Life insurance companies know a
surprising secret about cholesterol that most doctors never tell patients: When
it comes to rating your risk for a fatal heart attack, the
least important cholesterol number is your level of LDL (bad)
cholesterol. In fact, life insurance actuaries don’t even look at LDL levels,
because large studies show it’s the
worst predictor
of heart attack risk.
Instead, life insurance companies
use a simple math formula to rate your heart attack risk: They divide your
total cholesterol by the level of HDL (good) cholesterol.
“If the ratio is below three, and
there’s no inflammation in your arteries, you’re practically bulletproof
against heart attacks and strokes, even if your LDL is high,” reports Amy
Doneen, MSN, ARNP, medical director of the Heart Attack & Stroke Prevention
Center in Spokane, Washington.
Here’s a look at eight common
cholesterol myths.
Myth: Cholesterol is inherently evil.
Fact: You couldn’t survive without
cholesterol, since this waxy substance produced by the liver plays many
essential roles in our body, from waterproofing cell membranes to helping
produce vitamin D, bile acids that help you digest fat, and sex hormones,
including testosterone, estrogen, and progesterone.
Cholesterol
is ferried through your body by molecular “submarines” called lipoproteins,
such as low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL).
Myth: Low cholesterol is always a sign of
good health.
Fact: Although low levels of LDL cholesterol
are usually healthy,
a new
study reports that people who develop cancer typically have lower LDL in
the years prior to diagnosis than those who don’t get cancer.
Researchers
compared 201 cancer patients to 402 control patients without cancer, matched by
such factors as age, gender, smoking, blood pressure, diabetes, and body mass
index. None of the patients had taken statins.
Thirteen earlier
randomized clinical trials of statin therapy also found a link between low LDL
and cancer, causing medical debate about whether statins raise risk. The new
study suggests that an unknown biological mechanism—rather than
cholesterol-lowering medication—may be the culprit.
Myth: High LDL means you could be headed
for a heart attack.
Fact: Nearly 75 percent of people
hospitalized for a heart attack have LDL (bad) cholesterol levels that fall
within current recommended targets, and close to half have “optimal” levels,
according to
a
national study of about 136,000 people. The researchers also reported that
levels of protective HDL (good) cholesterol have dropped in heart attack
patients over the last several years, probably due to the rise in obesity,
diabetes, and insulin resistance. Only 2 percent of the patients studied had
ideal levels of both LDL and HDL.
Myth: All LDL particles are equally
dangerous.
Fact: The size of the particles
matters, says Doneen. “Think of beach balls and bullets. Some LDL particles are
small and dense, making it easier for them to penetrate the arterial lining and
form plaque, while others are big and fluffy, so they tend to bounce off the
artery walls.”
People who mostly
have small, dense LDL cholesterol are up to three times more likely to have
heart attacks than those with big, fluffy particles.
Find Foods that Lower Cholesterol but Keep Flavor
Myth: Americans have the world’s highest
cholesterol levels.
Fact: Contrary to the stereotype that
most of us are just a few big Macs away from a heart attack, US men rank 83
rd
in the world in average total cholesterol and US women 81
st,
according to the World Health Organization. For both sexes, the average is 197
mg/dL, slightly below the
borderline
high range (200 to 239 mg/dL).
In
Columbia, men average a whopping 244 mg/dL—a level that doubles heart-disease
risk—while Israeli, Libyan, Norwegian, and Uruguayan women are in a four-way
tie for the highest average with 232.
Myth: Triglycerides trigger heart disease.
Fact: “Triglycerides, a type of blood
fat, don’t invade the artery wall and form plaque,” explains Doneen. “However, high
triglycerides mark another huge problem: insulin resistance, a pre-diabetic
condition that is the root cause of 70 percent of heart attacks.”
High triglycerides
are also one of the warning signs of
metabolic syndrome,
a cluster of abnormalities that multiply risk for coronary artery disease,
stroke, and type 2 diabetes. To be diagnosed with metabolic syndrome, you must
have three or more of these disorders: high blood pressure, high blood sugar, a
large waist, high triglycerides, and low HDL.
Myth: Eggs clogs up
arteries.
Fact: It’s true
that eggs are high in dietary cholesterol, with upwards of 200 mg, mainly in
the yolk.
Research
shows, however, that eating three or more eggs a day boosts blood
concentrations of
both good and bad
cholesterol.
The LDL particles tend to be the
light, fluffy ones that are least likely to enter the arterial wall, while the
increased HDL helps keep the arteries clean, suggesting that most people’s
bodies handle cholesterol from eggs in a way that’s unlikely to harm the
heart. The researchers say that their findings add to growing evidence that
eggs are
not “a dietary evil.”
Read Our Guide to Cholesterol-Free Foods
Myth: There are no visible symptoms of high
cholesterol.
Fact: Some people with high cholesterol
develop yellowish-red bumps called xanthomas that can occur on the eyelids, joints,
hands, or other parts of the body. People with diabetes or an inherited
condition called familial hypercholesterolemia are more likely to have
xanthomas.
The best way to
tell if your cholesterol is too high is to have it checked every three years,
starting at age 20, or more often, if advised by your healthcare provider.
Good info there guys.
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