OK.
I guess you are wondering who the “boogeyman” is?
The boogeyman is the traditional medical establishments almost singular focus on LDL cholesterol being a cause of heart disease, and their ever far reaching goal of lowering it by all means necessary.
Trout with yellow bell peppers in a garlic dill cream sauce with a piece of crust free gluten free quiche on the side #Delicious
I know, I know. Cholesterol is at the scene of the crime when there is blockage of an artery in your heart.
Wanna know something?
The police are also at the scene of most crimes.
The fire department is at the scene of most fires.
Do you ever blame the police and fire department for crimes and fires??
Last I checked the police go to scenes of crimes and the fire department go to fires for protection from crimes and to put out the fires.
Hmmm, I hope that makes you think a bit about whether, perhaps, just perhaps cholesterol gets put into the arteries to “heal damage” caused by something else entirely.
Let me repeat that as it is mucho importanto.
Hmmm, I hope that makes you think a bit about whether, perhaps, just perhaps cholesterol gets put into the arteries to “heal damage” caused by something else entirely.
If that is indeed the case, then would pharmaceutically lowering cholesterol be the same as defunding preventing the police and fire department from performing their duties?
Grass fed rib eye steak medium to medium rare with buttered onions and some garlic roasted cauliflower on the side. #Delicious
Let’s segway into another part of the boogeyman.
A new drug, Bempedoic Acid, is being launched that can lower your cholesterol. Whoop-de-doo, it does so by a slightly different mechanism than statin drugs, which has been the mainstay of pharmaceutically lowering cholesterol for decades. Mainstream medicine is all agog about this new medication priced at just under $500/month in the USA.
Let’s take a look under the hood at the study results that everyone is so happy with.
Here was the conclusion of the study:
Among statin-intolerant patients, treatment with bempedoic acid was associated with a lower risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (death from cardiovascular causes, nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or coronary revascularization.
Sounds good so far.
What else?
"The mean LDL cholesterol level after 6 months of treatment with bempedoic acid was 107.0 mg per deciliter (2.77 mmol per liter), as compared with 136.0 mg per deciliter (3.52 mmol per liter) with placebo, for a difference of 29.2 mg per deciliter (0.76 mmol per liter)."
Wow, it lowered cholesterol levels.
So let’s recap so far.
Bempedoic Acid lowers the risk Nonfatal heart attacks, Nonfatal strokes and need for coronary revascularization- I think they mean stents or bypass but not sure.
OK, so it lowered cholesterol and the numbers of heart events that people do NOT die from.
Uncooked ingredients from my dream meal……
What else did Bempedoic do?
Fatal Cardiovascular deaths rose by on average 4% - yes they rose, that means more deaths from cardiac causes occurred in those using Bempedoic acid.
Fatal Strokes rose by on average 12% - yes, again that means more deaths from strokes occurred in those using Bempedoic acid.
Fatal Heart attacks rose by on average 38% in those using Bempedoic acid.
Fatal and nonfatal hemorrhagic stroke more than doubled in those using Bempedoic acid.
Here is the kicker.
All Cause Mortality- death from any cause rose by an average of 3% in those using Bempedoic acid.
Crocus flowers growing in my front yard. I needed something nice after writing about the increase in deaths from Bempedoic acid. If you believe it that pic was from my Iphone 11 camera.
There is also a warning about an increase in gout, cholelithiasis (gall stones), and renal (kidney) impairment with the use of Bempedoic acid.
So let me simplify this for you.
If you choose to use Bempedoic acid to lower your cholesterol you may have less of a chance of having a Non-fatal heart attack or stroke as well as lower risk of needing a stent or bypass.
But your risk rises for having a Fatal heart attack and Stroke. Also your risk of dying from any cause, even not related to heart/vascular disease increases.
After what has happened the past three years with the FDA and the COVID mRNA injection treatments, I am really surprised that Bempedoic acid has not been granted an EUA (Emergency Use Authorization), with the emergency being that the pharmaceutical companies need more profits and quickly. It is almost never about your health anymore with the FDA.
Please ask yourself this.
How come a medication can lower cholesterol levels in the blood yet increase your risk of death, if cholesterol is so evil?
The answer whether you want to hear it or not, is that cholesterol is not your enemy. Cholesterol is not the cause of heart disease no matter how many times someone tells you it is.
Why would your body produce a substance throughout evolution that would be damaging?
It is time for the traditionalists to start thinking a bit more about mechanisms and remove their bias about heart disease and cholesterol.
FYI- I used to believe in the boogeyman. The first 10 years of my practice I advised a low fat diet and prescribed cholesterol lowering medications to try and reduce heart disease. All that happened was that my patients ended up with lower cholesterol, but also gained weight, moved towards diabetes, and still had heart attacks, strokes and stents. I realized what I was doing was not working. So instead of continuing the insanity of doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results, I started researching and investigating what truly causes heart and vascular disease.
It’s definitely not cholesterol.
I know many other things that do, but that is not the topic of todays stack.
Today is all about the boogeyman being back.
I hope after reading this today that you no longer fear the boogeyman.
I know I used this pic before but I really like it and may have to use it more often.
As always comments and questions welcome.
If you agree please comment.
If you disagree please comment and tell me where I may be wrong.
The object is not to prove myself right in my medical opinions.
My job is to get it right for each and every one of you at the Institute for Medical Wellness.
On top of the blind faith of traditionalist Gp’s/Cardiologists to Big Pharma to cure all, there are some added incentives to write scripts for a particular big name gang of the drug cartel over some smaller no name dealer ….
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2520680
Given the large cost differences between generic and brand-name statins (2- to 4-fold higher average wholesale price for brand-name statins) the financial effects on patients and the health care system are likely to be substantial.
Great piece! I particularly liked your analogies to police and firefighters. VERY effective. I fell off the Cholesterol bandwagon in 2007 when I read Fred Kummerow’s now iconic book “Cholesterol Won’t Kill You, but Trans-Fats Might!”