Contrary to most people's understanding, there is no such thing as 'bad' cholesterol and 'good' cholesterol. Cholesterol itself, whether being transported by LDL or HDL, remains unchanged. Cholesterol is simply a necessary ingredient that is required to be regularly delivered around the body for the efficient healthy development, maintenance and functioning of our cells. The difference lies with the 'transporters' (the lipoproteins HDL and LDL) and both types are essential for the human body's delivelogisticstem to work effectively.

Being a lipid, cholesterol is fat-soluble, but it is not soluble in blood. It needs to be carried around the body where it can be utilized. It must piggy-back with certain transporter lipoproteins, low-density and high-density variants. During the process of 'digestion and assimilation' of foods, it is the low-density lipoprotein (LDL) that carries dietary cholesterol from the liver to various parts of the body. When there is sufficient cholesterol for cellular needs, the other transport mechanism - high-density lipoprotein (HDL) - takes cholesterol back to the liver where any unnecessary excess can be processed for elimination (excretion).

Problems occur when the LDL particles are both small and their carrying capacity outweighs the transportation potential of available HDL. Without any way for returning excess cholesterol to the liver, excess cholesterol remains in the blood and transported around the body.

LDL can vary in its structure and occur in particles of varying size. It is the smaller particle sizes that can become 'trapped' in the arteries by proteoglycans, which is, itself, a kind of 'filler' found between the cells in all animal and human bodies. This can then cause the cholesterol the LDL carries to contribute to the formation of fatty deposits called 'plaques' (a process known as atherogenesis). As these deposits build up, they restrict the arteries' capacity and flexibility. This restriction causes an increase in blood pressure and can also lead to other cardiovascular problems such as heart attacks and strokes.

The LDL itself is therefore erroneously referred to as 'bad cholesterol.' When in fact, excess LDL are 'bad' transporters of cholesterol. It is healthier to have a smaller number of larger LDL particles carrying the same quantity of cholesterol than a large number of small LDL particles might transport, but for some reason this is less common. When LDL becomes retained by the glycol-proteins in the arteries it is subject to being oxidized by 'free radicals'. This is when the process can become health threatening. It has been theorized that increasing the amount of antioxidants in our diet might effectively eradicate free radicals, and consequently reduce this harmful oxidation. Scientific research for their efficacy still remains to be fully documented.

Another point to consider is the occurrence of substances called 'very-low-density-lipids' or VLDL, also known as triglycerides. VLDL is converted to LDL in the bloodstream and therefore contributes towards increased levels of LDL and to subsequent potential cholesterol-related health problems. This is why triglycerides are usually measured when a cholesterol test of your blood is undertaken.

The production of VLDL in the liver - which amounts to a combination of cholesterol and low-density apolipoprotein - is exacerbated by the intake of fructose. Fructose is the type of sugar found in many fruits, it is also a component of sucrose and of the widely used food ingredient high-fructose corn syrup. This implies that people with high LDL or triglyceride levels should cut back on sweet sugary snacks, and even on the sweeter, fructose laden fruits; in addition to reducing their intake of fatty foods.

Vitamin B3 (niacin) can lower the amount of VLDL, and therefore also LDL, and helps to stimulate the production of helpful HDL. Niacin is contained in high protein foods including liver and other meats, as well as significant amounts being found in certain nuts and whole grains. Current recommended upper limits for daily intake of niacin is 35mg, given that it can have toxic effects in larger amounts. Even so, medical professionals have been known to prescribe niacin in doses as high as 2g, up to three times a day, for treatment of those with dangerously high blood cholesterol levels. Naturally you should never self-medicate with high doses of niacin without professional medical advice.

One popular pharmaceutical drugs introduced to treat the incidence of high cholesterol levels, are Statins. These drugs work by interfering with the liver function and reducing the production of LDL. But Statins are not without significant side-effects: they can, for example, lead to the breakdown of major muscular material, which can ultimately overwhelm the kidneys and even cause acute renal failure.

Statins also appear to reduce the body's natural levels of Co-enzyme Q10 (CoQ10). This benzoquinone plays an important role in cellular energy release, particularly in the lungs, liver and heart. CoQ10 has also been shown to protect the brain against neurological degeneration. But perhaps most interestingly, with respect to cholesterol, CoQ10 also acts as an antioxidant, particularly active in protecting the system against LDL oxidation. So Statins might cause more problems in the long-term.

By Ron Rosedale, MD

Cholesterol is not the major culprit in heart disease or any disease. If it becomes oxidized it can irritate/inflame tissues in which it is lodged in, such as the endothelium (lining of the arteries). This would be one of numerous causes of chronic inflammation that can injure the lining of arteries. However, many good fats are easily oxidized such as omega-3 fatty acids, but it does not mean that you should avoid it at all costs. In fact, cholesterol is being transported to tissues as part of an inflammatory response that is there to repair damage.

