"We have one and a half million heart attacks in the U.S. each
year. About 50 percent have normal cholesterol.
Clearly, current guidelines are not adequate to identify all those individuals
who are at increased risk,"

~ Nader Rifai, MD (2004)

Yes, you heard Dr. Rifai right: statistically speaking cholesterol levels have what amounts to ZERO
relevance in determining heart attack risk.  A 50-50 chance, after all,means a coin flips worth of certainty.

But that's not all: people with the highest cholesterol may also live the longest...

Consider the finding of Dr. Harlan Krumholz of the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine at Yale
University, who reported in 1994 that elderly with low cholesterol died twice as often from a heart attack as
did the elderly with a high cholesterol.  His research also showed that all-cause mortality was significantly
reduced in those whose cholesterol was highest.

Cholesterol has long been blamed for the epidemic of heart disease in this country, despite hundreds of
peer reviewed studies indicating that - to the contrary - low cholesterol levels may increase the risk of
dying from infection, stroke, cancer, and yes, even heart attack itself.  The fact that you and I have not
heard this information in the mass media, has everything to do with who owns and/or advertises within
these traditional news channels, and absolutely nothing to do with the facts: namely, cholesterol does not
cause heart disease.  As heretical as this sounds vis-a-vis orthodox medical opinion, entire organizations
exist - international in membership - composed of concerned scientists and physicians whose sole
purpose is to debunk the inherent absurdities and inaccuracies of the "lipid hypothesis," or if you will: the
"cholesterol myth." For more elaborate citations please visit the website of the International Network of
Cholesterol Skeptics  http://www.thincs.org/, where more detailed information is available for your perusal.

Cholesterol does not cause heart disease? How can this be?

Let's begin by acknowledging that cholesterol is an essential substance produced by nearly every cell of
our body, and the building block for innumerable cellular components, such as the cell wall, bile salts,
vitamin d, steroid hormones, the mylein sheath of the nerves, 30% of our brain tissue, etc.  
Low-density-lipoprotein  or so-called "bad cholesterol," is the delivery molecule for fat soluble antioxidants
like carotenoids, vitamin E, coenzyme q10, etc. and therefore is essential for protecting the body from
oxidative damage.  Indeed, inadequate levels of LDL can translate into greater oxidative damage to the
endothelial lining of the artery therefore increasing the risk of developing heart disease. Moreover, this
much villified LDL has also been shown to rapidly deactivate bacterial endotoxin and Staphylococcus
aureus a-toxin, both of which are responsible for tens of thousands of deaths from infection, annually.

Given these facts, can cholesterol really be considered all that bad?

Heart disease, after all, is a complex process involving numerous associations: high C-reactive protein,
homocysteine, blood calcium, fibrin, the presence of infectious organisms (bacterial and viral), high blood
sugar (and resulting glycation), etc.   The biological cascade of adverse changes to the artery begins with
damage to the inner lining of the artery (endothelium), resulting in endothelial dysfunction.  These initial
lesions can occur through any number of trespasses. Some are obvious such smoking, and some are
not, such as consuming homogenized milk rich in xanthine oxidase, or through hypercalcemia caused by
the ingestion of too much supplemental calcium or excessively high doses of vitamin D.  Other lesser
known factors include "leaky gut syndrome," where bacteria and cardiotoxic peptides (cow's dairy
contains the cardiotoxic beta casein A1 protein) can enter the blood stream causing infection and
inflammation in the arteries. Nutritional deficiencies play an essential role.  Vitamin C, for instance, is
necessary to produce collagen to strengthen and in the case of injury, heal the artery.  B vitamins, such
as folic acid, b6 and b12 are essential in lowering artery scarring homocysteine levels in the blood.  
Insufficient levels of vitamin E can lead to the oxidation of LDL, which in turn renders inherently beneficial
cholesterol artherogenic.  Insufficient levels of amino acids, like arginine, prevent the arteries from dilating
sufficiently, leading to higher blood pressure.  The list of simple, preventable nutritional steps goes on
and on.

So, why have we been so fixated on cholesterol as the enemy for all these
years?  

The answer to that question has to do with the sad fact that modern medical practice is driven primarily by
economic and not scientific principles.   If the complex set of causes of heart disease - all of which have
everything to do with what we do and do not put into our bodies - are ignored, and one "genetically
predetermined" "bad guy" can be blamed for the problem, not only do you perpetuate the conditions that
make the market for such drugs profitable, namely, the continuation of heart disease, but you justify the
prescription of a very profitable, though entirely ineffectual drug-based solution, e.g. statin drugs.

Statin drugs are bound to become the object of the next biggest class action lawsuits due to the way in
which they artificially drive down cholesterol in a manner that may compromise cardiovascular health.  
Even if statin drugs did not drain the heart muscle of one of its most vital nutrients: coq10, the multitude of
adverse "side effects" they cause, such as cognitive impairment, muscle fatigue and muscle wasting
syndrome, liver damage, increased cancer risk, neuropathy, dizziness, erectile dysfunction and
depression, make it clear that they are best to be avoided as dangerous to one's health.

We know that statin drugs inhibit the mevalonate pathway in the liver which interferes with the production
of three vitally important substances: cholesterol, coenzyme q10 and dolichol.  Far from being selective,
taking a statin drug is like throwing a monkey wrench into the molecular machinery of one of our body's
most important vital organs: the liver. Coenzyme q10, for instance, is responsible as a co-factor for 90%
of all our body's energy production.  The heart muscle, in particular, depends heavily on the presence of
this essential nutrient. When levels are low, it can not perform its functions efficiently leading perhaps to
elevated blood pressure, or worse, cardiomyopathy: the degeneration of the heart muscle itself. Dolichol
is essential for neuropeptide formation, cell communication, cell identification, immune system functions
and the cellular integrity of our body's DNA. One analogy used to describe the effect that statins have on
in the liver is like that of a virus randomly scrambling the code in our computer's operating system. This
may explain the results of the "CARE" study on statin drugs and the risk of developing breast cancer
[Sacks FM and others. N Eng J Med 1996;385;1001-1009]. The pravastatin treated group showed a
dramatic 1500% increase in the chance of developing breast cancer! (Note: The carcinogenicity of statins
was already well established in rodent studies before gaining FDA approval.)

Ultimately heart disease - or any disease! - is not caused by a LACK of a
Drug.

...therefore, why are we treating heart disease with drugs?  If endothelial dysfunction and plaque build up
in the artery can be halted in its progression through dietary modification, or
through safe and effective nutritional therapies like pomegranate juice concentrate, or
lysine/proline/vitamin c, why are we simply masking symptoms and driving the underlying disease deeper
into the system with toximolecular drugs?  It comes down to our choices, and our desire to attain greater
education and self-awareness.  Last time I checked self-healing still does not require FDA approval, so
let's get to it!