The raison d'etre of this website is to provide you with hard scientific information which may help you make informed decisions in your quest for health (so far I have blogged concise summaries of over 1,500 scientific studies and have had three books published).
My research is mainly focused on the effects of cholesterol, saturated fat and statin drugs on health. If you know anyone who is worried about their cholesterol levels and heart disease, or has been told to take statin drugs you could send them a link to this website, and to my statin or cholesterol or heart disease books.
David Evans
Independent Health Researcher
Showing posts with label Cholesterol and Liver Disease. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cholesterol and Liver Disease. Show all posts
The association of cholesterol levels with the hepatitis C virus (HCV) and HCV-related hepatocellular carcinoma (liver cancer) was assessed in 73 patients with HCV-associated cirrhosis and cancer and 103 normal controls.
The study found that the cholesterol levels of the patients with the hepatitis C virus (HCV) and HCV-related liver cancer were 19% lower than the normal controls.
Nanji notes that death rates from alcoholic liver cirrhosis in many countries deviate markedly from that expected for a given per capita alcohol intake.
This study investigated the possibility that dietary factors might explain the deviation from expected and actual mortality rates in different countries. Data was gathered from 17 countries.
The study found that:
(a) High consumption of dietary cholesterol was associated with less cirrhosis.
(b) High consumption of saturated fat was associated with less cirrhosis.
(c) High consumption of polyunsaturated fat was associated with more cirrhosis.
This study suggests that both saturated fat and dietary cholesterol protect against alcoholic cirrhosis while polyunsaturated fats promote cirrhosis.
Hepatitis can be caused by viruses that primarily attack the liver cells, such as hepatitis B. About one fifth of the patients with chronic hepatitis B are at risk of developing cirrhosis or cancer of the liver
The study examined 1,556 apparently healthy men aged 35-64 years to determine whether prolonged infection with hepatitis B virus is associated with a lower blood cholesterol concentration. 238 (15%) of the men were positive for hepatitis B surface antigen, indicating that they were chronic carriers.
The study found:
(a) Cholesterol levels were 4.2% lower among carriers (that is, positive for hepatitis B surface antigen) than among non-carriers.
(b) Chronic hepatitis B virus infection, which usually starts in early childhood in China, seems to lead not only to a greatly increased risk of death from liver disease but also to a somewhat lower cholesterol levels in adulthood.
The study found that lower cholesterol levels lead to risk of death from liver cancer or from other chronic liver diseases.
This post includes a summary of a paper published in the Annual Review of Nutrition 2006; 26: 229–250 and a recipe for liver and onions.
Study title and author: Choline: Critical Role During Fetal Development and Dietary Requirements in Adults
Steven H. Zeisel
Department of Nutrition, School of Public Health and School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599; email: steven_zeisel@unc.edu
Zeisel notes that choline is an essential nutrient needed for cell membranes, brain and muscle function.
Choline is critical during fetal development and helps lifelong memory function. It also gives protection from neural tube defects and protects the brain and spinal cord structure and function.
When deprived of dietary choline, most men and postmenopausal women developed signs of organ damage such as fatty liver or muscle damage, and 44% of premenopausal women developed such signs.
Directions:
1.Prepare the liver. To do this you need to rinse the liver in cold water, pat it dry and then cut out any of the large or stringy tubes before cutting it into pieces. I prefer to cut it into inch-wide strips or inch square pieces, depending on the size and form of the pieces that I started with.
2.Heat some oil in frying pan until it is smoking.
3.Put the liver in the pan for about 2 minutes until it has mostly stopped bleeding. Keep it moving while it cooks to stop it from sticking.
4.Add the onions to the pan and continue to keep this moving in the pan with the liver for 1-2 minutes until the onions are starting to soften. If you don’t keep it moving about then the onions are at risk of burning or cooking unevenly.
5.Finally add the stock to the pan, mix in thoroughly with the liver and onions, and then leave simmering over a high heat until the stock reduces to a thick gravy, which should take about 3-5 minutes.
This post includes a summary of a study published in the Journal of Womens Health (Larchmt) 2004 Jan-Feb;13(1):41-53 and a recipe for butter chicken.
Study title and authors: Books:
Why Eve is not Adam: prospective follow-up in 149650 women and men of cholesterol and other risk factors related to cardiovascular and all-cause mortality.
Ulmer H, Kelleher C, Diem G, Concin H.
Institute of Biostatistics and Documentation, Leopold Franzens University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria.Hanno.Ulmer@uibk.ac.at
This paper can be accessed at:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15006277?dopt=Abstract This study examined the relationship between cholesterol levels and death rates in 67,413 men and 82,237 women aged 20-95 years over a 15 year period.
The study found:
(a) In men, a low cholesterol level is significantly predictive of a higher risk of death at all ages.
(b) In women, a low cholesterol level is even more markedly significantly predictive of a higher risk of death over the age of 50.
This study reveals thatlow cholesterol is associated with increased death rates in both men and women.
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