The fixation on cholesterol as a major cause of heart disease defies the last 15 years of science and deflects from real causes such as the damage (via glycation) that sugars such as glucose and fructose inflict on tissues, including the lining of arteries, causing chronic inflammation and resultant plaque.

Insulin & Leptin Resistance: Hundreds of excellent scientific articles have linked insulin resistance and more recently leptin resistance to cardiovascular disease much more strongly than cholesterol, and they are in fact at least partially responsible for cholesterol abnormalities. For instance, insulin and leptin resistance result in "small dense" LDL particles and a greater number of particles. This is much more important than the total cholesterol number. Because of particle size shift to small and dense, the total LDL cholesterol could still be low even though the number of particles and the density of the particles is greater. Small, dense LDL particles can squeeze between the cells lining the inside of the arteries, the "gap junction" of the endothelium, where they can get stuck and potentially oxidize, turn rancid, and cause inflammation of the lining of the arteries and plaque formation.

Likewise, cholesterol does not cause heart disease, but improper metabolic signals including improper signals to cholesterol (causing it to oxidize) and perhaps to the liver that manufactures the cholesterol, will cause heart and vascular disease and hypertension. Removing cholesterol will do nothing to improve the underlying problems, the real roots of chronic disease, which will always have to do with improper communication, and the generals of metabolic communication are insulin and leptin. They are really what must be treated to reverse heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, obesity, and to some extent aging itself.

Cholesterol; Wrongly Accused? The latest recommendation given by a so-called panel of "experts" recommends that a person's cholesterol be as low as possible, in fact to a level so low they say it cannot be achieved by diet, exercise, or any known lifestyle modification. Therefore, they say cholesterol-lowering drugs; particularly the so-called "statins" need to be given to anyone at high risk of heart disease. Since heart disease is the number one killer in this country that would include most adults and even many children. The fact that this might add to the $26 billion in sales of statin drugs last year I'm sure played no role in their recommendations. Or did it?

Major consumer groups think so. They found out that eight of the nine "experts" that made the recommendations were on the payroll of pharmaceutical companies that manufacture those drugs. Major scientific organizations have chastised medical journals for allowing the pharmaceutical industry to publish misleading results and half-truths. There is a major push under way to force the pharmaceutical industry (and others) to publish results of all of their studies, and not just the ones that appear positive. The studies that showed negative results would be forced to be published also. Statin drugs have been shown to be harmful to muscles causing considerable damage. A common symptom of this damage is muscular aches and pains that many patients experience on cholesterol-lowering drugs, however most do not realize that these drugs are to blame.

Indeed, low cholesterol levels have been shown to worsen patients with congestive heart failure, a life-threatening condition where the heart becomes too weak to effectively pump blood. Statin drugs have been shown to also cause nerve damage and to greatly impair memory. One reason that statin drugs have these various serious side effects is that they work by inhibiting a vital enzyme that manufactures cholesterol in the liver. However, the same enzyme is used to manufacture coenzyme Q10, which is a biochemical needed to transfer energy from food to our cells to be used for the work of staying alive and healthy.

Statin drugs are known to inhibit our very important production of coenzyme Q10. Importantly, while many cardiologists insist that lowering cholesterol is correlated with a reduction in the risk of heart attacks; few can say that there is a reduction in the risk of mortality (death). That has been much harder to show. In other words it has never been conclusively shown that lowering cholesterol saves lives. In fact, several large studies have shown that lowering cholesterol into the range currently recommended is correlated with an increased risk of dying, especially of cancer.

Because the correlation of total cholesterol with heart disease is so weak, many years ago a stronger correlation was sought. It was found that there is so-called "good cholesterol" called HDL, and that the so-called "bad cholesterol" was LDL. HDL stands for high-density lipoprotein, and LDL stands for low-density lipoprotein. Notice please that LDL and HDL are lipoproteins -- fats combined with proteins. There is only one cholesterol. There is no such thing as a good or a bad cholesterol. Cholesterol is just cholesterol. It combines with other fats and proteins to be carried through the bloodstream, since fat and our watery blood do not mix very well.

FULL COVERAGE of DR. Rosedale's Article on Cholestrerol, Statin Drugs, Inflammation & Triglycerides

17JAN08: A startling new study conducted at the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago found zero benefit for Alzheimer's patients taking statin drugs. Many doctors will, we're sure, continue to prescribe statin drugs for Alzheimer's even though the FDA has never approved the drugs for that health condition! Off-label prescribing is yet another medical bait & switch that allows doctors to prescribe drugs for anything, even if they've never been tested or approved for those conditions.

(SOURCES: Zoe Arvanitakis, M.D., associate professor, neurology, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago; William Thies, Ph.D., vice president, medical and scientific affairs, Alzheimer's Association, Chicago; Larry Sparks, Ph.D., director, Roberts Laboratory for Neurodegenerative Disease Research, Sun Health Research Institute, Sun City, Ariz.; Jan. 16, 2008, Neurology online)