Scientific consensus panels going back decades established—“beyond a reasonable doubt”—that lowering LDL cholesterol reduces the risk of heart attacks. Consistent evidence “unequivocally” establishes that LDL causes our number one killer, heart disease. This evidence base includes hundreds of studies involving literally millions of people. In other words, “[i]t’s the cholesterol, stupid,” quipped American Journal of Cardiology editor in chief William Clifford Roberts. His CV is more than a hundred pages long, and he’s published about 1,700 articles in the peer-reviewed medical literature. Yes, there are at least ten traditional risk factors for atherosclerosis, but, as Dr. Roberts notes, only one is required for the progression of the disease: elevated cholesterol. All of the other factors, such as smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes, inactivity, and obesity, merely exacerbate the damage caused by high cholesterol.
Phew! you say, because your bloodwork just came back and your doctor said your cholesterol is “normal.” But, hold on. Having a normal cholesterol level in a society where it’s normal to drop dead of a heart attack isn’t necessarily something to celebrate. With heart disease the top killer of men and women, we definitely don’t want to have normal cholesterol levels. We want to have optimal levels—and not “optimal” by arbitrary laboratory standards, but optimal for human health.
