The genius of Samuel Clemens tells the statin/LDL story quite pithily, even if he didn't actually say it.
Understanding the total cholesterol equation is the fundamental and profound way to unveil the fraudulence of the entire lipid hypothesis.
Total Cholesterol (TC) = HDL + LDL + 0.2(triglyceride level)
First, where is the cholesterol in this equation?
LDL is low-density lipoprotein. Is this cholesterol? Answer: No. Does LDL carry or is composed partially of cholesterol? Answer: Yes
The amount of cholesterol in LDL remains a mystery, casting doubt on the validity of the lipid hypothesis.
HDL is high-density lipoprotein. The same set of questions and answers apply.
Triglycerides: These are complex sugars. Cholesterol is NOT a sugar.
Here is the definition of a lipoprotein:
Lipoproteins are round particles made of fat and protein that transport fats (like vitamins A and D) and triglycerides through the bloodstream to cells throughout the body. The body produces different types of lipoproteins, which can be classified into seven groups based on their size, lipid composition, and apolipoproteins:
Now let's look at how the medical community attaches labels to the lipoproteins.
LDL is the "bad cholesterol"
HDL is the "good cholesterol"
But but but - LDL and HDL are NOT cholesterol - so why the label? Refer to the Samuel Clemens quote.
Now let's do some simple 3rd grade math.
Consider your life. We have bad, good, and neutral things (experiences, situations) in our lives. Let's make a simple chart illustrating good and bad things. For simplicity, rate each good and bad thing equally - that is, assign a mathematical value of 1 to each.
Thus your net good is expressed using this equation:
Net Good = Total Good - Total Bad
And, emphasis must be placed on the "minus" sign
So this poor bugger has a net of -1.
That is, this person has more bad than good. I got this by subtracting the bad from the good.
Now let's look at the TC ("total cholesterol") equation.
TC = HDL + LDL + 0.2(triglycerides)
Here is a translation of that equation based on what we are told about the lipoproteins.
Total = Good + Bad + the triglyceride part.
Hmmm. In the equation about your life, the "bad" is subtracted from the good.
Net Good = Total Good - Total Bad
But, in the "cholesterol" equation, the "bad" is added to the "good."
How can this be?
Here are two simple explanations:
“It's easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.”
LDL is NOT BAD - as per the "+" sign in the equation. You see, THEY ARE TELLING YOU - IN THE EQUATION - THAT LDL IS GOOD - NOT BAD!
HOWEVER, THEY CALL LDL BAD!
Why the title of this blog? Because not one single doctor has looked at this equation and said "huh! - That doesn't make sense. If they went through the 3rd (or even 2nd) grade and learned addition and subtraction - this contradiction would be quite obvious.
Maybe one or more doctors did notice this. In this case, their stances are: “It's easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.”
Run this by your doctor next time they suggest or demand you take a statin drug!
Here is what I wrote in my book, "Health Freedom Lost" on this topic.
The cholesterol industry is extraordinarily powerful. Sales from statin drugs have reached US $1 trillion.[i] The marketing budget to promote this narrative is daunting and they have made the cholesterol molecule the most demonized of all substances in the body. Because of the power behind this movement, the industry can get away with saying things that are completely unscientific by presenting their data in meaningless relative statistics. And, because of the revenue collected from the various drugs to lower cholesterol, they have the power to manipulate data, in both subtle and overt ways, through the use of randomized control trials.
Reminder: According to the Chaired Professor from Stanford University Medical School. John Ioannidis, MD, "most published research is false.[ii]"
Manipulated published research on cholesterol is the rule, not the exception.
An example illustrates how blatantly duped we are when it comes to knowing our cholesterol numbers. Any third grader that has adequate knowledge of math, when given this example, scratches his or her head and says, "huh?"
Your total cholesterol number is the summation of your LDL and HDL values plus 20% of your triglyceride number.
Total cholesterol = LDL + HDL + 20%Triglycerides
Here are three scenarios.
If you are a doctor, before reading on, please imagine the recommendations you would make in each case.
At great risk of creating confusion, here are the incorrect definitions for "cholesterol" used by doctors who practice standard of care. The correct definitions are provided after the analysis of these three scenarios. MedlinePlus provides the definitions that are universally used but are misnomers at best.[iii]
· Total cholesterol - a measure of the total amount of cholesterol in your blood. It includes both low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol.
· LDL (bad) cholesterol - the main source of cholesterol buildup and blockage in the arteries
· HDL (good) cholesterol - HDL helps remove cholesterol from your arteries
· Triglycerides - another form of fat in your blood that can raise your risk for heart disease, especially in women
According to the Mayo Clinic, the "healthy" values for the cholesterol numbers are shown in Table 1.
