Cholesterol & Statins : an update

Abstract

The previous SYNAPSE series of articles on “The Cholesterol Controversy” discussed how the theory linking dietary saturated fat, blood cholesterol and atherosclerosis was established by an American biologist in the 1950s and how the concurrent claims of a London physiology professor, that sugar not fat was mainly responsible for atherosclerosis, were ignored. We also highlighted the evidence that sugars, refined carbohydrates, starches and trans-fatty acids raise blood triglycerides (TRGs) and lower HDL-cholesterol, and that this TRGs/HDL ratio (the higher above 1 the higher the risk) is a more accurate indicator of risk for atherosclerosis than any other blood lipid profile risk ratios in common use.