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Heart Disease
Cholesterol: How Low Can You Go Before It’s Too Late...
Date: 08/12/09
They found that people with low levels of HDL (good) cholesterol were 53 per cent more likely to suffer from memory loss compared with those with the highest levels of HDL.
There’s plenty of confusion on the issue of cholesterol. However, due to misinformation in the media and drug pushing by multinational corporations, the majority of people worry about their cholesterol being too high and most of them are clueless about the dangers of low cholesterol. Statin drugs can push your cholesterol levels too low, in addition to causing harmful side effects like liver and muscle damage.
What you need to know first and foremost is that cholesterol is good for you. It’s present in every single cell in your body where it helps to produce cell membranes, hormones, vitamin D and bile acids to help you digest fat.
Cholesterol also helps in the formation of your memories and is vital for neurological function.
In fact, when your cholesterol levels go too low, a host of negative things happen in your body.
Low cholesterol and dementia risk
Researchers, from the University College London and the INSERM institute in France, studied 3,673 civil servants, using data from the Whitehall II trial, to see what influence low cholesterol might have on memory-function within a five- year period.
The researchers took blood samples at the start of the study, and gauged word recall with a simple test. That was repeated again at the end of the study.
They found that people with low levels of HDL (good) cholesterol were 53 per cent more likely to suffer from memory loss compared with those with the highest levels of HDL.
Dr Archarna Singh-Manoux, who led the study, said: "Memory problems are key in the diagnosis of dementia. This suggests that low HDL cholesterol might also be a risk factor for dementia."
Dr Susanne Sorenson, from the Alzheimer's Society, said HDL cholesterol was believed to transport harmful cholesterol from the arteries back to the liver to be broken down and eliminated by your body.
She added: "This study shows that if there is not enough HDL to transport cholesterol and other lipids around the body, it can not only increase your risk of heart disease but also affect your memory and may increase your risk of getting Alzheimer's disease.
"We know that controlling cholesterol in midlife is important if you are to reduce your risk of developing vascular dementia later and this may also be important for the development of Alzheimer's disease."
More risks of low cholesterol
Memory loss and dementia are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to low cholesterol’s impact on your brain. Having too little of this beneficial compound also:
* Increases your risk of depression: A study conducted by Dutch researchers measured serum cholesterol levels in 30,000 men, as part of a large screening programme. They compared the presence of depressive symptoms, anger, hostility, and impulsivity in men with low cholesterol levels, to men with cholesterol levels in the normal range. They found that men with chronically low cholesterol levels showed a consistently higher risk of having depressive symptoms. Cholesterol may affect the metabolism of serotonin, a substance known to be involved in the regulation of mood as the researchers have previously shown that serotonin levels are also reduced in men with low levels of cholesterol.
* May increase the risk of suicidal thoughts: Canadian researchers examined the relation between low serum total cholesterol and deaths from suicide. Adjusting for age and sex, they found that those in the lowest quarter of total cholesterol concentration had more than six times the risk of committing suicide as did those in the highest quarter. This effect persisted after the exclusion from the analysis of the first 5 years of follow-up and after the removal of those who were unemployed or who had been treated for depression. This data indicates that low serum total cholesterol level is associated with an increased risk of suicide.
* May lead to violent behaviour and aggression: Many studies seem to support the existence of a cholesterol- violence relationship. One 1992 analysis, published in the journal Circulation, looked at 18 different study groups and found 50 per cent more violent deaths in men with cholesterol levels less than 160mgs per decilitre (mg/dL) than in the group with the highest cholesterol levels. A 1996 French study of nearly 6,400 men, published in the British Medical Journal, also found that a low average cholesterol was linked to subsequent death by suicide. Three separate neurological studies (in 1989, 1990, and 1994) agreed that in humans, low brain serotonin is linked to an increased risk of impulsive violence, including homicide, arson and suicide.
* Increases your risk of cancer and Parkinson’s disease: Studies have found an increased risk of Parkinson’s disease and cancer among people with extra-low cholesterol.
* Upsets hormone levels: Another disadvantage of low cholesterol is that cholesterol is one of the major building blocks for all your steroid hormones. The body converts cholesterol to pregnenolone which is considered to be the "mother" hormone. Pregnenolone is then converted to other hormones such as progesterone, DHEA, testosterone, oestrogen, cortisol, and dozens of other critical hormones. If your cholesterol is too low, these hormones will also be low or virtually non- existent.
Cholesterol is not the enemy
We need to have optimum levels of good cholesterol (HDL) for our biochemistry. According to some health experts like Dr. Mercola, the optimum level of HDL is about 200.
