Cholesterol Issues

Very High LDL Seldom Caused By Familial Hypercholesterolemia Gene Variants

Susan Jeffrey April 03, 2016 CHICAGO, IL — Only a small fraction of those with very high LDL- cholesterol levels carry one of the known genes that cause familial hypercholesterolemia (FH), a new study shows[1]. However, for any two individuals with the same LDL level, those with these gene variants have a significantly increased risk […]

Recent Study Shows Nutraceuticals Improve Abnormal LDL-C

Posted on January 13, 2016 by Cleveland HeartLab Since statins are often discontinued due to tolerability problems, a study of dyslipidemic patients (n=100) post percutaneous coronary intervention by Marazzi and colleagues published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology sought to determine the value of a combination of nutraceuticals (policosanol, folic acid, red […]

Familial Hypercholesterolemia More Common Than Thought

Researchers find roughly 834,500 Americans have inherited condition TUESDAY, March 15, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Familial hypercholesterolemia affects about one in every 250 American men and women and significantly increases their risk for an early heart attack, according to a study published in the March 15 issue ofCirculation. Sarah de Ferranti, M.D., M.P.H., an assistant […]

High-cholesterol diet, eating eggs do not increase risk of heart attack, not even in persons genetically predisposed, study finds

Date: February 11, 2016 Source: University of Eastern Finland Summary: A new study shows that a relatively high intake of dietary cholesterol, or eating one egg every day, are not associated with an elevated risk of incident coronary heart disease. Furthermore, no association was found among those with the APOE4 phenotype, which affects cholesterol metabolism […]

Stress Raises Cholesterol More Than You Think

Many cardiologists say stress is an underrecognized factor contributing to high cholesterol By BETSY MCKAY Updated Feb. 8, 2016 8:18 p.m. ET Christopher Edginton was taking medication and trying to improve his diet when his cholesterol shot up anyway four years ago. His doctor suggested a new approach. “He said you’ve got to get rid […]

Garlic and heart disease

The Journal of Nutrition, 01/29/2016 Varshney R, et al. Researchers sought to assess the effects of garlic supplements on hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, C–reactive protein (CRP), pulse wave velocity (PWV), and coronary artery calcium (CAC), as well as available data on adverse reactions. They found that garlic supplementation may offer cardiovascular protection. Methods Researchers searched PubMed for […]

Cholesterol-lowering ‘portfolio diet’ also reduces blood pressure

Diet has already impacted guidelines in Canada and Europe Date: November 7, 2015 Source: St. Michael’s Hospital Summary: A diet developed for reducing cholesterol also lowers blood pressure, a new study has found. The portfolio diet lowered blood pressure by an average two per cent, when compared with another diet recommended to reduce hypertension. A […]

Review Links Lipid Profiles With Tendon Health

Altered tendon structure or pain linked to higher total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, triglycerides FRIDAY, Oct. 16, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Lipid profiles seem to be associated with tendon health, according to a review published online Oct. 15 in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. Benjamin J. Tilley, from Monash University in Australia, and colleagues conducted […]

Effects of Zinc supplementation on serum lipids: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Nutrition & Metabolism, 08/12/2015 Ranasinghe P, et al. Zinc supplementation has favourable effects on plasma lipid parameters. Zinc supplementation significantly reduced total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and triglycerides. Therefore it may have the potential to reduce the incidence of atherosclerosis related morbidity and mortality. PubMed Reference Journal Abstract

Intake of polyunsaturated fat in relation to mortality among statin users and non-users

Intake of polyunsaturated fat in relation to mortality among statin users and non-users in the Southern Community Cohort Study Nutrition, Metabolism & Cardiovascular Diseases, 08/06/2015 Kiage JN, et al. The results suggest potential benefits of PUFA consumption on mortality which are only apparent in the absence of statin therapy. It seems prudent to consider the […]

