{"id":2124,"date":"2012-05-08T16:28:35","date_gmt":"2012-05-08T15:28:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.zoeharcombe.com\/?p=2124"},"modified":"2018-10-18T11:01:32","modified_gmt":"2018-10-18T10:01:32","slug":"we-die-instantly-without-cholesterol-so-why-do-we-try-to-stop-the-body-making-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zoeharcombe.com\/2012\/05\/we-die-instantly-without-cholesterol-so-why-do-we-try-to-stop-the-body-making-it\/","title":{"rendered":"We die instantly without cholesterol so why do we try to stop the body making it?"},"content":{"rendered":"

On May 8th 2012, we woke up to the headline:”Shot in the arm for fight against heart attacks: The fortnightly jab that could unclog your arteries<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

The article opens by saying \u201cA fortnightly jab that slashes levels of \u2018bad\u2019 cholesterol could dramatically reduce the death toll from heart attacks and strokes. The injection has been shown to wipe out nearly three-quarters of the body\u2019s low-density-lipoprotein (LDL) \u2013 the harmful form of cholesterol that leads to clogged arteries and heart disease.\u201d<\/p>\n

This requires correction before moving on:<\/p>\n

1) Cholesterol is cholesterol. The formula for cholesterol is C27<\/sub>H46<\/sub>O. There is no good or bad version. Ignorant people call HDL \u2018good\u2019 cholesterol and LDL \u2018bad\u2019 cholesterol. Neither HDL nor LDL are even cholesterol \u2013 they are lipoproteins.<\/p>\n

The journalist (Pat Hagan) actually gets it close to right a couple of paragraphs later with the comment: \u201c(cholesterol) is transported in the blood by tiny \u2018courriers\u2019 called lipoproteins\u201d.<\/p>\n

2) LDL, the low density lipoprotein, does not lead to clogged arteries and heart disease. There are five lipoproteins formed in the body. In order of size, these are: chylomicrons (would ideally be called extremely low density lipoprotein to make more sense); VLDL (very low density lipoprotein); IDL (intermediate density lipoprotein); LDL (low density lipoprotein) and HDL (high density lipoprotein). All five lipoproteins carry triglyceride, protein, phospholipids and cholesterol \u2013 just in differing proportions. The density references relate to the size of each lipoprotein \u2013 the smaller the lipoprotein (HDL is the smallest), the higher the density.<\/p>\n

All lipoproteins play utterly life vital roles transporting triglyceride, protein, phospholipids and cholesterol around the body to do vital repair work. Why pick on one of four substances (cholesterol) carried by one of five lipoproteins (LDL) and claim that the body has made this to kill us? It is literally absurd.<\/p>\n

LDL <\/strong><\/p>\n

While acknowledging that cholesterol is made by the body (not just by the liver, as the article states) and “is essential to help the body produce hormones, absorb vitamin D and make bile to digest foods” \u2013 the article considers an injection that can “wipe out nearly three-quarters” of the LDL that the body makes for critical reason to be the latest marvel of pharmacology.<\/p>\n

The article continues \u201cHowever, one of these lipoproteins, called low-density-lipoprotein (LDL), is labelled \u2018bad\u2019 as it carries cholesterol away from the liver and dumps it in major blood vessels, where it can cause a life-threatening blockage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wrong! Apply some not-so-common sense for one second \u2013 why on earth would the body do this?! LDL transports triglyceride, protein, phospholipids and cholesterol from the liver because every cell in the body needs them – not because our body has a design fault and is making something intended to clog arteries and kill us. LDL should more accurately be called \u201cthe carrier of fresh cholesterol\u201d.<\/p>\n

Surely if any substance could actually block blood vessels, the ones that would block first would be the narrowest \u2013 the veins. And yet veins never clog. If a juggernaut were travelling on the road network \u2013 the motorways (arteries) would still run freely \u2013 the single lane and country roads (veins and capillaries) would be ground to a halt (blocked).<\/p>\n

What actually happens with heart disease is that the arterial wall (called the endothelial wall) is damaged by something (chief suspects being smoking, sugar, oxidants, stress \u2013 modern \u2018enemies\u2019 will explain this modern illness). The body builds a protective layer over the damage and tries to heal the area. The protective layer is needed because, unlike outside the body where a scab forms and heals and then breaks away, we cannot afford to have a scab break away in a blood vessel (as it could block a blood vessel!)<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the ultimate irony \u2013 the body\u2019s repair substances are triglyceride, protein, phospholipids and cholesterol \u2013 yes those things carried in the lipoproteins! As the carrier of fresh cholesterol, LDL is dispatched to the scene of the damage \u2013 the arterial wall \u2013 to do its vital repair work. It\u2019s rather like police being sent to the scene of the crime and then being accused of committing the crime!<\/p>\n

Every reduction in lipoproteins we can artificially impose on the body is another reduction in the tool kit that the body has to repair damage. Our demonisation of lipoproteins\/cholesterol, because we don\u2019t even know one from the other, is literally killing us.<\/p>\n

HDL<\/strong><\/p>\n

Back to the article: In the next paragraph we have the statement: \u201cHigh-density lipoprotein, or HDL, is known as \u2018good\u2019 as this compound has the job of transporting cholesterol back to the liver to be safely disposed of.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wrong! HDL carries the exact same substances \u2013 different proportions (higher density remember) \u2013 and is returning these vital lipids back to the liver \u2013 not for disposal, but for recycling. The body values cholesterol so highly that it lets none of it go to waste.<\/p>\n

Conflicts of interest<\/strong><\/p>\n

Those who know me will know that I am a passionate researcher into conflicts of interest. Sure enough this article is no different. Professor Keith Fox comments on the research as follows: \u201cAlthough statins work for the vast majority of people, there are some for whom cholesterol remains high. If this new treatment can help these people, that is a potentially exciting development, but it\u2019s still very early days.\u201d<\/p>\n

The drug companies involved in this lethal injection are Sanofi and Regeneron. Professor Fox is an advisor for\/has received funding from Sanofi<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Daily Express quoted James McKenney in their version of the same story: “If this pans out, it will be a whole new approach to lowering cholesterol,” James McKenney, chief executive officer of National Clinical Research Inc., said during a Monday press briefing at the American College of Cardiology annual meeting in Chicago, where the research was to be presented. The study was funded by the drug’s manufacturers: Sanofi U.S. and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. The research company that McKenney works for has received funding from both drug makers.<\/p>\n

The most important thing that every human being needs to know about cholesterol is that it is as life vital as oxygen. We die instantly without it. How we can view being able to \u201cwipe out\u201d three quarters of a lipoprotein made by the body to transport this vital substance to every single cell as progress beggars belief.<\/p>\n

If we ‘progress’ much more we will soon be able to kill every human that we ‘treat.\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On May 8th 2012, we woke up to the headline:”Shot in the arm for fight against heart attacks: The fortnightly<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1069,1059,1071],"tags":[494,493,492,103,591],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zoeharcombe.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2124"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zoeharcombe.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zoeharcombe.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zoeharcombe.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zoeharcombe.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2124"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.zoeharcombe.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2124\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2125,"href":"https:\/\/www.zoeharcombe.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2124\/revisions\/2125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zoeharcombe.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zoeharcombe.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zoeharcombe.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}