One also needs to examine the relationship between HDL and LDL to determine cardiac risk status. Ideally, you should have more than 30 per cent good cholesterol (HDL/total cholesterol). If the percentage is less than 20 per cent, the risk is clearly elevated and if it less than 10 per cent, a heart attack is absolutely inevitable without serious intervention. Percentages between 30-40 per cent are excellent and over 40 per cent virtually assures immunity from heart attacks.
If you have concerns about any medication prescribed to you for lowering your cholesterol or you are not sure what your HDL and LDL levels are, discuss this with your doctor. You may even discover that there is no need to tamper with your cholesterol levels.
On the other hand, if you do need to address an imbalance between your HDL and LDL levels, then there are natural ways to do this. If you prefer to take a natural approach to lowering cholesterol and your doctor doesn’t support you, you may be better off finding a doctor or health care provider that supports your point of view.
Next month’s issue of Health Sciences Institute contains full details of a remarkable new natural product - developed by a leading cardiologist - that can increase your levels of good cholesterol.
Heart Disease Related Reading:
Crestor : The Super Strong Statin Drug
Statins Proven Dangerous In 900 Studies
Statins Now Claim To Protect Against All Causes Of Death...
HOT TOPICS:
Lower Your Cholesterol And Protect Your Heart Without Statin Drugs
Echinacea And Astragalus : Powerful Immune Boosters
Food and Prescription Medicine: A Potentially Dangerous Cocktail
Sources:
“Good cholesterol dementia risk” published online 30.07.08, bbc.co.uk
‘Low HDL cholesterol is a risk factor for deficit and decline in memory in midlife: the Whitehall II study’ by Drs. Singh- Manoux A, Gimeno D, Kivimaki M, Brunner E, Marmot MG, published Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2008 Aug;28(8):1556- 62. Epub 2008 Jun 30
‘Depression and Anxiety As Predictors of Outcome After Myocardial Infarction’ by Drs. Richard Anthony Mayou, David Gill, David Robert Thompson, Ann Day, Nicholas Hicks, James Volmink, Phil and Andrew Neil, published Psychosomatic Medicine 62:212-219 (2000)
Epidemiology 2001 Mar;12:168-72
‘Prescribed Use of Cholesterol-Lowering Drugs in the United States, 1978 Through 1988’ by Hebert et al, The Journal of the American Medical Association (1997;278:313-321)
‘Effect of the Magnitude of Lipid Lowering on Risk of Elevated Liver Enzymes, Rhabdomyolysis, and Cancer’ - Journal of the American College of Cardiology July 31, 2007; 50:409- 418
Back to topWhat you need to know first and foremost is that cholesterol is good for you. It’s present in every single cell in your body where it helps to produce cell membranes, hormones, vitamin D and bile acids to help you digest fat.
Cholesterol also helps in the formation of your memories and is vital for neurological function.
In fact, when your cholesterol levels go too low, a host of negative things happen in your body.
Low cholesterol and dementia risk
Researchers, from the University College London and the INSERM institute in France, studied 3,673 civil servants, using data from the Whitehall II trial, to see what influence low cholesterol might have on memory-function within a five- year period.
The researchers took blood samples at the start of the study, and gauged word recall with a simple test. That was repeated again at the end of the study.
They found that people with low levels of HDL (good) cholesterol were 53 per cent more likely to suffer from memory loss compared with those with the highest levels of HDL.
Dr Archarna Singh-Manoux, who led the study, said: "Memory problems are key in the diagnosis of dementia. This suggests that low HDL cholesterol might also be a risk factor for dementia."
Dr Susanne Sorenson, from the Alzheimer's Society, said HDL cholesterol was believed to transport harmful cholesterol from the arteries back to the liver to be broken down and eliminated by your body.
She added: "This study shows that if there is not enough HDL to transport cholesterol and other lipids around the body, it can not only increase your risk of heart disease but also affect your memory and may increase your risk of getting Alzheimer's disease.
"We know that controlling cholesterol in midlife is important if you are to reduce your risk of developing vascular dementia later and this may also be important for the development of Alzheimer's disease."
More risks of low cholesterol
Memory loss and dementia are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to low cholesterol’s impact on your brain. Having too little of this beneficial compound also:
* Increases your risk of depression: A study conducted by Dutch researchers measured serum cholesterol levels in 30,000 men, as part of a large screening programme. They compared the presence of depressive symptoms, anger, hostility, and impulsivity in men with low cholesterol levels, to men with cholesterol levels in the normal range. They found that men with chronically low cholesterol levels showed a consistently higher risk of having depressive symptoms. Cholesterol may affect the metabolism of serotonin, a substance known to be involved in the regulation of mood as the researchers have previously shown that serotonin levels are also reduced in men with low levels of cholesterol.