Fallacies in Modern Medicine: Statins and the Cholesterol-Heart Hypothesis

Is Your Doctor Harming You? This commentary was published in the peer-reviewed Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons Volume 20, Number 2, Pages 54-56, Summer 2015. Modern medicine has developed striking ways to treat coronary heart disease, which feature coronary stents implanted percutaneously and coronary artery bypass grafts performed surgically with the aid of a heart-lung […]

Sugar Risks Go Beyond Weight Gain

The idea that dietary sugars increase the risk for such things as hypertension and the development of health threatening changes in lipid profiles is not new. But a commonly held perception has been that these health risks represented a direct consequence of the fact that increased dietary sugar consumption caused weight gain, and it was […]

Vitamin B3 / Niacin Side Effects, Benefits, & Foods

Vitamin B3, also called niacin and niacinamide, is an important water-soluble vitamin that can be found in many common foods including certain types of meat and organ meat, tuna fish, seeds, mushrooms, and others. Niacin is a part of the vitamin B complex, along with other B vitamins including Vitamin B1 (thiamine), Vitamin B2 (riboflavin), and […]

Forget Cholesterol, but Cut Sugar: New Dietary Recommendations Make Some Changes

Michael O’Riordan February 24, 2015 WASHINGTON, DC — An expert panel has released its new recommendations to the US government for healthy eating in a 570-page report that provides some new advice and supports a pattern that promotes health and prevents disease[1]. Published this week, the recommendations include advice staples such as focusing on the […]

Statins stimulate atherosclerosis and heart failure: pharmacological mechanisms

Expert Rev Clin Pharmacol. 2015 Mar;8(2):189-99. doi: 10.1586/17512433.2015.1011125. Epub 2015 Feb 6. Statins stimulate atherosclerosis and heart failure: pharmacological mechanisms. Okuyama H1, Langsjoen PH, Hamazaki T, Ogushi Y, Hama R, Kobayashi T, Uchino H. Author information Abstract In contrast to the current belief that cholesterol reduction with statins decreases atherosclerosis, we present a perspective that statins may be causative in coronary artery […]

Cholesterol-Overloaded HDL Particles Are Independently Associated With Progression of Carotid Atherosclerosis

February 16, 2015 Journal of the American College of Cardiology TAKE-HOME MESSAGE The authors progressively followed patients who had baseline cholesterol molecules per HDL particle with serial carotid artery ultrasound measurements. In 5 years, the patients with the highest cholesterol per HDL ratios had almost 50% more carotid plaque develop. The findings suggest that the […]

Cholesterol To Be Cut From Nation’s Diet Blacklist?

by Crystal Phend Senior Staff Writer, MedPage Today Dietary cholesterol limits should be abandoned and vegetarian and Mediterranean diets recommended, according to an advisory committee report that will shape the nation’s dietary guidelines. The scientific advisory report released Thursday will form the foundation for the 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, to be released by the federal departments […]

Statins save fewer lives than exercising and eating sensibly, say scientists

The Telegraph By Sarah Knapton, Science Editor 12:00AM GMT 23 Jan 2015 Academics at the University of Liverpool said figures showed that more effort should be put into population-wide schemes to improve overall health. Statins save fewer lives than simple lifestyle changes like exercising and eating sensibly, scientists have found. Researchers discovered that the wonder […]

Dangers of Statin Drugs: What You Haven’t Been Told About Popular Cholesterol-Lowering Medicines

Posted on June 14, 2004 by Sally Fallon and Mary G. Enig, PhD Hypercholesterolemia is the health issue of the 21st century. It is actually an invented disease, a “problem” that emerged when health professionals learned how to measure cholesterol levels in the blood. High cholesterol exhibits no outward signs–unlike other conditions of the blood, such as […]

The Lipid Paradox: LDL Cholesterol and In-Hospital Mortality Following Acute MI

January 13, 2015 The American Journal of Cardiology TAKE-HOME MESSAGE The authors of this study examined the relationship between lipid levels and all-cause mortality in 115,492 patients hospitalized for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) between 2002 and 2006. The risk for in-hospital mortality for patients with LDL-C levels in the second to fourth quartiles was decreased […]