Issue link: https://cp.revolio.com/i/474241
Currently, one in five American children have abnormal cholesterol levels. However, a 2012 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offered heartening news, reporting that for the first time in nearly 20 years, kids' levels of harmful cholesterol have dropped, while the amount of good cholesterol has increased. ese findings were surprising, since the childhood obesity rate remains high, but the researchers suggest that public health campaigns to reduce or eliminate trans fat in foods may explain the encouraging trend. Myth #10: Everyone should strive for the same lipid levels. Fact: Lipid level, like other treatment goals, need to be individualized for each person depending on his or her other medical conditions and genes. For example, studies suggest that people with an inherited Lp(a) problem can reduce their levels of this cholesterol by keeping their LDL numbers low. Similarly, diabetics and people who already have arterial disease need to set lower LDL targets than those of healthy people. Myth #11: If you have high cholesterol, you should be taking a statin. Fact: Now the most widely prescribed drugs in the world, and taken by 30 million Americans, statins block a liver enzyme that helps produce cholesterol. e average person taking a statin will see his or her LDL levels drop by 20 to 60 percent in a month. ese medications aren't inoculations against heart attacks and strokes, however, because it takes a lot more than just lowering LDL to prevent these events. In addition, about seven million Americans who take a statin don't need their LDL lowered, because it's already normal. Instead, they are being treated for other heart attack and stroke risk factors. Less well-known benefits of these drugs are that they make blood less prone to clot and also reduce inflammation, which has recently been shown to cause heart attacks. While statins are valuable for certain patients, particularly people who have already had a heart attack, these medications are also overhyped and oversold. In the United Kingdom, for example, low-dose statins are available over-the-counter, which could encourage irresponsible use of these drugs. ere have even been proposals to add statins to drinking water or offer them at fast food restaurants to counteract the effects of fatty meals. For most people with high cholesterol, lifestyle modification remains the most powerful – and best – treatment to lower it. Myth #12: High LDL is the leading risk factor for heart attacks. Fact: A recent study reported that a stunning 75 percent of nearly 137,000 men and women were hospitalized for heart attacks had LDL levels within currently recommended targets, and nearly half had "optimal" levels. As a result, practitioners of standard care wouldn't have deemed the vast majority of these patients candidates for therapies that might have prevented their heart attacks. at's a horrifying example of how the LDL cholesterol hoax puts lives at risk because doctors continue to focus on a risk factor that's the least predictive of heart attack and stroke danger. e study also found that levels of HDL have dropped in American heart attack patients over the past several years, probably because of the rising rates of obesity, diabetes, and insulin resistance in the U.S. population. Nearly 55 percent of the patients studied had abnormally low levels of HDL, while only two percent had ideal levels of both LDL and HDL. e researchers concluded that current national guidelines do not effectively identify most patients who will suffer fatal or nonfatal heart attacks. A particularly shocking finding was that nearly half of the heart attack patients studied had suffered a prior cardiovascular event, highlighting the urgent need for a comprehensive prevention plan. It's extremely important to identify and manage disorders known to actually cause heart attacks and strokes, including inflammation, insulin resistance, and elevated Lp(a). Myth #13: All LDL particles are equally dangerous. Fact: e size of LDL particles matters. Some LDL particles are small and dense, making it easier for them to penetrate the arterial lining (if the endothelium is damaged by inflammation) and then form plaque. Other LDL particles are big and fluffy, so they tend to bounce off the artery wall. ink of the difference between bullets and beach balls. Compared to people with big, fluffy LDL particles, those who mainly have small dense ones are up to three times more likely to have heart attacks. Magnifying the danger, people with small, dense LDL particles also have a higher number of particles, a factor that has also been shown to predict increased cardiovascular risk. Abby's Magazine - March/April 2015 | Page 21