The American Heart Association recommends that children at age 5 be screened for high cholesterol. This is nuts. According to Deutsch and Ravnskov, there is no correlation between cholesterol in children and either mortality or morbidity. Moreover, at least one study shows that half the young children with high cholesterol had low cholesterol 12 years later without any intervention. Finally, since diet does little to change cholesterol levels significantly, this will end up being a push to get young children on statin drugs, the long-term effects of which are unknown.

Where will this absurdity stop?

Sheldon

I agree completely. Cholesterol phobia is reaching ludicrous levels.

In answer to your question, Sheldon, both insanity and fraud! I think certain professionals get really up themselves, and carve out a territory. The bigger the territory, the more money, fame and self importance they get. So some people are getting rich on the cholesterol phobia. Others just love number crunching.

I would like to ask you as well if you have any references I can read about the FACT that diet does not affect cholesterol significantly. I have heard that only 20% of our blood lipids are caused by what we eat, and the rest we make for ourselves. Do you know whether that is right? Also do you know anything about blood lipids being affected by the process of weight loss, as if we are eating all the body fat?

I am so sick of the medical profession acting as if high figures make you a bad person. I have just had my levels checked and want to be armed with reality, before I subject myself to a barage of criticism when I go for the results.

The answer to your questions will be found here. Read Dr. Ravnskov's book. It thoroughly debunks all the establishment claims about cholesterol and diet. What he does so well is to show that the establishment studies do not prove what they are claimed to prove.

In particular, the various experiments with low-fat diets have failed to significantly lower people's cholesterol--assuming that's even desirable. For one thing, if you eat less cholesterol, your body will compensate by making more. Conversely, if you eat more, you'll make less. Schwarzbein says this is desirable, because when you make more, an enzyme kicks in that can have bad effects. See The Schwarzbein Principle.

At any rate, let's not sweat it. This article shows you why cholesterol is not dangerous at all. To summarize, LDL is incapable of damaging coronary arteries. Something else (stress, for example) must do that before LDL can come along and insinuate itself in the artery wall. It does so as part of a healing/clotting process. The problem is not LDL, but whatever is causing damage to the artery in the first place. Read this important article and stop worrying.

Sheldon

Thank you very much for this. I am definitely going to get the book. It is scary how hard it is to be sure about anything anyone tells you, especially in medical matters. The quote you have at the end of your posts is exactly right!

Good luck to you, lucyr.

Sheldon