Patients hospitalised with mental illness have lower cholesterol levels than the general public

This paper was published in Psychiatric Services 2012 Mar;63(3):294-5

 

Study title and authors:

Unexpectedly low cholesterol levels among New York State inpatients.

Essock SM, Jackson CT, Kent L.

This paper can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22388541

This paper compared cholesterol levels in:
(i) 3,792 New York State Office of Mental Health Hospital patients, (from 17 hospitals) aged 18 and over, with severe and persistent mental illness.
(ii) The general US public.

The paper found:
(a) The mental hospital patients with cholesterol levels over 200 mg/dL (5.1 mmol/L) ranged from 11% to 36% across the 17 hospitals.
(b) US national data indicates that from 40% to 51% of the US public have cholesterol levels over 200 mg/dL (5.1 mmol/L), depending on their ethnic background.

This paper shows that patients hospitalised with mental illness have lower cholesterol levels than the general public.

The adverse health effects of low cholesterol

This paper was published in Beijing Da Xue Xue Bao (Journal of Peking University) 2010 Oct 18;42(5):612-5

Study title and authors:
Primary and secondary hypocholesterolemia

Song JX, Ren JY, Chen H.
Department of Cardiology, Peking University People's Hospital, Beijing 100044, China.

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20957025

In this review of the literature Song examines the influence of low cholesterol levels (hypocholesterolemia) on health.

He found:
(a) Low cholesterol levels are common in the population.
(b) Physicians pay little attention to the diseases, causes and consequences of low cholesterol in clinical practice.
(c) Low cholesterol levels can result in some adverse events, such as increased death rates, intracerebral hemorrhage, cancer, infection, adrenal failure, suicide and mental disorder.
(d) Despite the adverse health consequences of low cholesterol, physicians are increasingly prescribing cholesterol lowering treatments such as statin drugs.

With all the adverse health effects of low cholesterol Song concludes: "It's high time that physicians attached more importance to hypocholesterolemia."

Links to other studies:
Stroke patients with low cholesterol are more likely to die and have poor neurological outcomes
Low cholesterol levels lead to a 20.2% increase in death rates in those who have had a stroke
Low cholesterol and serious complications after an ischemic stroke

Lower cholesterol levels are associated with an increased risk of suicidal behavior

Published in Biological Psychiatry Volume 41, Issue 2, 15 January 1997, Pages 196-200

Low serum cholesterol in suicide attempters
Hiroshi Kunugia, a,b, Noriyoshi Takeia, a, Hiroko Aokib, b and Shinichiro Nankob, b
aGenetics Section, Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, London, United Kingdom
bDepartment of Psychiatry, Teikyo University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan

This paper can be accessed at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T4S-3RHM5D1-X&_user=10&_coverDate=01%2F15%2F1997&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1307236667&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=0451a3e976823afa967c37aed8bacbf7

The study findings showed a significant relationship in mood disorders and personality or neurotic disorders and low cholesterol levels.

The author concludes: "These results support the previous claim that lower cholesterol level is associated with an increased risk of suicidal behavior".

AMAZON UK The Cholestrol Myths: Exposing the Fallacy That Saturated Fat and Cholesterol Cause Heart Disease
AMAZON USA The Cholesterol Myths: Exposing the Fallacy That Saturated Fat and Cholesterol Cause Heart Disease

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Low cholesterol and increased mortality in men and women

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 that low cholesterol is associated with increased death rates in both men and women.

More information on this subject: Books : Scientific Studies : Websites : Videos : Food Mall   

Recipe of the day

Butter Chicken
 
This recipe serves about 4 people.
                                                                                                                          Food Mall: Chicken

Ingredients:

2 x 2 tbsp of pastured, grass-fed butter

About 1 Kg chicken cut in chunks;

2 tsp garam masala;
2 tsp paprika;
2 tsp ground coriander;
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger;
1/4 tsp chili powder (adjust to taste);
1 cinnamon stick;
6 bruised cardamon pods;
1 can of tomato puree (you can easily puree your own tomatoes if they are meaty enough);
3/4 cup coconut milk;
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice;

Technique:
1.Heat a pan, add the first 2 tbsp of butter and stir-fry the chicken chunks. You can cook them in 2 batches if your pan is too small.

2.Remove the chicken from the pan.

3.Put the second 2 tbsp of butter and slowly heat the spices for a minute or two until you can smell the aroma.

4.Put the chicken back in the pan and stir so you mix in all the spices with the chicken.

5.At this point, add the tomatoes and simmer for about 15 minutes. Stir from time to time.

6.Add the coconut milk and lemon juice and let it simmer for another 5 minutes.

7.Enjoy without guilt! Garnish with fresh herbs and a stick of cinnamon for extra fanciness points.