Picking on cholesterol as the villain in heart disease not only ignores the lack of evidence for such a connection, but also ignores its importance in the functioning of the human body. Certainly very high cholesterol is indicative of problems in body balance, but choosing lower and lower levels to vilify is, in my opinion, dangerous in the extreme.
A study in the Lancet (2001; 358:351-355) stated that their study confirms previous findings of increased mortality in elderly people with low serum cholesterol, and shows that long-term persistence of low cholesterol concentration actually increases risk of death.
I was horrified when they considered making statins over-the-counter, but could not say it better than Dr. Malcolm Kendricks:
We are sleep-walking into what could be a major medical disaster. Most people, and most doctors, are unaware – or don’t seem to care – that statins should never ever be taken by a women of child-bearing age. The risk, it would seem, is greater than that posed by thalidomide, and no-one seems to be the least bit bothered. ‘Yeh, whatever.’
Yet, when statins go OTC it is absolutely certain that women of childbearing age will take them, knowing nothing of this risk. It is equally certain that a number of these women will become pregnant, and many of these pregnancies will result in horribly deformed children....
But these defects shouldn’t exactly come as a surprise. Cholesterol is essential for the development of neural tissue, so we should expect to find that if the mother is taking a drug that inhibits cholesterol synthesis at a time when the fetus is developing – horrible developmental abnormalities will occur. Such as failure of the brain to develop in the right way, or duplication of the spinal cord.
For more complete details of the birth defects caused by statins consider reading the New England Journal of Medicine, April 8, 2004: pages 1579 – 1582. It’s a letter by Robin J Edison and Maximilian Muenke.
Now, a discovered connection between statins and Parkinson's disease (more than 3 times the risk) should alert everyone to the dangers not only of the medication, but of trying to achieve unrealistically low levels of cholesterol.
New Study To Test Statin-Parkinson's Link
The Vitamin Lady wrtes about a Natural Aproach to Cholesterol Balance - you will find a link to Dr. Kendricks book, "The Great Cholesterol Con" there.
