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Dr. Len and Nurse Vicki present everything you need to know about cholesterol. What it is, what the fractions mean, what they predict, and what we can do to deal with elevated levels. Statins, how they work, what they do, and their side effects are reviewed. The role of inflammation, oxidized cholesterol, and why it should not be lowered too much are explained....

Cholesterol is related to but not the direct cause of arteriosclerosis, heart disease, and strokes. We cannot live without cholesterol, we must have it to make cell membranes, vitamin D, many hormones, and bile salts. Yet it is related to heart disease. In general, the higher the cholesterol the worse the risk for heart disease. But it is not the total that is...

  Cholesterol is related to but not the direct cause of arteriosclerosis, heart disease, or strokes. We cannot live without cholesterol; we must have it to make cell membranes, vitamin D, many hormones, many neurotransmitters, and bile salts. Yet it is related to heart disease. In general, the higher the cholesterol the worse the risk for heart disease....

How low should cholesterol be lowered? Vytorin is a drug that contains both Zocor and Zetia and lowers cholesterol very powerfully. Most cardiologists believed this is really beneficial because the risk for heart attack goes down substantially. However, when a study was done on this and looked at all cause mortality, it was probably slightly increased!  Cholesterol...

Cholesterol is needed by the body to make bile salts for digestion, vitamin D, hormones, neurotransmitters, and cell membranes. The ratio of total cholesterol to HDL provides a metric for the development cholesterol plaque. Lowering cholesterol with drugs may have value for some situations, but it can be lowered too much and create other serious problems.