High total cholesterol levels in late life associated w/ reduced risk of dementia
I just had a discussion with a patient today in which I showed concern with the increasingly aggressive approach mainstream medicine is taking with statin drugs. “Medicine for the masses” is a great thing for society, but for the individual patient it just plain sucks.
This study is perfect example of what may happen if we blanket everyone with the same approach. As to why cholesterol may be protective, I can’t explain at this time. But, what I do tell patients is to clean up their lifestyle and not worry so much about where their cholesterol is. If a patient has an otherwise good lifestyle but may have a cholesterol of 220 or 250, than I usually tell the patient not to worry.
The other beneficial compounds in their diet will protect the cholesterol from being damage and causing problems within our cardiovascular system.