First: TBoneMitch -- I agree with you too, but I think the reason there is increased mortality in people who "lower" their cholesterol is that when they have done so, it has usually been at the expense of lowering their HDL, which when lowered too far also appears to cause depression and suicide. Low-fat dieting has been perported as a way to lower your cholesterol, but they don't talk about the fact that it lowers all cholesterol, including HDL.
Now we have the low-carb WOE, which also lowers total cholesterol. The very big difference is that normally LDL goes down and HDL goes up, thereby increasing the protective balance. Also, the nature of the LDL is changed to the, theoretically, good form of LDL.
Studies of people who have lowered their cholesterol while preserving or increasing their HDL, a la low-carbing, have not been done, or they have not tested the existing data for this cholesterol-balance criteria.
I don't know if this will prove to mean anything truly important to preventing CHD, but my overly intuitive mind (i.e. I jump to conclusions easily) says it may.
On to my comments on the article:
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the four warning signs of heart disease: high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol, diabetes, and cigarette use... ... ... Obesity and physical inactivity have also been associated with heart disease, but epidemiological data indicate that these traits essentially identify people likely to have high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol, and diabetes.
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This is very interesting to me. Since I have become a low-carber, I have lowered my blood pressure, my cholesterol numbers are "perfect" with a high and growing HDL level, and I have stopped diabetes in it's tracks (I was on the verge when I started this WOE). But I am still considered obese. -- Oh, and I have never smoked
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I am heartened by someone's finally acknowledging what I have believed all along: Weight gain is not the cause of CHD or diabetes, it's not even a "risk factor." Going one step further, I think it is one of the many symptoms, along with CHD and diabetes, of insulin resistance, which is a symptom of overeating carbs.
I started low-carbing for my health. Losing the weight would be nice, but my body is holding onto it like a tiger and it may actually be hormonal. In the meantime, I've cured my PCOS and lowered my "risk factors" for CHD. So I'm feeling, as usual, very complacent about this WOE.