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May 9, 2005
Cholesterol Levels Generally Do Not Predict Heart Attacks
Even if you dismiss the link between dietary fat and cholesterol, you may still be left with the impression that heart disease is caused by high blood cholesterol levels, regardless of whether they are caused by diet or some other factor. Once again, the data does not back this claim.
Doctors and drug companies often refer to the famous Framingham Study when talking about cardiovascular risk. Framingham is a small town near Boston, where for more than 50 years, researchers have followed the population and tracked risk factors for heart disease. Government organizations often cite these study results as a reason to beat cholesterol into submission, using potent prescription drugs if necessary. But what does the study really reveal?
Amazingly, Framingham researchers themselves reported that “80 percent of heart attack patients had similar lipid levels [i.e., fat levels in the blood] to those who did not have heart attacks.” In other words, cholesterol levels do not predict heart attacks in the vast majority of patients. The link between cholesterol and women was essentially nil; women with low cholesterol died just as often as women with high cholesterol. Furthermore, according to data from the Framingham study, almost half of the people in the study who had a heart attack had low cholesterol.
Ironically, as the study participants grew older, the association between cholesterol and heart disease became weaker, not stronger. In fact, according to the data, for men above age 47, cholesterol levels made no difference in cardiovascular mortality.
Since 95 percent of all heart attacks occur in people above age 48 -- and those who have heart attacks at an earlier age are usually diabetics or have a rare genetic problem -- then most people do not have to worry about their cholesterol levels!
Posted by james at May 9, 2005 5:45 AM