Dear Geoff,

In response to your question on Thu, 23 Apr 2009:

"Hi Are you saying that So-called bad cholesterol, Low-Density-Lipoprotein (LDL) dose not form plaque on the arterial walls?"

The answer is "No, I am not saying that cholesterol doesn't form plaque on the arterial walls." But cholesterol not the entire cause of the plaque . . .

What cholesterol does is act as a liquid bandage, so to speak. Cholesterol is a nutrient that helps with many functions, one of which is to help hold tissues and cells together. Cholesterol seems like the culprit here, but it is not.

Let me explain. The real culprit is inflammation and as inflammation becomes chronic it can lead to hardening of tissues.

One of the causes of inflammation is an acidic pH in your body. As tissues and cells lose trace minerals they become acidic and in an attempt to alkalize, or buffer, this acidic inflammatory state, calcium is depleted from your bones.

This raises the serum level of calcium in your bloodstream. Due to prolonged inflammation of the arteries, they thin and begin to harden and even crack.

This is where the serum calcium tends to accumulate to form a hardened crust, or plaque. It is only natural for your cholesterol to show up at these inflamed and hardening sites to attempt to rescue the damaged tissue lining of the arteries. Yes, cholesterol becomes part of the plaque issue as it attaches to the calcium build-up and further reduces the diameter within the artery.

But it is trying to help prevent the artery from leaking or bursting. In a sense it is prolonging the integrity of the artery walls.

Cholesterol is not "the cause" of Coronary Heart Disease or Arterial Sclerosis no more than firemen are the cause of all the fires around town.

You see just as the firemen would look suspicious to someone unfamiliar with the fire departments duties, even presuming they are setting all the fires . . . so the same type of presumption can be drawn to demonize cholesterol.

Just because it is present at all these inflamed and hardening arterial sites does not mean cholesterol is causing the problem. Eliminating cholesterol with drugs (statins) may cause more problems for the majority of people than it would temporarily help. i.e. Global Transient Amnesia, Leaky Heart Syndrome, etc . . .

On the contrary, cholesterol is playing out it's cellular function attempting to put out the fires (inflammation).

You should be more concerned about C-reactive protein (fibrinogen), triglycerides and other inflammatory markers, as well as lipid molecule "size."

I apologize for the confusion I may have caused you Geoff. All we are trying to say is cholesterol is a single factor when considering the big picture. The premise behind all this is to help you better understand how to prevent and even reverse the scourge of heart disease that is killing so many people today.

Blocking your body's cholesterol metabolism with harmful chemicals is only attempting to treat a symptom and fails to address the root cause of heart disease.

Please feel free to ask any other questions. If i may, I suggest reading www.bloodpressurenormalized.com as well to shed some light on the importance of natural remedies for heart health.

Live well,

Martin Jacobse

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•  Martin Jacobse

Consider this; A 46 year old man with a family history of heart disease has a normal check up and everything is good. His total cholesterol is 210 mg per deciliter, his HDL level is 40 mg per deciliter and triglyceride level is 147 mg per deciliter. His resting systolic blood pressure is 123 mm Hg . . . he is a non-smoker, has an active lifestyle and has never taken any medication for high blood pressure.

The question is should he begin taking aspirin to reduce any risk of premature heart attack? The clinical goal is to get people who qualify as high risk for heart disease and get them on some kind of drug program, in hopes of preventing the disease. But does the use of Non-Steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs like aspirin “prevent” coronary heart disease at all?

Because inflammation is the primary symptom of heart disease should we all be taking anti-inflammatory drugs? If any risk reduction decreases the risk of a heart attack for instance, shouldn’t we seek alternatives to any drugs first? Mainstream medicine justifies prescribing medicine claiming to predict “absolute” risk.

By the standards set for absolute risk, we certainly all fall into the “relative” risk category quite easily.

But considering prevention, did you know real vitamin C has been shown to greatly reduce cardiovascular disease (CVD) and is a potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant? Check out the proof at the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University . . .

Even claiming to establish an absolute risk factor sounds completely ridiculous to practical thinking people who have difficulty making preposterous psychic predictions, based on any system of math. I mean seriously, who made up “absolute risk ratios” anyway? Is someone is trying a little too hard to create a language no one else can understand, just to justify selling and investing in drug futures?

Forgive me if I sound blunt here, but let’s look at the facts.

I realize that they use complex algorithms to assess absolute risk in people and I know that they depend primarily on lipid (cholesterol) levels to make conclusions . . . but these are only useful to make estimates (guesses) of whether to “institute” a strategy of primary prevention (drug therapy).

In the 1970’s some studies “suggested” regular aspirin drug use would reduce risk of myocardial infarction and heart attacks. The U.S. Preventative Services Task Force recently reported there was good evidence that aspirin decreases the risk of coronary heart disease in those at an increased risk, but in addition there is also good evidence that aspirin increases the risk of gastrointestinal bleeding, ulcers and “fair evidence” that it increases the risk of hemorrhagic stroke.

Another note is you better supplement your creatinine levels and monitor your kidney function if you pop aspirins for therapy.

They also admitted that personal preferences of the patient should be factored into decisions about aspirin use. Okay, so what’s my choice, myocardial infarction, heart attack OR stroke and blood in my stools?

Hmmm, that’s a tough decision to make based on absolute or relative risk assumptions Mr. Wizard . . . personally my preference would be a change in diet and lifestyle. I’ll take the risk of not having either stroke or any other “coronary events” other than the swoon of being in love and the awe of a new sunrise thank you.

If you are a man over the age of 50 years, you may want your MD to download his Framington risk score software or go online and calculate your absolute risk factors. Keep in mind that aspirin use “probably” reduces your risk of myocardial infarction (not heart attack, stroke, and possible pancreatic or colon cancer.)

But before I would do that, I would read this . . .

In spite of the fact, according to the PNAS, an estimated 40,000 metric tons of aspirin are voraciously consumed each year, equating to 120 billion aspirin tablets (300 mg is a standard size).

Since the start of the 20th century, cardiovascular disease has been the number one killer of North Americans. Nearly 60% of all deaths each year occur as a result of Cardiovascular Disease. In fact this number is greater than all seven of the other leading causes of death COMBINED. That equates to a death from CVD every 33 seconds . . . it is also responsible for 30% of the gross income for hospitals each year in the U.S.

Strange that everyone has been popping aspirin all those years and we’re still dropping like flies all around each other.

Why do I have to educate my doctor? Who is training these guys? Could it have something to do with Big Pharma funding required classes in key academic institutions, naw that couldn’t be could it?

Testing is important for the prevention of CVD, but you have to request the right tests. Most MDs just look for the easy sell like high blood pressure, total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL and HDL levels . . . but they must look for different markers.

More than half the people who die from heart attacks have normal cholesterol and half of them have normal blood pressure . . . so why all the aspirin?

These are what you really need to ask to be tested for:

•    LDL subclasses and “particle size”
•    Lipoproteins
•    Homocysteine levels
•    Fibrinogen levels
•    LDL oxidation times

With the right information you can easily make lifestyle changes and dietary changes to decrease “absolute” risk of cardiovascular Diseases.

There is evidence that meditation, deep breathing, mineral and hydration intake, food based nutrients and even spinal manipulation and more can all lower high blood pressure and enhance health.

Live well,

Martin Jacobse
Medical Investigator

P.S. for more information on natural alternatives for high blood pressure and CVD click the link below . . .
www.bloodpressurenormalized.com