Cholesterol & Heart Attacks: Is Cholesterol The Problem Or Not?

I remember the conversation as if it were yesterday. My friend Wendy called, sobbing uncontrollably. I could hardly understand what she was trying to tell me. Finally, she got the words out. Her father - a seemingly healthy, fit, active man - died from a heart attack. He didn't smoke. He exercised and watched what he ate. He even had low cholesterol. But still - a heart attack took his life.

I knew Wendy's dad for as long as I could remember, so his death struck particularly close to home. But it wasn't the first - or unfortunately, the last time I heard a similar story. Every day, heart attacks and strokes kill or disable people who never saw it coming. They thought they were safe - because their cholesterol levels were within 'normal' range.

At HSI, we've been writing about this for years. High cholesterol is not a disease in and of itself. Cholesterol does not CAUSE heart disease, it is merely a marker - and one marker out of many. Having 'normal' or even low cholesterol levels does not eliminate your risk of heart attack or stroke. Unfortunately, many people who rely on the mainstream (or their doctors) for health information haven't gotten the message.

When you've only got a hammer, every problem looks like a nail
Maybe the mainstream hasn't focused on the other known markers of heart disease because the pharmaceutical companies haven't come up with a pill to treat them. The focus has been on lowering cholesterol because that's what they're selling - and they're selling plenty. (Statin drugs, the class of cholesterol-lowering drugs that includes Mevacor and Zocor, are some of the top sellers).

A report presented at the American Heart Association's annual Scientific Sessions meeting proclaimed that even MORE people should be taking cholesterol-lowering drugs. 'Cholesterol drug could help millions,' proclaimed MSNBC; that's pretty representative of the fawning coverage I saw from most media outlets.

But, as usual, the headlines don't tell the whole story. To me, the report created more questions than answers. Other presentations at the same AHA meeting seemed to supply contradictory information. But the bottom line is that the mainstream's own research is PROVING what we've been saying all along - cholesterol is NOT the main cause of heart disease.

The new approach: treating a problem that doesn't exist
Doctors and researchers from all over the world presented their findings on the latest research on cardiovascular disease - what causes it, how to treat it, and who is at risk. The presentation that got the most attention was based on data extrapolated from the Oxford Cholesterol Study, which continuously enrolled participants between 1991 and 2001.

Over the course of the study, a total of 20,536 people enrolled, and each was followed for an average of five years. All the participants were between the ages of 40 and 80, and were considered at high-risk for heart attack or stroke. (People with diabetes, a previous heart attack or stroke, and those with artherosclerosis were considered 'high-risk.') They were randomly assigned to receive either Merck's statin drug, Zocor, or a placebo. The study recorded any incidence of heart attack, stroke, death from any cause, and vascular procedures like angioplasty and bypass surgery.

'The remarkable thing we found is that cholesterol-lowering therapy benefits all groups of high-risk individuals, irrespective of their cholesterol levels,' said Dr. Rory Collins, the lead researcher from University of Oxford in England. 'So it didn't matter if a patient's cholesterol level was considered low - we saw the same reduction in risk as people who had the highest levels.' Dr. Collins went even farther in an interview with MSNBC. 'There is no threshold [of blood cholesterol] below which one shouldn't treat these patients,' he said. 'This really blew us away. It changes everything.'

It certainly changes something, though it's not clear what that 'something' is. (Some might say it dramatically changes Merck's bottom line, as the new findings could potentially expand their target market by some 160 million people.)

The media coverage seemed to ignore the irony, focusing only on the fact that the drugs might be recommended more widely. The public was left with the impression that just about everyone should be taking Zocor. But no one seemed to question the obvious truth that seems to be lying just under the surface.

Think about it: if cholesterol were the main cause of heart disease, as the mainstream touts, why would a person who starts out with low cholesterol be at 'high-risk'? And if they reduce their overall risk by taking statins, what problem is the statin actually addressing? Because it obviously isn't the cholesterol.

It may seem like a leap but couldn't you almost say that Merck's study on Zocor PROVES that cholesterol isn't the main cause of heart disease?

The mainstream can't see the forest through the trees
I'll agree that this study brings us important new data. But I'd say the conclusion is all wrong. Maybe statin drugs can help millions more people. But the really exciting finding here is that it's not because of cholesterol. This study should be a wake-up call to conventional medicine, forcing it to recognise that there are many other factors involved. It should trigger a flood of new studies, intent on naming the other markers that influence heart disease risk, and how statins work - or don't work - against them.

At HSI, we've written about the many other theories and causes of heart disease, as well as various other markers that can signal an increased risk of heart attack or stroke. Some of the topics included high homocysteine levels, depleted Coenzyme Q10 stores, elevated levels of platelet-activating-factor and thromboxane AZ, and high levels of free radicals in the bloodstream that attack artery walls. Each of these markers can be a red flag for heart disease risk - and when all are taken into consideration, in conjunction with total cholesterol and HDL/LDL ration, they can provide much clearer warning signs before it's too late.