HIGH CHOLESTEROL

Typical scenario:  Jane Doe has a high cholesterol reading at her yearly physical.  Her doctor puts her on a low cholesterol diet, sees no improvement, and puts her on a Statin drug.  Does this make sense? Dr. Zoltan Rona, MD would say no.  In his opinion "statins (drugs to treat high cholesterol) may well be the biggest scam perpetrated upon an unwary public and the medical profession." 

What is cholesterol?  While cholesterol has been vilified by pharmaceutical companies, it is actually a very important substance necessary for life and health.  In fact, the body goes to great lengths to maintain cholesterol levels by adjusting how much the liver produces according to dietary intake.  Cholesterol is necessary in order to produce many hormones such as testosterone, estrogen, progesterone, cortisol and DHEA.  Cholesterol is a vital component of myelin, the insulation that covers every nerve in the body.    Did you your body manufactures vitamin D from cholesterol?  Cholesterol also has some antioxidant activity (like vitamin C or E).  Much of your brain is composed of cholesterol.  Cholesterol is also an agent used by the body for repair.  It goes up in response to oxidative stress (caused by smoking, pollution and many other chemicals) and inflammation. 

Are blood cholesterol levels dominated by dietary intake of cholesterol?  In short, this is not the case for most people with high cholesterol.   One of the biggest mistakes made is to medicate people who don’t succeed on a low cholesterol diet. Why?  Only approximately 20% of cholesterol comes from the diet, the other 80% is produced by your liver.  This explains why blood cholesterol often does not change on a low cholesterol diet.  This is not to say diet has no role.  However, you might be surprised to know that a high carbohydrate diet is much more likely to raise your cholesterol levels than a diet high in cholesterol (which only comes from animal foods). 

Why Does Cholesterol Go Up?  Cholesterol production goes up with EXCESSIVE INSULIN. Insulin levels are raised by excessive refined carbohydrate intake and stress (nutrient poor diet, smoking, chronic anxiety, drugs, pesticides, commercial cosmetics, etc.). High insulin levels may be more common than we think and are not routinely measured at yearly blood tests. If you are obese or have diabetes you very likely have high insulin levels. Cholesterol production is also raised with STRESS.   When we are stressed our body produces more of a hormone called cortisol.  Cortisol requires cholesterol for its production.  In my clinical experience stress can be a major contributor to high cholesterol.  Cholesterol will also rise when our body has too many DAMAGING OXIDANTS and too few protective antioxidants. 

Is high cholesterol dangerous?  This question is not as straight forward as we are often led to believe.  Firstly, not everyone with high cholesterol is prone to heart disease, and not everyone with heart disease has high cholesterol.  In fact, half of all heart attacks occur in those with normal cholesterol levels.  If you really want to accurately assess your risk for heart disease you should include tests such as homocysteine (an independent risk factor for heart), Hs-CRP (a general marker for inflammation) and Serum amyloid A.  Some theorize that inflammation is in fact the biggest risk factor for heart disease. 

Furthermore, new studies show us that high cholesterol is associated with fewer infections:  those with high cholesterol and four times less likely to contract aids and get colds much less frequently.  It is interesting to note that standards of what is considered normal cholesterol differ from country to country.  One epidemiological study associated high cholesterol with longevity in the elderly.  Recent studies suggest that it is not cholesterol per se that causes atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), rather it is the oxidation of cholesterol.  In other words, cholesterol will only bind to your arteries when it is paired with an oxidant.  Oxidants are a normal byproduct of our cellular functioning, but they also come from chemicals such as air pollution, cigarettes, pesticides, commercial cleaning products and cosmetics.  Antioxidants from fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds, and many food spices, can keep these oxidants in check. 

What are the Dangers of Low Cholesterol?  Big Pharma is so busy convincing us that high cholesterol is deadly that they forget to mention the risks of low cholesterol.  As already mentioned, low cholesterol is associated with longer infections periods and higher rates of death from infections.  New studies suggest Autism in a certain subgroup of children is associated with low levels of cholesterol.  Low levels can lead to deficiencies in hormones and all of the many related issues such as menopause, insomnia, depression and more. 

Are Statin drugs effective?  Statin drugs do lower cholesterol, but do they save lives?  According to statistics, says Dr. Rona, MD, "statins only prevent 1% of first heart attacks over a period of 10 years." Furthermore, "for every life saved by a statin, an equal number of deaths occur that are caused by adverse reactions". (Vitality Magazine Sept 2009, pg. 32)  Health Canada has issued a warning about the effects of Statin drugs on coenzyme Q10 as well as a serious side effect known as Rhabdomyolysis (muslce cell death).  At least 5-7% of statin users report muscle pain as a side effect.  That percentage goes up to 10% with use of higher doses and to 25% in those doing rigorous exercise.  Dr. Rona, MD says everyone taking statins gets muscle damage" to different degrees.  And of course, as Dr. Rona points out, the heart is a muscle too.  Statin drugs also cause our levels of Coenzyme Q10 to drop; CoQ10 is our most important antioxidant for cardiovascular functioning as it gives our heart muscles the energy they need to pump.  They can also raise liver enzymes; this is the livers way of telling us it is in distress.  Kidney failure has been reported as well.  On August 8, 2001, a Statin drug called Baycol was recalled as a result of 31 deaths. Pharmaceutical companies, perhaps in a desperate attempt to promote Statin drugs against rising criticism, are now emphasizing that they act as antioxidants, which may explain their effectiveness.  Even if this is true, there are dozens of wonderful and safe natural antioxidants that can act as safe alternatives. 

There is much controversy over the ability for Statin drugs to prolong our lives.  This is a huge topic in and of itself for which there are plenty commentaries on the internet.  At the end of the day, the Statin drug companies are still making a pretty penny, $26 billion a year in North America to be exact.

What is the Naturopathic Approach? At the end of the day it makes sense that if our liver produces cholesterol then like any substance naturally formed in our bodies, it has its place and is vital to our health.  Lowering cholesterol may be important, but it is as important to figure out why it is high to begin with.  Is liver functioning not optimal?  Is diet a main factor? Is this person responding to a toxic overload?  In other words, cholesterol is only a symptom of another problem.  Natural supplements can also lower cholesterol.  But in conjunction to their use must be liver supports, dietary adjustments, detoxification and the like.