The Cholesterol Myths by Ravnskov, Uffe -- Read -- Imperial Library of Trantor

Index

About the Author

Foreword by Michael Gurr Author's foreword. Introduction - The Diet-Heart Idea: A Die-Hard Hypothesis

A sorry story The scientific method Defining our terms The Diet-Heart idea

Myth 1 - High-Fat Foods Cause Heart Disease

A challenge Are consumption data accurate? Are death certificates true? Television - a risk factor? Seven random countries Up and down in statistics The shepherds of Kenya Another cholesterol safari Have coronary patients eaten more fat? Soft science Triglycerides

Myth 2 - High Cholesterol Causes Heart Disease

Large and small percentages Great or small differences? No risk after forty-seven Rule with many exceptions Guilt by assoiation "Look at Finland and Japan" The Japanese Paradox Ignoring embarassing data Another myth: “Good” and “bad” cholesterol The cholesterol ratio caper Univariate and multivariate The ”good” one The ”bad” one Familial hypercholesterolemia – not as risky as you may think

Myth 3 - High-Fat Foods Raise blood Cholesterol

Food and fat in various populations Camels, cows and cholesterol Cholesterol and coconuts Experiments and reality Counting money and counting food Another look at Finland Threshold on trial Food and blood cholesterol Non-responders

Myth 4 - High Cholesterol Blocks Arteries

Cholesterol: Villain or Innocent Bystander? Calcium and kidney stones False connections Landé and Sperry Veterans explained away High cholesterol and smooth arteries We are the only good ones The ungrateful dead Coronary angiography Risk factors and coronary vessels Another Japanese paradox Cholesterol is innocent

Myth 5 - Animal Studies Prove the Diet-Hear Idea

Animals eat the wrong food Rabbits and cholesterol Hunger-striking hearts Cholesterol lowering in children

Myth 6 - Lowering Your Cholesterol Will Lengthen your life

Time for truth Sighted or blind? Soybeans against heart attacks The Coronary Drug Project Primary versus secondary The Upjohn trial The WHO Trial Fat food and fit Finns Valio The Oslo trial MR.FIT--Much ado about nothing The final proof Hyping the benefit, minimizing the risks. Science by citation What do you want: a gastric ulcer or a coronary? An expedient byproduct Short guts and long lives? Can atherosclerosis disappear? "Selective blindness" Something better The anguish of angiography Risk factors and coronary vessels Meta-analysis A successful dietary trial The GISSI-Prevenzione trial “The most exact data base” – the screenes of MRFIT

Myth 7 - Statins – God's Gift to Mankind

The new wonder drugs 4S—The Scandinavian Simvastatin Survival Study CARE, the Cholesterol and Recurrent Events Trial WOSCOPS, the West of Scotland Coronary Prevention Study AFCAPS/TexCAPS, the Air Force/Texan Coronary Atherosclerosis Prevention Study LIPID, the Long-term Intervention with Pravastatin in Ischemic Disease study Summing up The costs The side effects Myopathy and rhabdomyolysis Heart failure Brain problems Peripheral polyneuropathy Impotency Worse than thalidomide Cancer Effect and side effect How to minimize side effects Another note of caution EXCEL, the Expanded Clinical Evaluation of Lovastatin New guidelines Emerging risk factors Subclinical atherosclerosis More new risk factors Lower and lower Benefits and risks An alarming report Can we trust the drug companies? False safety The alleged omnipotence of statin drugs Those who pay

Myth 8 - Polyunsaturated Oils are Good for You

Risk at both ends of the scale Burglars among molecules Does polyunsaturated oil produce cancer? Do polyunsaturated oils make you age faster? Do polyunsaturated oils make you stupid? Do polyunsaturated oils cause atherosclerosis? Trans fat Dr. Ornish and The Lifestyle Heart trial

Myth 9 - The cholesterol campaign is Based on Good Science

The proofs Proof number one Proof number two Proof number three Proof number four Proof number five Proof number six Proof number seven Proof number eight Proof number nine Recommendation number one Recommendation number two Recommendation number three Recommendation number four Recommendation number five Recommendation number six Recommendation number seven Recommendation number eight Recommendation number nine No reservations Insider Insights

Myth 10 - All Scientists Support the Diet-Heart Idea

Mary Enig[269] Michael Gurr[270] George Mann[271] Edward Pinckney Raymond Reiser[273] Paul Rosch[274] Ray Rosenman[275] Russell Smith[276] William Stehbens[277] Lars Werkö[278]

Epilogue References