Higher Cholesterol Is Associated With Longer Life

[Peter1469]

I go by JohnsHopkins. I'll risk the effects rather than go through another quintuple bypass.

Please don't take this as an attack on your father.

That's OK. I expect there are people's whose health is past the point of lifestyle choices and need the Statins. My dad was at that point. (His health problems probably related to heavy smoking and poor nutrition and a lack of exercise.)

But I think the recent science is pointing away from cholesterol as being the culprit.

In fact high may be the wrong word. It is proper balance of HDL/LDL that is more important. But we do know that too low of a total cholesterol is bad and may be linked to dementia and Alzheimer's.

[Peter1469]

Avoiding foods high in cholesterol appears to have been bad or least pointless advice.

Yes, dietary cholesterol appears to not relate to the blood levels, although that may not be true for people who overeat to the extreme.

[Peter1469]

My doctor prescribed statins for me for no immediate reason other than it "may" increase the risk of heart disease. My heart is fine and my blood pressure is low and fine so it was a big NO thank you from me! I never got the script filled.

I would get a different doctor if that is the way they think.

[Red Lily]

I would get a different doctor if that is the way they think.

He's a temporary stand-in until I find someone I like as my long term doctor retired.

[Peter1469]

He's a temporary stand-in until I find someone I like as my long term doctor retired.

I had one doc like that- she said my cholesterol was too high when the HDL was 101 and the LDL was pretty low. The next doc got it and said I was fine and keep doing what I was doing.

[Peter1469]

Another article about the importance of cholesterol and the dangers of statins.

Why We Should Be Careful About Using Statins

The three greatest distinctions between plants and animals are that animals have a nervous system, mobility, and cholesterol.


In recent years, the pharmaceutical industry has painted cholesterol as the root of all evil, saying that if your cholesterol is anywhere higher than a certain level, then you’re in great danger and must take X number of precautions and Y number of drugs.

One class of drugs in particular that has risen to prominence over the past few decades is statins. Statins are a type of enzyme inhibitor, which means that they hinder biological processes in the body.

***


The Necessary Nature of Cholesterol

So what does cholesterol do? Cholesterol is a vital lipid found inside all animals and humans. It facilitates a well-functioning nervous system as well as efficient mobility.


Cholesterol is found on the surface of cell walls in concentrated areas called “lipid rafts” and also scattered all over the surface. The “rafts” help greatly with nutrient and ion transportation, and scattered cholesterol is a great aid to muscle contraction and functionality.

Cholesterol is also a precursor to many vital hormones found in the human body, including vitamin D3, sex hormones, and adrenal gland steroids. It prevents ions—positively or negatively charged particles such as sodium and potassium—from leaking across cellular membranes. Cholesterol also keeps bile acid levels in check.

And while the brain makes up about 2 percent of the body’s weight, it contains about a quarter of the cholesterol in the body.

***


Ramifications of Statin Therapy

Statins directly inhibit the production of cholesterol, which means that the liver now has no chance of keeping up with converting the blood sugars into fats. Fructose, especially, stays in the bloodstream and continues to damage proteins.


The biological chain reaction that statins stop doesn’t only produce cholesterol, but also the coenzyme Q10; statins, therefore, have a significant impact on energy production.


The muscles now face a number of issues due to insufficient coenzyme Q10 and cholesterol. Ions leak from muscle cells because cholesterol isn’t there to stop it. The liver can’t keep up with fructose conversion because of a lack of cholesterol. There’s more sugar in the blood that causes oxidative damage to muscle cells.


The mitochondria in cells across the body also struggle with energy production because they’re missing the coenzyme Q10, not to mention that cells receive fewer fats as fuel in general because less LDL is being sent out from the liver.


Everything that we do depends on energy. The energy the cells use doesn’t come from the wall socket, but from a molecule called adenosine triphosphate, or ATP. The synthesis of ATP from sugars results from two steps: anaerobic (without oxygen) and aerobic (with oxygen). The anaerobic step produces two molecules of ATP, while the aerobic step usually cranks out somewhere between 32 to 36 molecules of ATP.


Now, guess which step uses coenzyme Q10? That’s right, the more critical aerobic step.


Even though the muscle cells of people taking statins are missing coenzyme Q10 and therefore don’t have sufficient ability to utilize the aerobic part of ATP synthesis, they can still produce energy—it’s just much less efficient.
It’s like driving a car with square wheels instead of round ones.

[Just AnotherPerson]

Docs like to dish out statins like they are candy. They cause dementia and diabetes. Our body needs the cholesterol to maintain our myelin sheaths, and so many other reasons. A person can reach a healthy cholesterol level through diet and exercise. There are also many natural remedies that can help.

Statin use and cognitive changes in elderly patients with dementia: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25203109/

The negative affects of statins on the brain: https://dementia.news/2019-02-04-neg...the-brain.html

Do statins cause diabetes: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23456437/