New 'Ultra-Bad' Cholesterol Means Bumper Profits For Big Pharma

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Last week, I went for my annual health check-up and was very pleased to find that everything appears to be in good working order: My blood pressure is fine, weight spot-on, there's no sign of abnormal blood sugar levels and apparently I have a good strong heart rate.

However, despite acknowledging the fact that I’m in good overall health, my doctor still pushed me to take cholesterol-lowering statins... just in case... because I’m nearing a certain age.

I gently resisted his statin-push. Truth is, I do everything possible to keep my heart healthy. The last thing I want to do is jeopardise my healthy lifestyle choices by taking a drug that could potentially cause me to keel over as a result of its multitude of harmful side effects.

Ultra ‘bad’ cholesterol

Sadly, many people fall for their doctor's ‘just in case’ approach, simply because the mainstream’s message regarding cholesterol and heart disease is often conflicting, to say the very least! One day every person over the age of 55 should be given statins, the next day new research debunks the so- called benefits of taking Big Pharma’s 'wonder drug'.

As if that’s not enough, researchers from the University of Warwick now say there’s actually an ‘ultra’ bad form of cholesterol lurking around in the arteries of the elderly and those suffering with Type 2 diabetes. They made the discovery after looking at the different forms of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) 'harmful' cholesterol.

According to the researchers, the ultra-bad form, called MGmin-LDL cholesterol, has sugary molecules that are smaller and denser than those of normal ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol. This alters its shape, which makes it stick to artery walls much more easily, providing a starting point for the build-up of dangerous fatty plaques, eventually narrowing arteries and reducing blood flow. This can cause the arteries to rupture or it can trigger blood clots to form, ultimately causing a heart attack or stroke.

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Not so fast

In the journal Diabetes, Dr. Rabbani explained that the mainstream’s next challenge is to tackle MGmin-LDL cholesterol with treatments that could help neutralise its harmful effects on patients’ arteries... which is very much what we all expect from the mainstream... pushing even more drugs! Guess what? They already have just the right pill that will do the trick: Metformin.

Metformin is a widely-prescribed diabetes drug that lowers blood sugar levels. Dr. Rabbani and her collegues are hopeful that it will also help block the transformation of ‘normal’ LDL into the damaging MGmin-LDL form and help reduce the risk of heart attack.

Metformin comes with a ghastly list of side effects, of which the most concerning ones are: malabsorption of vitamin B12 (which reduces homocysteine levels and helps prevent heart disease), anorexia and lactic acidosis. Lactic acidosis happens when lactic acid builds up in the bloodstream faster than it can be removed, causing symptoms like vomiting, abdominal pain, nausea, dyspnea, hypothermia, hypotension, and bradycardia — when the heart is not pumping enough blood to meet the body's needs, cutting off the brain and other organs’ oxygen supply.

Taking this into account and the fact that cholesterol-lowering statin drugs can increase the risk of diabetes by 13 per cent on average, much more research on MGmin-LDL needs to be done before side effect ridden pills are dished out...

Better and safer ways to protect your heart

While the jury is still out on MGmin-LDL, a much safer bet is to stay tuned in to the Daily Health. We’ve always been very clear with our message on the best ways to protect your heart:

• Maintain a healthy ratio of LDL ‘bad’, HDL ‘good’ cholesterol and triglyceride levels.



• Follow a balanced Mediterranean-style diet rich in fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, olive oil, fish and poultry.



• Moderate your alcohol intake and quit smoking



• Get plenty of exercise

Phytosterols also provide a brillaint alternative to protecting your5 heart and have been shown to help the body regulate blood cholesterol levels, without the dangerous side effects of statin drugs. In fact, scientists at the International Centre for Circulatory Health, at Imperial College, London, recently carried out a review of clinical trials on phytosterols and concluded that they offer a safe and effective way of reducing blood fats, including cholesterol.

Better still, research has shown that even small amounts of phytosterols consumed as part of a ‘Mediterranean diet’ can help to lower cholesterol levels, and a new study carried out in the Netherlands has found that phytosterols are effective in lowering cholesterol levels in both statin users and non-users.

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Sources:

Health Sciences Institute, June 2011, Vol. 13, No. 6 – Ahead of Print

‘Feeling Fatigued or Irritable? There's a 1 in 4 Chance You Suffer From This Disease...’ published online 02.09.2010, articles.mercola.com

Metformin Side Effects, published online, drugs.com

‘Found, the 'ultra-bad' cholesterol present in elderly and Type 2 diabetes sufferers’ published online 27.05.11, dailymail.co.uk