LOW CHOLESTEROL IS DANGEROUS?!
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Low cholesterol especially in older people, correlates with an increased risk of death. People suffering from diseases like AIDS, chronic fatigue, and cancer very often have very low cholesterol reading. It is now indisputable that for those people approaching old age~75 years and older low cholesterol is a very, very bad finding. This seems unbelievable because doctors, even at these later ages, still continue to try to lower cholesterol with drugs. If lowered cholesterol in older ages carries a higher risk of death, doesn’t it make sense that the earlier you start on drug-therapy to lower cholesterol, the higher your risk of death would be? My experience definitely shows this, but the Honolulu Heart Program study truly makes it clear. Published in the August 2001 issue of I Vol. 358, No. 9279, this quote from the program really sums it up: |
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"Our data accord with previous findings of increased mortality in elderly people with low serum cholesterol, and show that long-term persistence of low cholesterol actually increases the risk of death. Thus, the earlier patients start to have lower cholesterol concentrations, the greater the risk of death.”
In case you didn't catch that fully, the study findings showed the following: The information discovered about low cholesterol was the same as most all other cholesterol studies. That long-term lowered cholesterol in older people increases the risk of death from all causes. And the earlier you start to have lower cholesterol, the greater your risk of death.
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If You Are Sick, Keep Your Cholesterol Up
Normal cholesterol levels run around 150 to 250, but thanks to the pharmaceutical push, doctors are trying to get cholesterol down around 80 to 130– a dangerous proposition for sure. It is at values around 100 or lower that people with serious deteriorating diseases and cancer succumb. If you have cancer or any other serious infectious disease, you need to check your cholesterol level. If it is below 130 you are in trouble. If you are also taking statin drugs and your cholesterol is this low, ask your doctor to stop this prescription ASAP. Your life could depend upon it. The best way to tell if low cholesterol is contributing to ill health is a simple assessment of how you feel especially how you feel while on statins vs. how you feel after 90 days off the drugs. If you stop the drugs and feel much better, you need to get your cholesterol back up to normal. And that can be tough, especially if you are very ill. You will need to eat a traditional diet with lots of egg yolks, whole milk, butter, cod liver oil, bone broth preparations and more. Even then it could take a couple years [o get your cholesterol levels back up. |
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Cholesterol is Essential
And remember, when sick you are under stress, and stress hormones are made from cholesterol. Also, your brain is made of large quantities of cholesterol. And you can't have healthy bones without cholesterol transformed to vitamin D in your skin by the sun. In other words, the vitamin D needed for strong bones is made from cholesterol. Indeed you can't live without plenty of good cholesterol~and the statistics of older folks and those with serious diseases now prove this indisputably. |
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If Your Cholesterol is Naturally Low
If your cholesterol is critically low and always has been-without drugs-this is another situation altogether. I have to imagine that low cholesterol is genetically normal for some people. But having said this, when I see a patient with cholesterol below 130, I take notice. While there may be no apparent problem or disease, the possibility of premature death is certainly real.
If this is you, make sure there isn't undiagnosed liver disease; blood tests can usually make this determination. Make sure you are not doing regular fasts, severe and repeated detoxification procedures, too many bowel cleanses, juice diets, taking too many herbs, avoiding meat and meaty broths, and living only on sprouts, grains, fruits, seeds, and vegetables. These kinds of habits combined with low cholesterol can lead to "wasting" diseases.
It is always best in these cases to start on a more traditional diet. A tablespoon of raw cod liver oil daily (Carlsberg makes the best) is in order. Also add supplements for liver health. Allow two years or more for complete recovery.
If your cholesterol is critically low and always has been-without drugs-this is another situation altogether. I have to imagine that low cholesterol is genetically normal for some people. But having said this, when I see a patient with cholesterol below 130, I take notice. While there may be no apparent problem or disease, the possibility of premature death is certainly real.
If this is you, make sure there isn't undiagnosed liver disease; blood tests can usually make this determination. Make sure you are not doing regular fasts, severe and repeated detoxification procedures, too many bowel cleanses, juice diets, taking too many herbs, avoiding meat and meaty broths, and living only on sprouts, grains, fruits, seeds, and vegetables. These kinds of habits combined with low cholesterol can lead to "wasting" diseases.
It is always best in these cases to start on a more traditional diet. A tablespoon of raw cod liver oil daily (Carlsberg makes the best) is in order. Also add supplements for liver health. Allow two years or more for complete recovery.
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Physicians ' Accountability Today well-meaning physicians are forcing cholesterol levels to extreme lows by inhibiting the liver's ability to produce this much-needed substance. This may help to prevent a few heart attacks, although even this is subject to controversy. By starting people toward cholesterol levels below 130 earlier and earlier, one must ask just how many thousands of cases of cancer, other diseases, and deaths are being caused. As doctors, we need not look much farther than our own experience with people wasting away and dying early while reducing their cholesterol. If this isn't enough evidence, we need only look at the medical literature itself to make this connection. |
What is a Traditional Diet?
Special thanks to researcher and physician Tom Cowan, MD, for some of the information in this article. Dr. Cowan writes the "Doctor's Comer" articles for the Weston A. Price Foundation's wonderful journal, Wise Traditions. His "Low Cholesterol" article was from the Spring 2005 issue. When one needs information on traditional diets and foods, this organization has the data you need. (These articles have also been copied on our web page.)
Just go to www.westonaprice.org for what has been deemed "alternative" by modern medicine. But in every sense of the word, articles like this, and all the information on proper diet and natural foods found at the Weston A. Price Foundation, are indeed traditional.
Health Alert volume 22 issue 9 Dr Bruce West MD
Special thanks to researcher and physician Tom Cowan, MD, for some of the information in this article. Dr. Cowan writes the "Doctor's Comer" articles for the Weston A. Price Foundation's wonderful journal, Wise Traditions. His "Low Cholesterol" article was from the Spring 2005 issue. When one needs information on traditional diets and foods, this organization has the data you need. (These articles have also been copied on our web page.)
Just go to www.westonaprice.org for what has been deemed "alternative" by modern medicine. But in every sense of the word, articles like this, and all the information on proper diet and natural foods found at the Weston A. Price Foundation, are indeed traditional.
Health Alert volume 22 issue 9 Dr Bruce West MD
Low Cholesterol
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Low cholesterol (below 150) can result in hormone imbalances, osteoporosis, and cancer. It can also deplete vitamin D-needed for anti~ cancer activity and to build strong bones. Vitamin D is needed in the skin that is transformed by sunlight. Statistics prove that for people over age 75, the higher your cholesterol level, the longer you will live.
Cholesterol is out and C~Reactive Protein (CRP) is in for heart tests. In reality, the important tests are cholesterol with HDL and LDL, Triglycerides and fasting glucose, CRP and Homo~ cysteine. With a high CRP and heart disease, you can count on blood vessel inflammation as a major underlying cause of problems. A low~carbohydrate diet and a heart protocol is needed. With a high homocysteine, a folic acid deficiency is probable, and three to four folic acid and B12 tablets daily must be added to the protocol. Cholesterol has little to do with heart disease or death from heart attack. The more important predicting factors are Homocysteine, C-Reactive Protein, Triglycerides, and your Heart Recovery Rate. After 30 years, we have proven that all patients with any type of heart or blood vessel disease should be on a heart protocol. From Health Alert Dr Bruce West |
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