Table 1. Cholesterol levels for adults, ages 20 and over. Source: Mayo Clinic and US National Library of Medicine.
Comparing Patient 1 with Patient 2
When the doctor sees the "high" total cholesterol of 245 in Patient 1, red flags quickly go up. When the doctor sees the "normal" total cholesterol in Patient 2, there is much less concern. However, what makes absolutely no sense, is that in Patient 1 the "good" cholesterol is high and in Patient 2 the good cholesterol is low.
If HDL is the "good" cholesterol, and in Patient 1 the good cholesterol is nice and high, why does it make the total cholesterol score worse?
· Translation: As your "good" HDL cholesterol goes up, your total cholesterol score worsens and you are much more likely to be put on a statin drug.
This is when any 3rd grader says "this does not make sense." But your doctor with 20 years of education writes a statin prescription.
Let's take a look at Patient 3.
When the doctor sees total cholesterol of 150 in Patient 3, green lights flash indicating "perfect" cholesterol numbers according to the American College of cardiology.[iv] Patient 3 is actually the least healthy of the three and most likely is on a statin or other cholesterol-lowering drug. Total cholesterol values are seldom 150 mg/dL in healthy people. Yes, Patient 3 has a fantastically low "bad" LDL value. If the analysis is just on LDL and total cholesterol, the person's true health status is missed - completely.
The "good" HDL cholesterol of Patient 3 has tanked and the 20% of triglycerides value is high. Their actual triglycerides level is 250 mg/dL. People with a triglycerides level of 250 are diabetic or close to being so. According to the Cleveland Clinic," A healthy number for triglycerides is below 150 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL)."[v] The Mayo Clinic states, "A triglyceride level of 250 mg/dL is considered high. High triglycerides can put you at greater risk for heart disease, and can also be a sign of serious conditions including type 2 diabetes, prediabetes, metabolic syndrome, and hypothyroidism."[vi]
What? But the total cholesterol number is perfect! How can Mayo Clinic be saying that this person is at higher risk for heart disease and diabetes?
The Mayo Clinic also offers help to raise your HDL levels. "HDL cholesterol: How to boost your 'good' cholesterol."[i] In essence, they are showing you how to raise your total cholesterol number and be put at risk of being prescribed a statin drug.
Being put on a statin is often the beginning of a vicious cycle. It becomes a statin drug merry-go-round. One of many statin merry-go-rounds is related to diabetes. Statin drugs, as you will see later in this chapter, increase the risk of type 2 diabetes by at least 50%, on average.
· As a person trends toward diabetes, their blood glucose goes up.
· As their glucose goes up, so do their triglycerides.
· As their triglycerides go up, their total cholesterol number goes up.
· A large portion of those on statins is on blood pressure medications.
· As the cycle continues, their diabetes status worsens and they are put on insulin therapy.
· Their triglycerides go up further, increasing the total cholesterol number so they are put on a higher statin dose.
· Many people on statins still have an adverse event precipitated by the statin drug that contributes to the diabetic condition.
Do you know what your doctor or cardiologist does if you have a heart event of some type in this situation?
They put you on yet a higher dose of statin - if you can tolerate it, Figure 5.3.
Figure 5.3: The statin prescription merry-go-round.
Some type of procedure, a stent, angioplasty, or other invasive intervention is next. The approach is heart disease is just one thing - elevated cholesterol - nothing else. If it was just one thing, that would be wonderful. Successfully treat it in everyone and the disease goes away. Cardiovascular disease remains the number one killer of United States citizens.
"The enemy creates confusion."
[i] https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/high-blood-cholesterol/in-depth/hdl-cholesterol/art-20046388, November 10, 2020.
[i] Demasi M. Statin wars: have we been misled about the evidence? A narrative review. Br J Sports Med. 2018 Jul;52(14):905-909. doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2017-098497. Epub 2018 Jan 21. Erratum in: Br J Sports Med. 2018 Oct;52(19):1282. PMID: 29353811.
[ii] Ioannidis, John PA. "Why most published research findings are false." PLoS medicine 2.8 (2005): e124.
[iii] https://medlineplus.gov/cholesterollevelswhatyouneedtoknow.html, October 2, 2020.
[iv] Grundy, Scott M., and Neil J. Stone. "2018 American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology/Multisociety Guideline on the Management of Blood Cholesterol–Secondary Prevention." JAMA cardiology 4.6 (2019): 589-591.
[v] https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/11117-triglycerides#:~:text=A%20healthy%20number%20for%20triglycerides,200%2D499%20mg%2FdL. April 6, 2021.
[vi] Triglycerides: Why do they matter? (2020, September 29). Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/high-blood-cholesterol/in-depth/triglycerides/art-20048186
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