Cholesterol Conundrum

Most all of us who want to go on living the good life know there are two kinds of cholesterol floating along in the rivers of our blood veins.

Michael Olson Food Chain Radio – The Cholesterol Statin Conundrum

There is a “good” cholesterol ­– which is called “high-density lipoprotein” or HDL, and there is  “bad” cholesterol, which is “low-density lipoprotein” or LDL. 

Clinical research has shown that the higher the amount of HDL, and the lower the amount of LDL, the less likely one is likely to suffer a heart attack or stroke.   Conversely, the one-in-six who have the misfortune of low HDL and high LDL have a greater risk. 

Given all the research linking cholesterol levels to heart disease, it was pretty much a given that pharmaceutical companies would come up with a medication that reduces LDL levels.  In the 1980s they began marketing a whole family of cholesterol-lowering drugs called the statins, which work by blocking a liver enzyme that is essential for forming cholesterol.

Clinical studies proved that statins do in fact reduce the number of heart attacks in people with high LDL cholesterol.  But is it the medications’ cholesterol-lowering effect or some other aspect of how the drugs affect the body—such as its anti-inflammatory properties or even a combination of both that does the trick?  No one seems to know, for certain.

Furthermore, some people can’t tolerate the statins’ side effects, others can’t lower their LDL levels with statins alone, and at least one in five people whose LDL levels are managed by statins still have heart attacks or strokes.

And so, when the doctor looks us in the eye and says, “I think it’s time for you to begin taking statins,” we are faced with the cholesterol conundrum:   

Should we begin a life-long regime of taking a medication that may or may not reduce our risk of heart attack and stroke?

Tune in here, for the syndicated Michael Olson Food Chain Radio Show #1390 April 11, 2025 Saturday 9AM Pacific