Low Cholesterol May Increase Cancer Risk?

Have we been sent off in the wrong direction by producers of cholesterol lowering medications, doctors and thoughtless health advice? Yes indeed, says Al Sears, MD who practices in Florida, USA. To give an example, he points to a study recently published by the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, which finds that the more you lower cholesterol the greater the risk of your liver enzymes going off kilter, your muscles dissolving in a potentially deadly disease called rhabdomyolysis and of contracting cancer.

Rhabdomyolysis, the muscle dissolving disease, is preceded by horrendous muscle pains. Patients are reporting this to their doctors, but apparently they aren't believed most of the time. Quite little of these often valid complaints filters up to where drug decisions are made and indeed, cholesterol lowering drugs are among the best sellers world wide raking in billions every year. And of course the suffering continues. If excruciating pain and loss of mobility sounds like something people should be able to stand for a chance to escape heart attack, try amnesia, behavioral and neurological side effects such as Alzheimer's and ALS. But let's get back to doc Al Sears and see what he thinks about the fad of lowering cholesterol and the connection between too low cholesterol levels in your body and cancer - and what you can do to protect your heart's health without the drugs ...

For years, I've been telling my patients that the medical establishment's obsession with lowering cholesterol to prevent heart disease is causing more harm than good. If your doctor continues to get you worried about your high cholesterol levels, here's a bit of news for you... In fact, your high cholesterol may be protecting you from cancer. A new study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology revealed that driving down cholesterol levels actually increases the risk of cancer. Researchers at the Tufts University School of Medicine found that among people taking "statin" drugs - like Lipitor and Zocor - there was a higher rate of cancer. Although the link between the drugs and cancer wasn't clear, there was no doubt that drastically low cholesterol levels correlated to cancer risk.

The big drug makers continue to sell the notion that the best way to fight heart disease is to lower LDL levels, the so-called "bad" cholesterol. Yet 75 percent of people who suffer heart attacks have normal cholesterol levels. It makes sense that low cholesterol levels are linked to cancer because cholesterol is one of your body's basic building blocks. You need it to produce testosterone, to build and repair cell membranes, and to preserve your nerve cells through the formation of the protective "sheaths" that cover them. Starving your body of this critical substance will lead to other health problems. We already know that extremely low cholesterol levels result in muscle weakness, fatigue, depression, decreased sex drive, and "brain fog." This new research shows that there may be even more deadly consequences.

What really matters is not low "bad" cholesterol, but high levels of HDL, the so-called "good"cholesterol. As long as you have a high HDL count - 75 to 80, for example - it doesn't matter whether your total cholesterol is 150 or 350. A high HDL will always keep your risk of heart disease extremely low. So why haven't you heard this already? It may be because there's no drug that effectively raises good cholesterol levels.

To Your Good Health, Al Sears, MD

Reference: 1 Alawi A, et al. Effect of the Magnitude of Lipid Lowering on Cancer. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 50(2007):409-418.

Bonnie - I have been saying this for years. How can a doctor justify putting a patient on a cholesterol lowering drug when their HDL is over 100 and their LDL is below 100? Yet, they still prescribe the drugs because their total cholesterol is over 200. Of course it will be over 200 when you have so much good cholesterol!

Actually, I agree with Dr. Sears with regard to no drug available that can improve HDL. However, there is a prescribed substance called Niacin (a B-Vitamin), which has been around for years! You can get this by prescription from your physician in greater strengths. Never take over 500 mg. of niacin on your own.