High cholesterol’s role in heart disease busted as a `myth`

cholesterol-foodWashington, Feb 18 : A doctor from California has claimed that it's a myth that high cholesterol is one of the factors, which makes the heart diseases deadly.

Dr. Jonny Bowden, author of `The Great Cholesterol Myth,' said that lowering your cholesterol may not necessarily prevent heart disease.

He said that cholesterol is not even a good predictor of heart disease.

He asserted that 50 percent of people who are admitted to hospitals in the US with cardiovascular disease have normal cholesterol - and half the people with elevated cholesterol have normal hearts, Fox News reported.

He also believes that cholesterol plays no role whatsoever in the development of heart disease, and that it has taken attention away from other important factors that contribute to cardiovascular problems - like inflammation, oxidative damage, stress and sugar in the diet.

He believes that cholesterol is a pretty minor player but still everyone puts all their efforts into lowering it.

Today, doctors know that there are two main types of cholesterol - HDL and LDL - and there are five different kinds of each.

He said that both the types behaved quite differently in the body adding that while LDL comes in two big flavours, LDL-A and LDL-B, LDL-A looked like a big cotton ball and it can't do any damage as it can't get caught in the arteries.

He added that LDL-B is a bad guy - but most people don't know which one they have. (ANI)
