Looking at the World Health Organisation data on average total cholesterol levels for men aged 25+ and then marrying that with the highest risk countries for heart disease and the lowest risk countries for heart disease one would expect, if the doctors are correct, to see a glaring message. Well you decide. Which group do you think is the top risk group and bottom risk group for heart disease based on the countries average total cholesterol shown to the right.
Group1
Turkmenistan 4.5
Russia 4.9
Bulgaria 5.0
Romania 4.9
Hungary 5.1
Argentina 5.0
Group2
France 5.3
Australia 5.1
Luxembourg 5.5
Switzerland 5.3
Japan 5.2
Israel 5.0
Add in alcohol consumption, obesity, air pollution, income levels, diabetes and depression then I would say group 1
So all those play a significant part but cholesterol does not ?
I think the common link is the body's repair mechanism. Cholesterol is found at the scene, coping with toxins/inflammation as it is part of the repair mechanism, but it isn't an instigator.
I agree
You are correct. The figures are for total cholesterol which is irrelevant. Plus do you really believe that every single member in each country has recently had their cholesterol tested?
No I dont but you do not have to test every single member just a representative cross section
The heart attack figures are all the cases. They are not a representative cross section. There is no correlation especially as other causes are ignored
The groups are death by coronary heart disease. The bottom group with the highest total cholesterol are the bottom ranked for death by heart disease. The top group with the lower cholesterol have the highest rates of death by coronary heart disease
No need for handbags at dawn on this one; based on the WHO's own figures, the difference between the TC of the countries with the highest CVD deaths and the lowest isn't significant.
And it won't make a bit of difference to NHS practices next week for instance. Cognitive dissonance with pharmaceutical influence, and the majority of the food industry is unlikely to be up in arms either.
Which in itself is significant because if Cholesterol was such a powerful driving force in heart disease as we are led to believe then you would expect the top countries to be higher on the cholesterol scale to some degree. I am mentioning this because people still come on here with concern about their total cholesterol levels whereas their concern should be is it too low
Or as Ivor Cummins says, he was a bit miffed when his doctor focussed on cholesterol that may or may not increase CVD risk by 0.8 to 1.2, when insulin resistance is the big elephant in the room.
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I agree
Hi Mark, whenever Drs tell me my cholesterol is 7. 2 and I say "wonderful" they nearly fall off their chairs. Even when I tell them the research that states there is a much higher overall mortality rate in older women with low cholesterol. But the cholesterol myth is like dealing with the flat earth society, medical people have bought the myth.