Cholesterol has traditionally been type-cast as an arch-villain in heart disease. Gradually this has been changing in the eyes of the heart medicine community. This is due to a number of recent research studies and the ensuing unanswered questions.
One lingering question about cholesterol is why it doesn't affect the body's veins. Why don't the binding components of Cholesterol, which journey through both the arteries and veins, only stick to the walls of arteries? Another still unanswered question is whether cholesterol is actually the cause of blockages of blood vessels leading to heart disease and attacks, or just an associated factor.
Cholesterol has multiple roles in our bodies. Among these functions is the use of lipoproteins as a protective repair for structural damages or tears along the artery walls. Cholesterol also performs the same action for other body wounds, frequently with life-saving consequences. However, this very property of binding to the arterial walls also gives cholesterol a bad name on the heart disease scene.
Two different types of cholesterol exist; high density lipoproteins (HDL, the good cholesterol) and low density lipoproteins (LDL, the bad cholesterol). The hypothesis has been that LDL cholesterol builds up on artery walls, limiting blood flow and oxygenation all through the body. The thinking being, that by cutting out as much dietary cholesterol as feasible, you lower LDL levels and thus circumvent heart attack.
But recent studies have been published suggesting that cholesterol may not really the villain after all. It turns out there can be no real link found between the dietary cholesterol and the cholesterol levels found in the blood. The cholesterol manufactured within the body amounts to around 80% of total cholesterol, while food derived cholesterol only makes up 20%. What is more, certain some test sample groups exhibited cholesterol levels that rose while having heart attack incidences that decreased. In fact, one of the largest health studies in China showed no valid association between the consumption of cholesterol and heart disease at all.
In another ten year study, around 5,000 people with high cholesterol levels were given statin medication for lowering cholesterol levels. A second group of 5,000 high cholesterol subjects were instructed to follow a healthy diet and engage in suitable exercise. The results were that the statin drugs did lower cholesterol levels.
However, this did not lower the group's risk of heart attack, heart disease and cardiovascular related death. Taking the drug did raise their risk of other disease, notably liver disease. The same thing was seen in the diet and exercise group; lower cholesterol levels, an improvement in heart health, and unchanged susceptibility to heart disease and heart attacks.
A similar study of 20,000 people in Denmark having heart disease found the vast majority of them had normal cholesterol levels. What does it all mean? So far, there has not been any conclusive proof that cholesterol is to blame for heart disease, so the jury is still out on whether cholesterol is bad.
Read more about fountia.com/blood-pressure-reducing blood pressure reducing and fountia.com/pericarditis pericarditis at fountia.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment