Paleo f(x) Austin 2014
Clearing Up Cholesterol Confusion
Panel: Dr. Daniel Stickler, Dr. Rakesh C. Patel, Dr. Richard Maurer, Jimmy Moore (Moderator)
- Why is a reading over 200 considered bad? Because of the guidelines from the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP)
- It is about treating numbers rather than training
- Most physicians have no training in cholesterol
- There is a lot of pressure on doctors to prescribe drugs to follow the set standards of care
- Do not look at cholesterol as a risk factor. Look at diet and lifestyle first and only then move to medication if needed
- Most doctors treat a number on a paper
- If you have a heart attack and doctors haven’t prescribed medication they can get sued
- Doctors must look at all aspects of the patient’s lifestyle and not just their cholesterol number
- One reading is not enough on its own. Multiple readings are necessary
- Risk factors such as family history, blood pressure readings, etc need to be considered
- With cardiovascular disease, we can only treat the risk. It is about risk vs disease
- Can use a croronary calcium score test – low dose radiation CAT scan. This scans the heart to see if there is any calcification
- Ultrasound tests are also used
- Gene expression scoring
- Despite tests, we really need to look at more general symptoms such as inflammation and fasting glucose
- STOP MEASURING YOUR CHOLESTEROL NUMBER!
- An MMR – advanced lipid panel test is sometimes used
- LDL numbers are calculated by an equation – they are not directly measured
- Although we do not have a trial to show that small particles are more dangerous, we know that healthy individuals have lower amounts of the smaller, dense LDL
- The advice to avoid saturated fat etc drops LDLC but compromises the particle