Is it time to reconsider the cholesterol hypothesis?

This post is purposely controversial.  I write it because I believe that mounting evidence suggests that we should encourage “out of the box” thinking about this issue.  This post is hypothesis challenging.  I may be right or I may be wrong.  I hope we get some debate on my speculations. The latest blow to the cholesterol hypothesis – Dashing Hopes, Study Shows a Cholesterol Drug Had No Effect on Heart Health “We had an agent that seemed to do all the right things,” said Dr. Stephen J. Nicholls, the study’s principal investigator and the deputy director of the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute in Adelaide. “It’s the most mind-boggling question. How can a drug that lowers something that is associated with benefit not show any benefit?” he said, referring to the 37 percent drop in LDL levels with the drug. Two other drugs in the same class as evacetrapib, known as CETP inhibitors, have also failed: One, which lowered LDL levels by only 20 percent, had toxic side effects. The other raised HDL levels but did not lower LDL levels at all. Cardiologists thought evacetrapib, a safe and potent drug, would be different. “All of us would have put money on it,” said Dr. Peter Libby, a Harvard cardiologist. The drug, he said, “was the great hope.” But previous studies had already foreshadowed these results.  Adding ezetimibe to a statin does not improve outcomes.  Only statins show significant clinical benefits.  Statins h...
Source: DB's Medical Rants - Category: Internal Medicine Authors: Tags: Medical Rants Source Type: blogs