Gene Millen, Author - Revised 4/28/16
The research study concluded;"High HDL levels are associated with longevity and are protective against the development of atherosclerotic disease. In the Framingham Study, risk for heart disease increases sharply as HDL levels fall progressively below 40 mg/dL."
The INTERHEART study researchers published a study in the Lancet Medical Journal that will surprise a lot of people. Their conclusions were that,
LDL cholesterol is not nearly as important as previously believed.
This 10-year research has been described as the most comprehensive study ever conducted on heart attack risk factors. About 15,000 heart attack patients recruited from around the world were matched with the same number of subjects who had not experienced any heart problems.
A Low HDL to Total Cholesterol Ratio is One of the Most Important Heart Attack Risk Factors. Neither high cholesterol nor high LDLs (the bad cholesterol) showed up among the top causes of heart attacks.
According to INTERHEART, the number one risk factor of heart disease is a poor ratio of APO-B to APO-A1. These are sub classes of proteins found in cholesterol, which are infrequently measured by most doctors.
APO-B is the protein found in the “bad” LDL and APO-A1 is found in the “good” HDL cholesterol. Increasing HDLs is more important in lowering your risk than reducing LDLs. Statin drugs do very little to improve HDLs.
The INTERHEART study also concluded that the relative risk of a heart attack could be lowered by 80% by doing just three things.
The conclusion of the reserchers that high cholesterol nor high LDLs appeared among the top risk factors was not good news for the makers of the statin drugs which lower LDLs but do little to improve HDL cholesterol.
As a youngster growing up I remember clearly waiting expectantly for the next issue of Superman to read what feats my hero would accomplish.
He was “faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a speeding locomotive and could leap tall buildings with a single bound.”
When it comes to saving your life HDL cholesterol is the superman that can accomplish even greater feats.
HDL cholesterol acts like a miniature hydraulic vacuum cleaner, streaming through your arteries (not quite as fast as a speeding bullet), scooping up the heart- stopping LDL cholesterol, and carrying it back to your liver where it can be “dealt with”.
HDLs also douse the fires of inflammation. It is this smoldering inflammation and oxidation that causes the cholesterol in our arteries to turn rancid and clog our arteries.
Although HDLs are routinely measured, many doctors provide this information to their patients only on a “need to know” basis.
This important knowledge is probably resting in your medical file, unnoticed and unappreciated like an unassuming Clark Kent at the Daily Planet. This is your blood that was tested and your life that is on the line. You should ask for copies of your lab reports, which will provide you with the information to take corrective action.
Take a deep breath and get busy. If it is between 40-59 it is considered “normal”, but like the doctor’s comments in one of my favorite cartoons,“Your blood pressure is off the chart, you’re over weight, out of shape and your cholesterol is god-awful. In short I find you perfectly normal.”
Here’s what you need to do to unleash the power to get your HDLs above 60.
Ths scientists at the pharmaceutical companys have been working in their labs to come up with a prescription drug that will raise protective HDL cholesterol, and fill up their treasure chests.
So far they have been unsucessful. But there is a natural supplement derived from sugar cane, that I've found to do an excellent job of raising HDL cholesterol. I discovered policosanol about 10 years ago and believe it is one of the best alternatives to statin drugs.
Policosanol not only lowers ldl cholesterol, but more importantly increases the good hdl cholesterol...and does it without the side effects that many statin drug users endure.
At a daily dosage of 20 mg HDL cholesterol levels typically increase by 15 to 25% after two months of use.
The combined LDL reduction and HDL increase can produce dramatic improvements in the LDL to HDL ratio, which lowers risk of heart attacks and strokes.
1. LDL cholesterol when oxidized by free radicals inflames the heart artery walls and creates placque.
2. HDL cholesterol reverses this process. It acts as an antioxidant and sweeps through our heart arteries like a vacum cleaner, removing the damaged ldl cholesterol.
3. The famous Framingham Heart Study proved conclusively that those with low HDL cholesterol are at the highest risk for heart disease.Click here to try Vital Life Nutrionals Policosanol Extra Strength capsules (made with the same formula used in the clinical studies) Save up to 40%.