Should you rely on elevated LDL as a risk factor for CVD?

If you doctor suggests a statin drug because your LDL is elevated, here is the question you need to ask them.

Oct 08, 2022

I am sorry I have not posted in a while. I am in my last Ph.D. semester, and it has been a doozy as I prepare for the dissertation process! I will post weekly, possibly more (hopefully not less), but keep it shorter and to the point.

CVD Risk, Elevated LDL, and Mortality

orange heart decor — Photo by Robina Weermeijer on Unsplash

If your doctor comments on your elevated LDL on lab work and suggests taking a statin drug, don’t ask if it will lower your LDL on paper because it will. Instead, ask the important question-by taking the medication, how long will it extend your life span?

If your doctor does not give you an answer, look up the data. A statin may reduce your life by 5 days and extend it by 27 days. Meanwhile, for those extra few days, you may suffer from statin drug side effects-fatigue, joint pain, memory loss, and dementia. A statin will deplete a vital heart nutrient, ubiquinol.

Then ask for a more accurate test, the Lp (a), which is a better indicator of your risk for CVD.

According to Dr. Kendrik in his book “The clot thickens,” the HUNT2 study, which gathered information on over 50,000 people, found that men with high cholesterol levels did not have a shorter life expectancy and, in fact, for females, the higher the cholesterol, the longer they lived.

And From a Dr. Mercola article:

“To this day, the evidence keeps mounting, showing there's no link between cholesterol and heart disease. Similarly, the evidence supporting the use of cholesterol-lowering statin drugs to lower your risk of heart disease is slim to none and is likely little more than the manufactured work of statin makers — at least that's the implied conclusion of a scientific review published in the Expert Review of Clinical Pharmacology in 2018.”

“The 2018 review identified significant flaws in three studies "published by statin advocates" attempting "to validate the current dogma." The paper presents substantial evidence that total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels are not an indication of heart disease risk, and that statin treatment is of "doubtful benefit" as a form of primary prevention for this reason.”

“The Expert Review of Clinical Pharmacology paper also tears apart claims that high LDL causes atherosclerosis and CVD. Just as with total cholesterol, if high LDL were responsible for atherosclerosis, then patients with high LDL would be diagnosed with atherosclerosis more frequently. Yet, they're not, and those with the highest levels would have the greatest severity of atherosclerosis, yet they don't. The researchers cite studies showing "no association" between LDL and coronary calcification or degree of atherosclerosis. Ditto for LDL and CVD. In fact, a study looking at nearly 140,000 patients with acute myocardial infarction found them to have lower than normal LDL at the time of admission. Even more telling, another study, which had originally reported similar findings, still went ahead and lowered the patients' LDL even more. At follow-up three years later, they discovered that patients with an LDL level below 105 mg/dl (2 mmol/L) had double the mortality rate of those with higher LDL. Interestingly, the authors suggest this inverse relationship may be due to low LDL increasing your risk for infectious diseases and cancer, both of which are common killers. They also review evidence showing older people with high LDL do not die prematurely — they actually live the longest, outliving both those with untreated low LDL and those on statin treatment. One such study — a meta-analysis of 19 studies — found 92% of individuals with high cholesterol lived longer.”

What numbers to look at instead

Lipoprotein (a): most doctors will not run this test, so you must request it. Lp(a) has an additional protein, the sticky apolipoprotein (a), which envelopes the LDL particle. This is the test you need to have to determine your CVD risk. If it is high, it indicates you have a greater chance of a heart attack than people with numbers that fall in the low range. If your number is high, work with a specialist experienced in therapeutic protocols. Dr. Sinatra has a protocol that includes magnesium, carnitine, and ubiquinol. Others have self-experimented with therapeutic doses of vitamin C, lysine, and proline (Diel, 2022).

Iron panel: elevated iron can increase your risk for a cardiovascular event. Ideally, you should monitor your ferritin levels and get a full iron panel, not just a test for iron at your annual checkup.

Dr. Mercola suggests figuring out these ratios based on your lipid panel

HDL/Cholesterol ratio — HDL percentage is a potent heart disease risk factor. Just divide your HDL level by your total cholesterol. That percentage should ideally be above 24%.

Triglyceride/HDL ratio — You can do the same with your triglycerides and HDL ratio. That percentage should be below 2.

Dietary Interventions

Lp(a) is often genetic, so diet and exercise may not be effective alone. However, look and see if you need to make lifestyle adjustments.

Many people don’t realize the dangers of oils and their role in inflammation. Even if you eat healthy, look, as you may be surprised at all the places inflammatory oils are hidden in your diet. If you eat out, it is one of the biggest culprits. Other areas include your snacks such as tortilla and potato chips-even the “healthy” versions are usually cooked with canola, safflower, or corn oil instead of coconut oil. Take a look at your store-bought hummus too!

Do you eat nuts-check to see if they contain added canola or soybean oil. You may have to avoid chips altogether (not a bad thing!) and switch to raw or dry roasted nuts. Start reading labels, and you will find refined oils in your breadcrumbs, protein bars, added to frozen sweet potato fries, and so forth. Shockingly, rancid oils are hidden even in a healthy diet.

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