospital admissions for heart attack at participating hospitals during the study period.
Among individuals without any prior cardiovascular disease or diabetes, 72.1 percent had admission LDL levels less than 130 mg/dL, which is the current LDL cholesterol target for this population. Thus, the vast majority of individuals having their first heart attack would not have been targeted for effective preventative treatments based on the criteria used in the current guidelines.
The team also found that half of the patients with a history of heart disease had LDL cholesterol levels lower than 100 mg/dL, and 17.6 percent of patients had LDL levels below 70 mg/dL, which are guideline targets for LDL cholesterol in those at fair risk and at high risk for cardiovascular disease, respectively.
The study also showed that HDL cholesterol, or "good cholesterol," levels have dropped in patients hospitalized for heart attack over the past few years, possibly due to increasing rates of obesity, insulin resistance and diabetes.
Researchers found that 54.6 percent of patients had HDL levels below 40 mg/dL. Developing more effective treatments to boost HDL levels may help reduce the number of patients hospitalized for heart attacks, according to the authors.
"We found that less than 2 percent of heart attack patients had both ideal LDL and HDL cholesterol levels, so there is room for improvement," said Fonarow.
Fonarow said that only 59 percent of patients in the database had their lipid levels checked upon admission, which should be increased, since these early measurements can often help guide treatment decisions.
He also noted that only 21 percent of patients in the study were taking lipid-lowering medications before admission, despite almost half having a prior history of cardiovascular events, which would prompt treatment.
If elevated cholesterol and saturated fat is not so bad for you then butter, which has been condemned by conventional medicine within their cause of heart disease paradigm, has for a long time been a big no no... so if these things prove not to be bad for you I say bring on the butter ....( which I have never left behind in the first place.) Since my cholesterol is very low I guess I might eat a few extra slabs a day! with no regret and pure delight!
From The Cleveland Clinic
"First let's look at butter. The problem with butter is that it contains two cholesterol-raising ingredients: dietary cholesterol and saturated fat. Dietary cholesterol is found only in animal products so you won't find any cholesterol in a plant-based food or food product (such as margarine). Some of us are more affected by cholesterol in the diet than others, meaning some people can consume a diet high in cholesterol without blood cholesterol levels being affected; but others need only eat a little dietary cholesterol and their cholesterol levels soar. Overall, it is recommended that healthy persons consume no more than 200 milligrams cholesterol each day. Butter has 33 milligrams of cholesterol in one tablespoon alone!" Butter vs. Margarine
Stephan at Whole Health Source has done a series of blogs on Omega 6 and their role in heart disease. It really is a most informative series of blogs and I do urge you to read all of them.
Another good source of information about the dangers of omega 6 is EVELYN TRIBOLE, MS, RD I think the whole cholesterol low fat statin business is the biggest health fraud there has ever been. I really don't understand how health professionals have allowed themselves and the public to be hoodwinked as they have been. The information on how to reduce heart attacks was produced by Bill Lands 30 yrs ago and there is now plenty more information showing what he was saying then is true today.
Butter is wonderful. I use more coconut oil and olive oil than butter though.
Here is a very interesting article on butter at the Weston Price Foundation.
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Butter contains lecithin, a substance that assists in the proper assimilation and metabolism of cholesterol and other fat constituents.
Butter also contains a number of anti-oxidants that protect against the kind of free radical damage that weakens the arteries. Vitamin A and vitamin E found in butter both play a strong anti-oxidant role. Butter is a very rich source of selenium, a vital anti-oxidant--containing more per gram than herring or wheat germ.
Butter is also a good dietary source cholesterol. What?? Cholesterol an anti-oxidant?? Yes indeed, cholesterol is a potent anti-oxidant that is flooded into the blood when we take in too many harmful free-radicals--usually from damaged and rancid fats in margarine and highly processed vegetable oils.3 A Medical Research Council survey showed that men eating butter ran half the risk of developing heart disease as those using margarine.4
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- Jim "The most powerful force ever known on this planet is human cooperation — a force for construction and destruction.” (Jonathan Haidt)
Butter, Margarine and Heart Disease
From which I quote In my opinion, it's likely that both the decrease in butter consumption and the increase in trans fat consumption contributed to the massive incidence of CHD seen in the U.S. and other industrial nations today. I think it's worth noting that France has the highest per-capita dairy fat consumption of any industrial nation, along with a comparatively low intake of hydrogenated fat, and also has the second-lowest rate of CHD, behind Japan.
But do read the whole blog and then you may understand why butter is better.
Cholesterol Levels Dont Always Indicate Cardiac Risk
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