UPDATE ON CHOLESTEROL THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY LDL HDL TRANS FATS AND NATURAL DIETS TO LOWER CHOLESTEROL PART ONE

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Natural Remedies for High Cholesterol

You hear a lot about cholesterol. Good cholesterol, bad cholesterol, triglycerides and trans fats. In general, bad cholesterol, LDL is associated with an increased chance of heart problems. HDL,"good cholesterol" is associated with less heart problems. Trans fats seem to increase the bad cholesterol, LDL. Cholesterol drugs and diets have been in the headlines with a University of Toronto "natural" diet that says 20% cholesterol reduction is possible. Also, controversy has swirled around the well known cholesterol drugs Zetia and Vytorin

The Cholesterol Blood Test What is it

The Lipid Profile blood test that you take at the doctor's office provides values including:

Total cholesterol

HDL good cholesterol

LDL bad cholesterol

Triglycerides





In addition other blood tests may give more data about cardiac risk including:

C reactive protein

homocysteine

The Good Cholesterol, Trans Fats and the Bad Cholesterol: HDL and LDL

Pfizer, the drug company, got a nasty shock when they discovered that a new blockbuster drug they were developing to increase HDL good cholesterol had too many bad side effects. So what is the cholesterol?












When people talk about the good cholesterol and the bad cholesterol they are referring to HDL and LDL. HDL and LDL are lipoproteins, structures created from cholesterol and protein that travel to and from the liver carrying cholesterol.. Trans fats are fats that worsen bad cholesterol. I've mentioned LDL, that is tagged with the moniker "bad cholesterol" but HDLs are called the good cholesterol because high levels of HDL seem to decrease coronary heart disease risk. Routinely doctors say that the HDL acts to carry away the bad cholesterol from the artery walls, however, there is also evidence that HDLs may interfere with LDL oxidation. Oxidation of LDL refers to a chemical process that happens on the LDL and is believed to be one of the steps in the process that leads to heart attack.

Click here to READ ABOUT PROBLEMS WITH ZETIA AND VYTORIN CHOLESTEROL DRUGS

Risk Factors: More Risk Factors For Heart Disease The More You Want to Lower Your Cholesterol

You will see different numbers listed for desirable levels of cholesterol depending on where you look. What is true is that it is even more desirable to have lower levels of bad cholesterol when you have risk factors for heart disease.



Imagine if you will, a person with high cholesterol. Very high cholesterol. Recommendations for the "bad" LDL cholesterol vary but generally 100 or less is satisfactory. Now imagine a person with an LDL of 500 or 1000. Finally, imagine they are just twelve years old! That's the situation that confronts people who have a genetic problem with cholesterol disposal called Familial Hypercholesterolemia. Their bodies don't have the full mechanism for dealing with cholesterol LDL and as a result they are at very increased risk of heart attacks.

Click to Read PART TWO UPDATE ON CHOLESTEROL THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY LDL HDL TRANS FATS AND NATURAL DIETS TO LOWER CHOLESTEROL

VIDEO OF CLEVELAND CLINIC CARDIOLOGIST ON ZETIA AND VYTORIN CHOLESTEROL LOWERING STUDY QUESTIONS VALUE OF VYTORIN ZETIA

Hear a prominent cardiologist speak about the Vytorin controversy

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Here is an update to the story about Zetia. Watch a video of a famous cardiologist at Cleveland Clinic talk about his ideas about Zetia and the Vytorin study.The study questions the value of Zetia to halt or decrease artery clogging atherosclerotic plaque in the heart . Zetia has been viewed as a way to lower cholesterol without the possible systemic side effects of the more powerful statin cholesterol drugs. Some people just don't like or tolerate statins like Lipitor, Crestor or Zocor.


Cleveland Clinic Doctor Talks About Zetia Problems Click the Arrow to Start






Doctors knew that Zetia did not lower cholesterol as much as the statins but it was hoped that in some people the effect would be enough to do the trick. However, reports have questioned if Zetia, even if lowering cholesterol,is helping sufficiently and if it has any impact on the buildup of plaque deposits in the arteries of the heart. When too much plaque lines the walls of the arteries it increases the chance that an artery can become clogged and close off thus setting in motion a heart attack.




"A popular cholesterol-lowering drug failed to help slow the buildup of artery-clogging plaque in a long-awaited study, the companies that market the medication said yesterday, raising questions about whether its use should be limited. The drug, Vytorin (a combination of Zetia and Zocor), also did not reduce the thickness of plaque lining artery walls, a significant disappointment for the manufacturers"

Click here to READ ABOUT STATINS THE MOST POWERFUL CHOLESTEROL REDUCERS AND HOW THEY WORK AND SIDE EFFECTS



In the classic explanation of the dangers of high cholesterol, high cholesterol leads to the narrowing of the coronary arteries and a plaque may break off and block or occlude the artery. The result is little or no blood flow to the part of the heart being supplied by that artery and a heart attack. As Dr. Peter Libby of Harvard points outsometimes a plaque grows so large that it virtually halts the blood flow in an artery and generates a heart attack or stroke.





Some doctors like Zetia because it works in the intestine to block cholesterol absorption, not in the liver like statins. So potentially it has fewer side effects. But now the question is should they prescribe Zetia if it doesn't help with artery plaques?

Drug Doesn't Slow Artery Clogs, Study Says










"Previous studies have shown Zetia and Vytorin are effective at lowering cholesterol, but other medications that do this have been shown to have additional benefits, such as slowing the buildup of plaque or sometimes even shrinking it, and reducing the risk of heart attacks and strokes and lowering mortality rates".