It’s been going this way for a while: even healthy people should be on the cholesterol-reducing drugs known as statins. That, in a nutshell, is the verdict of a study published over the weekend which found that even in people deemed to be at low risk of cardiovascular disease, treatment with rosuvastatin (Crestor) at a [...]

Over recent weeks there has been a flurry of research that has challenged the notion that lower levels of cholesterol are always better. In particular, there is evidence linking lower cholesterol levels with an increased risk of cancer (see here, here and here for more on this). In the light of this, it seems reasonable [...]

The idea that high levels of cholesterol in the bloodstream puts us in mortal danger is perhaps one of the most firmly entrenched medical ‘facts’ of our time. Repeatedly, consistently and frequently we are warned that the cholesterol in our blood will bung up are arteries and increase our risk of heart disease. Another reminder [...]

Back in July I wrote about a study (the so-called “SEAS” trial) in which two cholesterol agents (simvastatin and ezetimibe) taken in combination appeared to increase risk of cancer. The full results of this study were published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine [1] and can be read here.
Alongside this [...]

At the risk of repeating myself, today I’d like to share with you the results of a study which has found a link between low cholesterol levels and heightened risk of cancer. After all, it was only last Friday that I reported on a recently published study which found precisely the same thing. The study [...]

When in comes to cholesterol levels, the mantra is usually ‘the lower the better’. The idea here is that the lower the level of cholesterol in our bloodstreams, the lower our risk of cardiovascular disease (e.g. heart attack and stroke) and therefore, we hope, death from these conditions. But wait a minute, even if this [...]

About a month ago, I reported on a study (known as the ENHANCE trial) which found that two cholesterol agents (simvastatin and ezetimibe) were no better than one (simvastatin) in terms of reducing the narrowing of arteries in the body. This blog post was based on data that had to be, it seems, forced out [...]

Here in the UK we look to the Government’s Food Standards Agency (FSA) to guide us regarding what we should be eating, and we also trust them when it comes to ensuring the food industry doesn’t offer us too much shite to eat. Or that’s the theory, anyway. In reality, I reckon the FSA does [...]

Last Monday’s blog featured an article which revealed evidence of ‘publication bias’ (basically, the publication of positive studies and the junking of negative ones) in the area of antidepressant therapy. Not only that, but this study revealed that many negative studies are reported by their authors in a way that makes them look positive. The [...]

Last Friday saw the publication of an intriguing study which assessed the relationship between cholesterol levels and ‘vascular’ mortality – namely deaths due to heart disease and stroke. This review appeared in the Lancet medical journal, and assessed data from 61 studies. In short, this piece of research found that higher levels of cholesterol were [...]

The glycaemic index (GI) is a measure of the extent to which a food raises blood sugar. Generally speaking, the higher the GI, the unhealthier the food is. Lots of sugar generally means lots of insulin – and excess of which can promote of a slew of unhealthy biochemical processes including increased fat-making and reduced [...]

Very few of us will not have noticed that the last couple of decades have seen a concerted effort from health agencies and health professionals to persuade us that we should be driving our cholesterol levels to lower and lower levels. When I was at medical school the upper limit of cholesterol was 6.5 mmol/l [...]

My father (a retired doctor) is not one for pronouncements, though I do remember him offering me one piece of advice about how to be a good doctor: listen to your patients. I was reminded of this simple but sagely dictum recently on the reading of a study which assessed the response doctors give to [...]

In previous posts I’ve expressed a distinct lack of enthusiasm for cholesterol-reducing statin drugs. These medicaments are very much in vogue as a result of their much-touted ability to reduce the risk of ‘cardiovascular’ conditions such as heart disease and stroke. However, a better measure of the effectiveness of a ‘preventive’ treatment such as [...]

It seems like a week doesn’t go by without more yet more research coming to light which paints the cholesterol-reducing drugs known as ‘statins’ as wonder drugs. The latest example of such research was published earlier this month in the Annals of Internal Medicine [1].
The study was an analysis of individuals aged 65 or more [...]