A new review of studies of the last fifty years made by an international group of physicians and published in Expert Review of Clinical Pharmacology, defies half a century of confidence that the bad cholesterol (low-density lipoprotein, LDL) causes cardiovascular disease.
Cardiologists from the USA, Sweden, great Britain, Italy, Ireland, France, Japan and other countries (only 17 people) found no evidence of a link between high levels of total or bad cholesterol and cardiovascular diseases, analyzed data for 1.3 million patients. They said this view is based on misleading statistics, the exclusion of unsuccessful tests and ignoring numerous contradictory observations.
Also the review raises the question of the use of statins as primary prevention of cardiovascular diseases. This can have serious repercussions as tens of millions of people currently taking statins to reduce cholesterol levels and prevent myocardial infarction.
For decades, studies designed to mislead the public and doctors believe that LDL causes heart disease, but in fact it is not, said one of the authors of the review David diamond (David Diamond), doctor of philosophy, Professor of the Department of psychology and molecular pharmacology and physiology University of South Florida (University of South Florida). The study, which is the target of LDL, terribly wrong. Not only there is no evidence of a causal link between LDL and heart disease, but the statistical approach that the defenders of statins used to demonstrate the advantages were deceptive.
The effectiveness of treatment with statins as primary prevention discussed by researchers for several decades. The review indicated that these drugs have obvious advantages, and serious side effects. Data analysis in 12 European countries between 2000 and 2012 showed no link between taking statins and a reduction in mortality.
Currently, noted in the survey, statements about the positive test results of statins disappeared, because, according to the rules introduced in 2005 by the health authorities of Europe and the USA, all data samples should be presented.
We propose that clinicians have abandoned the use of statins and the PCSK9 inhibitors, and, instead, identified and revealed the actual cause of cardiovascular disease, said co-author of the review, Sherif Sultan (Sultan Sherif) from Irish clinic Galway (Galway Clinic), Professor of International society for vascular surgery (International Society for Vascular Surgery).
The researchers found a curious thing: in patients with acute myocardial infarction the level of bad cholesterol was below the norm, and in healthy people with low bad cholesterol significantly increased the risk of infectious diseases and cancer. But the most important finding was that elderly people with high LDL cholesterol levels live the longest.
Thus, a high level of bad cholesterol useful from the point of view of General life expectancy. And for the prevention of cardiovascular disease are advised to follow a low carbohydrate diet for weight loss.
Valeria SEMA