Some of the many uses of cholesterol

This fact sheet regarding cholesterol was created by Justin Smith of Statin Nation.

Justin says: "If we google 'cholesterol' of course we'll find thousands of images portraying it as "artery-clogging", but what about the real functions of cholesterol?

I have created this one page info sheet / poster in an attempt to re-educate about the many things cholesterol is actually used for within the body.

Please send this A4 sized image to anyone you think is afraid of their cholesterol.

Suggestions:
-Print and use as a poster
-Email / hand out to friends and colleagues
-Fix to the front of your statin medication cupboard"

JPEG and PDF versions of the poster can be accessed at: http://www.statinnation.net/blog/2015/12/20/cholesterol-in-the-human-body

 

Justin has produced two DVD's that expose the $29billion cholesterol-lowering industry and explains how more than 40 million people have ended up taking a medication that is almost certainly causing them more harm than good.

Low cholesterol leads to a 50% increased rate of digestive system deaths

This post includes a synopsis of a study published in Circulation 1992;86;1026-1029

Study title and authors:
Health policy on blood cholesterol. Time to change directions
SB Hulley, JM Walsh and TB Newman
From the Division of Clinical Epidemiology (S.B.H., T.B.N.), Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics; General Internal Medicine Section (J.M.B.W.), Department of Medicine, Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center; Division of General Pediatrics (T.B.N.), Department of Pediatrics, and Department of Laboratory Medicine (T.B.N.), School of Medicine, University of California San Francisco.

This paper can be accessed at: http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/reprint/86/3/1026

Hulley reviewed a study that included 68,406 deaths.

He found:
(a) men with cholesterol below 160 mg/dl had a 20% higher rate of cancer deaths compared with those with higher cholesterol levels.

(b) men with cholesterol below 160 mg/dl had a 40% higher rate of noncardiovascular, noncancer deaths compared with those with higher cholesterol levels.
(c) men with cholesterol below 160 mg/dl had a 35% increased rate of injury deaths compared with those with higher cholesterol levels.
(d) men with cholesterol below 160 mg/dl had a 15% increased rate of respiratory system deaths compared with those with higher cholesterol levels.

(e) men with cholesterol below 160 mg/dl had a 50% increased rate of digestive system deaths compared with those with higher cholesterol levels.
(f) Among women, the patterns of the association between low blood cholesterol and increased rates of various causes of noncardiovascular deaths were similar to those in men, except that the excess in cancer mortality was smaller (about 5%).
(g) There is no association between high blood cholesterol and cardiovascular deaths in women.

Hulley concluded that these findings: "Indicate the need for a change in direction for cholesterol policy... and indicates that we should draw back from universal screening and treatment of blood cholesterol".