* May increase the risk of suicidal thoughts: Canadian researchers examined the relation between low serum total cholesterol and deaths from suicide. Adjusting for age and sex, they found that those in the lowest quarter of total cholesterol concentration had more than six times the risk of committing suicide as did those in the highest quarter. This effect persisted after the exclusion from the analysis of the first 5 years of follow-up and after the removal of those who were unemployed or who had been treated for depression. This data indicates that low serum total cholesterol level is associated with an increased risk of suicide.
* May lead to violent behaviour and aggression: Many studies seem to support the existence of a cholesterol- violence relationship. One 1992 analysis, published in the journal Circulation, looked at 18 different study groups and found 50 per cent more violent deaths in men with cholesterol levels less than 160mgs per decilitre (mg/dL) than in the group with the highest cholesterol levels. A 1996 French study of nearly 6,400 men, published in the British Medical Journal, also found that a low average cholesterol was linked to subsequent death by suicide. Three separate neurological studies (in 1989, 1990, and 1994) agreed that in humans, low brain serotonin is linked to an increased risk of impulsive violence, including homicide, arson and suicide.
* Increases your risk of cancer and Parkinson’s disease: Studies have found an increased risk of Parkinson’s disease and cancer among people with extra-low cholesterol.
* Upsets hormone levels: Another disadvantage of low cholesterol is that cholesterol is one of the major building blocks for all your steroid hormones. The body converts cholesterol to pregnenolone which is considered to be the "mother" hormone. Pregnenolone is then converted to other hormones such as progesterone, DHEA, testosterone, oestrogen, cortisol, and dozens of other critical hormones. If your cholesterol is too low, these hormones will also be low or virtually non- existent.
Cholesterol is not the enemy
We need to have optimum levels of good cholesterol (HDL) for our biochemistry. According to some health experts like Dr. Mercola, the optimum level of HDL is about 200.
One also needs to examine the relationship between HDL and LDL to determine cardiac risk status. Ideally, you should have more than 30 per cent good cholesterol (HDL/total cholesterol). If the percentage is less than 20 per cent, the risk is clearly elevated and if it less than 10 per cent, a heart attack is absolutely inevitable without serious intervention. Percentages between 30-40 per cent are excellent and over 40 per cent virtually assures immunity from heart attacks.
If you have concerns about any medication prescribed to you for lowering your cholesterol or you are not sure what your HDL and LDL levels are, discuss this with your doctor. You may even discover that there is no need to tamper with your cholesterol levels.
On the other hand, if you do need to address an imbalance between your HDL and LDL levels, then there are natural ways to do this. If you prefer to take a natural approach to lowering cholesterol and your doctor doesn’t support you, you may be better off finding a doctor or health care provider that supports your point of view.
Next month’s issue of Health Sciences Institute contains full details of a remarkable new natural product - developed by a leading cardiologist - that can increase your levels of good cholesterol.
Heart Disease Related Reading:
Crestor : The Super Strong Statin Drug
Statins Proven Dangerous In 900 Studies
Statins Now Claim To Protect Against All Causes Of Death...
HOT TOPICS:
Lower Your Cholesterol And Protect Your Heart Without Statin Drugs
Echinacea And Astragalus : Powerful Immune Boosters
Food and Prescription Medicine: A Potentially Dangerous Cocktail
Sources:
“Good cholesterol dementia risk” published online 30.07.08, bbc.co.uk
‘Low HDL cholesterol is a risk factor for deficit and decline in memory in midlife: the Whitehall II study’ by Drs. Singh- Manoux A, Gimeno D, Kivimaki M, Brunner E, Marmot MG, published Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2008 Aug;28(8):1556- 62. Epub 2008 Jun 30
‘Depression and Anxiety As Predictors of Outcome After Myocardial Infarction’ by Drs. Richard Anthony Mayou, David Gill, David Robert Thompson, Ann Day, Nicholas Hicks, James Volmink, Phil and Andrew Neil, published Psychosomatic Medicine 62:212-219 (2000)
Epidemiology 2001 Mar;12:168-72
‘Prescribed Use of Cholesterol-Lowering Drugs in the United States, 1978 Through 1988’ by Hebert et al, The Journal of the American Medical Association (1997;278:313-321)
‘Effect of the Magnitude of Lipid Lowering on Risk of Elevated Liver Enzymes, Rhabdomyolysis, and Cancer’ - Journal of the American College of Cardiology July 31, 2007; 50:409- 418
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