My own learning on the topic, from the completely non-scientific means of listening to my co-worker who is doing her own research into the matter (smart woman, FWIW, but i'd have to get real references from her), turned up the following interesting facts:
1) People with elevated cholesterol at the time of a heart attack actually had a higher 5 year survival rate than people with normal cholesterol at the time of heart attack. (No sense of why this might be true, though.)
2) Heart problems are not as correlated to vessel congestion and they are to the quality of that congestion - you can have a severely restricted blood vessel, but it is when the plaques slough off that you run into problems. Cholesterol causes congestion, but it is not entirely clear when it converts to the type that sloughs off easily.
3) Current popular theory is that it is generalized inflammation that is the problem. High cholesterol may be a symptom of inflammation. Treatments for high cholesterol actually reduce inflammation, so the reduction of cholesterol may be coincidental to the improved outcomes. Up and coming diet fads seem to focus on low-inflammation foods. Foods with low inflammation indices are the usual suspects (fruits, veggies, etc), and foods with high inflammation indices are also the usual suspects (animal fats, dairy).
4) The inflammation theory is being used to explain a variety of chronic diseases, including heart disease and diabetes.
Out of curiosity, do your numbers make you feel better, or worse?
no subject
1) People with elevated cholesterol at the time of a heart attack actually had a higher 5 year survival rate than people with normal cholesterol at the time of heart attack. (No sense of why this might be true, though.)
2) Heart problems are not as correlated to vessel congestion and they are to the quality of that congestion - you can have a severely restricted blood vessel, but it is when the plaques slough off that you run into problems. Cholesterol causes congestion, but it is not entirely clear when it converts to the type that sloughs off easily.
3) Current popular theory is that it is generalized inflammation that is the problem. High cholesterol may be a symptom of inflammation. Treatments for high cholesterol actually reduce inflammation, so the reduction of cholesterol may be coincidental to the improved outcomes.
Up and coming diet fads seem to focus on low-inflammation foods. Foods with low inflammation indices are the usual suspects (fruits, veggies, etc), and foods with high inflammation indices are also the usual suspects (animal fats, dairy).
4) The inflammation theory is being used to explain a variety of chronic diseases, including heart disease and diabetes.
Out of curiosity, do your numbers make you feel better, or worse?