New research from RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences has revealed that the link between 'bad' cholesterol (LDL-C) and poor health outcomes, such as heart attack and stroke, may not be as strong as previously thought.
Published in JAMA Internal Medicine, the research questions the efficacy of statins when prescribed with the aim of lowering LDL-C and therefore reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD).
Previous research has suggested that using statins to lower LDL-C positively affects health outcomes, and this is reflected in the various iterations of expert guidelines for the prevention of CVD. Statins are now commonly prescribed by doctors, with one third of Irish adults over the age of 50 taking statins, according to previous research.
The new findings contradict this theory, finding that this relationship was not as strong as previously thought. Instead, the research demonstrates that lowering LDL-C using statins had an inconsistent and inconclusive impact on CVD outcomes such as myocardial infarction (MI), stoke, and all-cause mortality.
In addition, it indicates that the overall benefit of taking statins may be small and will vary depending on an individual's personal risk factors.
Originally posted by Piano*Dad: I think I'll have me some fried eggs tomorrow morning, over easy. With sausage!! Well, chicken sausage as a minor concession.
My lipidologist thinks there’s nothing wrong with cheese and she affirmatively thinks eggs are good. She says that cholesterol from food has a very small impact on total cholesterol … the greatest proportion is cholesterol produced by your liver, and she thinks carbohydrates are the enemy.
But sadly she is vey much against fried foods and processed meats like bacon.
I'm drinking coffee with quite a lot of real cream right now.
As Quirt said, our lipidologist is not at all concerned about dietary fat, as long as bad blood fats stay low, either naturally or with statins. I sure hope she's right, because I have become totally unconcerned about it.
Jodi
