Is High Cholesterol Levels Bad?
Atherosclerosis is a disease where fat accumulates on the inner lining of your arteries. The medical community thought for many years that the more fat we eat, the more fat accumulates inside the arteries and the greater the chances of having a heart attack. This is a too simplistic view.
Scientist have discovered that at every stage of atherosclerosis - from the start to the stage where palgue breaks off and cause a heart attack - inflammation is involved. Inflammation is the way our body reacts to injury. When a part of our body is inflammed, it becomes red, swollen and we cannot move it properly e.g. a sprain ankle. Inflammation can also occur inside our body and and we usually do not know it when it happens.
Inflammation can trigger the release of subtances into our bloodstream that can damage the inner lining of arteries. Cholesterol has a healing ability and it puts a large amount of it over the damage area. Over time as more cholesterol accumulates, the plague grows and our arteries narrow.
New research shows that an elevated level of C-Reactive Protein (CRP) and Homocysteine promotes inflamation in our bodies and are a major risk factor for heart disease, possibly much more than high cholesterol levels. The studies shows that those with high level of CRP are more likely to have a heart attack or stroke than those with a high level of LDL or Bad cholesterol!
High level of CRP is likely due to allegies, an autoimmune disease, infections, obesity, diabetes, consuming transfat, a diet high in sugar and refined carbohydrates, cigarette smoking and a lack of anti-oxidant. An elevated level of homocysteine is likely due to inadequate intake of folic acid, vitamin B6 or B12, stress, excessive coffee drinking, use of oral contraceptive, impaired kidney or a genetic defect.
While a high level of LDL cholesterol has always been thought of as the bad guy of atherosclerosis that leads to heart disease, other factors such as high blood pressure, cigarette smoking, diabetes, inflects and other factors that promote inflammation cannot be ignored.
The aim is not just to lower LDL cholesterol but rather in the first place to prevent damage to the artery wall. Cholesterol only deposit itself on damaged artery wall - for the purpose of repair. It does not deposit itself on healthy, smooth blood vessels.