An article in the Appleton Post Crescent two weeks ago told about two recent studies that showed that patients with normal levels of bad cholesterol were still at risk of heart attacks and strokes.
The researchers concluded that either:
1) Normal bad cholesterol levels were set too high thus allowing many patients to be missed.
2) Bad cholesterol is not a good measure of heart attack and stroke risk.
Since bad cholesterol is only one of the risk factors including age, gender, smoking, blood pressure, diabetes, and family history; it should not be used as the only measurement.
My personal opinion is that the pharmacuetical companies will jump on this study to prove that another 11 million people shoud be taking cholesterol lowering drugs. This equates to alot of additional money in their pockets.
Source: The Post Crescent, February 2009
If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Thibodeau at 920-954-1002 or at drdan1221@yahoo.com
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