Friday, March 20, 2009

Is it for real? Cholesterol screening in toddlers and statins from elementary school age?



You’ve no doubt heard the news that “Obese kids may be candidates for cholesterol drugs.” New clinical guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics call for cholesterol screening in children from age two; low-fat dairy from age one in all kids; and cholesterol-lowering drugs, namely statins, for children as young as eight. These clinical guidelines have generated considerable controversy. But there’s something you need to know.

The controversy is not a matter of differences in opinions over the scientific evidence. This is a matter of the scientific evidence versus opinions and agendas.

To best understand the lack of evidence, misinformation and cognitive disconnects in these guidelines, we’ll go directly to the guidelines themselves and the evidence the authors cite.

For the rest of the article by Susan Szware click here.

Dangers of Low Cholesterol? - So Why all the Statin Drugs?

Low cholesterol, as found in recent research, can be very dangerous to our health. So why aren't the doctors warning their patients about this danger? I hope not to believe that it is to promote the sale of statin drugs, but, at this point, I would not be surprised.

Scientists know that our brain is made up of at least half of cholesterol. Our bodies make cholesterol because it needs it to function, thinking included. So it would make sense to say that if you lower your cholesterol, or block off your body's ability to produce it, then it could greatly effect the way our brain functions.

OK, so the brain is in charge of the body right? The brain is up there giving instructions to tell our heart when to beat, our limbs when to move, our eyes to see, how to fight disease, etc, etc...and so how much sense would it make to deplete one of the main sources of energy that the brain consists of, that being cholesterol? This is confusing to me. It is confusing, not because my cholesterol is too low, but because statin drugs are being dispensed like candy to try to correct a problem that is, well, maybe not really a problem but perhaps something that is another one of those little "white coat" lies that keep you coming back.

Here is a link to an excellent article found on www.westonaprice.org that should be read if you want to discover more about the truth about the danger of low cholesterol...

Dangers of Statin Drugs: What You Haven’t Been Told About Popular Cholesterol-Lowering Medicines
by Sally Fallon and Mary G. Enig, PhD

The above article covers many important points, the first being that...

  • Cholesterol lowering medications, deplete that body's ability to produce COQ10. It is safe to say that almost all heart patients are put on statin drugs and yet the heart simply cannot function when depleted of CoQ10. Perhaps this is the reason why there have been more heart related deaths and disease since the introduction of statin drugs.
  • Almost all tests with rodents and statins have caused cancer and that the manufacturers of statin drugs are aware that they suppress the immune system. Wow, this is really not good news.
  • Many studies have linked low cholesterol with depression and anxiety.
  • Studies were done to determine as to whether or not the use of statin drugs to reduce blood cholesterol levels had any effect on reducing plaque in the arteries. This belief that high blood cholesterol causes arterial plaque is as common as grass, but according to this research, at the end of the study there was no statistical difference in the progression of arterial calcified plaque betweeen those who took statin drugs and those who did not.
Well, these comments are just the highlights. Please read the article and decide for yourself on whether or not low cholesterol is bad for you.

Also, see this article from Dr. Mercola's site entitled Cholesterol is not the cause of Heart Disease .

This is not to say that we should all go out and eat cakes and cookies to raise or blood cholesterol, but as for me, I have been doing research on how to raise my cholesterol with raw nuts, and healthy oils. I will update you on how it's going in the future.



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