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Today the National Cholesterol Education Program advised lowering the optimal levels of LDL (bad cholesterol)for high risk patients even lower. Only 5% of U.S. women and 2% of men have an LDL below 70, the program says; the U.S. average is 130. In 2001, the program lowered the LDL goal for high-risk patients to below 100.
They defined a person as high risk if they have:
- Coronary heart disease,
- Diabetes or
- Diseased blood vessels to the brain, arms or legs, or
- If they have at least two factors, such as high blood pressure, that raise their heart attack risk to more than 20% over the next decade.
This give the drug companies another tool to forcefully advocate use of their drugs to lower cholesterol into very dangerous low levels. These "experts" are absolutely clueless as the foundational causes of heart disease. Cholesterol is only an innocent bystander and using drugs to control a symptom is a sure fire solution to worsen the problem. The most obvious is the reduction of coenzyme Q10 that occurs to everyone consuming statin drugs. The less obvious ones are the side effects and complications that result when using a drug Band-Aid solution rather than treating the cause of the problem. The recent Baycol recall is a classic example.
The way to lower heart disease risk is to address foundational causes of
- Optimal exercise
- Ideal diet for one's nutritional type
- Addressing emotional stresses
- Good sleep
- Exposure to adequate levels of sunshine
USA Today July 12, 2004