Cholesterol

Famed heart surgeon Michael DeBakey addressing a gathering of cardiologists decades ago said, "If cholesterol is such a problem, then tell me why over half of my cardiac patients have normal cholesterol." Google "the cholesterol myth" or something similar and read all the evidence that indicates there is probably more harm in low cholesterol than in high cholesterol. Every cell in the body needs cholesterol. Granted, there are different types of cholesterol, and it seems the heavy dense LDL can be too high, but the light, fluffy LDL and HDL are reportedly beneficial. I am not a doctor but have been interested in the subject for years and I stopped worrying about cholesterol long ago. I get them to check C-reactive protein and homocysteine because inflammation is much more of a problem according to my reading.

Thanks for your reply. The myths you speak of make me think back to the 50s when I was a child. When we heard of heart attacks they were usually among those with high stress lifestyles. I guess this notion was more of a correlation than clinically proven.

A doctor friend told me of a cholesterol study made with veterans. They had dietary data that went from WW II to present day VA hospitals. They found ARMY veterans had less heart disease than submarine sailors. They linked fresh dairy as the cause. The ARMY got powdered milk and eggs whereas the sailors on subs got fresh eggs and milk. They concluded that animal cholesterol was a factor in heart disease.

I often wonder if they considered stress. We used to hear soldiers speak of weeks of boredom punctuated by hours of shear terror. Sub duty was arguably more stressful on a day-to-day basis.

Hi @bob270 I had a stent placed in my mid-40s, and they figure my blockage was caused both by higher cholesterol in the 200s, but also with all the stress I had in my life. I have been working through these last years on reducing stress and my cholesterol, and some days are harder than others, but I am making progress.

Hi Heart Patches. Interesting that stress was included in your diagnosis. I had four stents installed in 2008 at MAYO-Rochester. No reason for my blockages (one at 98% and 3 more at 70%). I felt I'd had too many ham and cheese omelets over the years.I did have some horrific stress from my life in corporate America (what one guy called, "strange atmospherics"). I have gradually learned how to avoid stress.

Hi again Heat Patches.

I'm not good at navigating this site, but I did go to your discussion page and read of your struggles with worry. Your father's comment, "Don't sweat the small stuff" was familiar to me back in the 50s. In the 40s my father had a book written by Dale Carnegie, "How to stopping worrying and start living". He said, "Fully 85% of what you worry about doesn't amount to a hill of beans" or something like that. 85% resonated with me.

Thank you for sharing the title of that book. I will be doing some research to see if I can find it. I have gotten better over the past few years, but still worry at times, not about myself but for my boys and how this world has changed.

Hi HeartPatches~

Glad to hear you've managed to live better. It is sad that many new and strange concerns are now with us.

I encountered "PASSAGES" some years back. It is the follow on for adults to what the Stages of Life were when we were children. We all understand the Terrible Twos when referring to youngsters, but these ages old understandings never went beyond the teens. PASSAGES tries to fill the gap for adulthood. It goes by decades and gives us insight to our adult behavior and the choices we make along the way. It is in no way earthshaking, but does give a look at the foibles we face when our plans go awry.

Change is the only constant in nature.