I would like to start a discussion regarding cholesterol to assist others who are getting frightened about the numbers they just received from their doctors, or what they have read in a magazine or TV advertisement. Please share your thoughts or questions in this forum so we all may learn something from these conversations.
A big topic of concern with 80-85% of our clients is cholesterol, the numbers on their labs, and what they are instructed to do about these elevated numbers. I strongly urge people to not get overly concerned with these numbers and their risk for cardio vascular disease pre-maturely. In order to find out if you have a much higher risk to cardiovascular disease you must look at all risk factors associated with cholesterols including CRP, Homocysteine, Insulin and all the lipoprotein subfractions, along with lifestyle factors and the rest of physiology. Until then it is premature for someone to get overly excited about starting medication to lower their cholesterols and taking the risk of a number of side effects associated with these meds. It must be understood that the body does not intentionally produce molecules and other inflammatory risk factors to sabotage itself. It produces these molecules in response to physiological changes and demands. Many times cholesterol is a beneficial set of molecules that is manufactured in the liver to protect injured tissue from muscles to vessel walls, providing raw material for hormone synthesis, and much more....Thanks, Dr. Corey Priest, Center Director
