I have no medical training and have been off crook for several months with an unrelated gut infection and spent a lot of time reading up on diet and health. The modern research-based thinking, believe it or not, on heart attacks seems to be this:
1. Most people who have heart attacks have normal LDL cholesterol. Cholesterol is an important component of our body and our brains are made up of a lot of it. Cholesterol is not a fat; it is a sterol.
2. The incidence of heart attacks is not related to LDL except in people with genetically increased LDL.
3. High LDL cholesterol is only a problem if there are lots of small dense LDL particles called VLDL. The ratio of triglycerides to HDL is a good proxy indication of that and should be less 2 and preferable less than 1.
4. Heart attacks are mostly caused by inflammation in the whole body which causes artery damage around the heart which the body then tries to repair with cholesterol. Calcium is then deposited on the wound as a kind of band aid. Cholesterol gets the blame when it is merely the fireman and not the fire itself.
5. Inflammation in the body is caused by poor diet with lots of sugars and refined carbohydrates which gives rise to insulin resistance and inflammation, causing artery damage and other damage as well. Saturated animal fats do not cause heart damage but seed (vegetable) oils are not recognised by the body as a food and cause damage. These oils were only invented in 1911 and were followed 30 years later by a big deterioration in health.
6. Heart attacks and cancer are pretty much unknown in populations that do not live on the modern western diet. After we were told to reduce fats in the early 1970's, sugar and starch consumption increased and rates of obesity, diabetes and heart problems skyrocketed.
7. For most people, statins cause more harm than good. When I was on them, I had memory loss. The reduction in the absolute risk, as opposed to relative risk, of avoiding a heart attack by taking statins is statistically insignificant compared to the incidence of adverse side effects. Yet doctors are handing out statins like Smarties.
So I've asked my doctor to test for triglycerides, HDL, blood sugar and insulin. My calcium score is 94 which is not too bad for a 72yo. But it should be zero. It's worth doing your own research.
Keith
