It is a surprising fact indeed but there is no relationship between blood cholesterol and the degree of atherosclerosis in the vessels. If the cholesterol theory was correct and cholesterol caused atherosclerosis then it would be very obvious that people with high cholesterol would be way more atherosclerotic than people with low levels. A substantial number of studies confirm the exact opposite. People with low cholesterol are equally atherosclerotic as people with high levels of blood cholesterol. The first publication on this issue was published in 1936 and showed no correlation between the two. Dr Paterson and his group performed a study, following 800 war veterans for many years and regularly analyzed blood samples. They did NOT find any correlation between cholesterol level and degree of atherosclerosis. Similar studies have taken place in India, Poland, Guatemala and in the USA.
A few studies found a correlation though. One of them is based on data collected during the famous Framingham study in Massachusetts. The correlation factor is a statistical measure scientists use when they try to measure how well or bad two factors are correlated. This factor ranges from 0 to 1, with 1 being 100% correlation and 0 no correlation at all. From a statistical point of view, a bare minimum of 0.5 is necessary to prove a possible correlation. The above study found a correlation coefficient of 0.36 between the level of cholesterol and atherosclerosis. Statistically speaking, this is totally unacceptable or at least would be so if this study was dealing with any other subject. It is very strange indeed that a study like that even managed to create a certain degree of controversy. Except for the statistics, there have been many more negative remarks following this specific study and the Framingham study as well, reducing their reliability and impact. The scientists conducting them were so passionate (and biased) to prove a positive correlation between cholesterol and atherosclerosis that literally used every possible mean to achieve it. After 40 years, the director of the famous Framingham study had to admit: "In Framingham, Mass, the more saturated fat one ate, the more cholesterol one ate, the more calories one ate, the lower the person's serum cholesterol... we found that the people who ate the most cholesterol, ate the most saturated fat, ate the most calories, weighed the least and were the most physically active." The study showed that those who weighed more and had abnormally high blood cholesterol levels were slightly more at risk for future heart disease; but weight gain and cholesterol levels had an inverse correlation with fat and cholesterol intake in the diet.
Finally scientists have studied the differences between Japan and the States. Japan is proud to display the lowest risk for heart attack than any other country and also the general cholesterol levels are very low. The difference in the condition of the arteries of American and Japanese people was studied in the 50s and found no differences in the degree of atherosclerosis in aorta and the arteries of the brain (8, 9).
One could use at this point the fact that people on statins (cholesterol lowering drugs) have lower risks for heart disease. The thing with these studies is that the cardioprotective role of statins seems to be completely irrelevant with the cholesterol or LDL level in the blood serum. Specifically in the studies testing the statins the cardioprotective effect of these drugs was present equally to patients with low or high cholesterol levels. This leads us the suspicion that this effect might be due to a different reason and not cholesterol levels as it has been falsely promoted so much. Indeed a look at the biochemical action of statins reveals that these drugs block the synthesis of a molecule called mevalonate which a precursor molecule for the subsequent synthesis of cholesterol. The details of the biochemical pathways are of no importance at this point but the only extra piece of information we need is that mevalonate is a precursor molecule for many more things, not just cholesterol. Further experiments reveal that statins affect the ability of platelets to stick to each other by preventing them to produce a substance that triggers just that. This means that the mechanism of blood clogging is blocked thus leading to substantially lower number of infractions i.e. heart attacks and strokes. Also statins were found to lower the activity of smooth muscle cells. One of the first steps in the advancement of atherosclerosis is the migration of smooth muscle cells at the points of arterial damage. By blocking these two mechanisms, statins' cardioprotective effect can be explained. Please note that both mechanisms are cholesterol independent confirming the experimental data that statins have such an effect equally to people with low or high blood cholesterol.
Statins are not to be taken lightly though. They have severe side effects that do not compensate even for the small cardioprotective role they have. The list is quite long really but the most basics include impaired cognitive functions, memory loss, kidney and liver failure and severe muscle damage. Also statins have been correlated with increased risk of cancer and 50 % of the pregnant women who took statins during the first months of their pregnancy gave birth to children with malformations worse than the cases of thalidomide.
It is of massive importance to educate ourselves on what the facts are on the cholesterol topic. The information we receive from various sources are so contradicting and diverse that sometimes we must go back to the source to find out the long forgotten truth. Cholesterol is certainly a subject that has been used and abused in many ways so far so going back to the source is critical if we want to establish the truth in the (hopefully) near future.
Helen Davies is a Medical Researcher with Master Degree in Human Molecular Genetics (Imperial College London). As the founder of Primal Health company she has done extensive research on the mechanisms of Arteriosclerosis, lipid metabolism and alternative methods to deal with this disease. If you are interested in learning more about safe, efficient and natural ways to eliminate risk of cardiovascular disease, visit our website --> DNA-Diet.org DNA-Diet.org.
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