Torcetrapib again

I posted on torcetrapib here but missed some information. You always miss some interesting facts when you don't have the full paper. Those nice people on the HDL forum never mentioned the increases seen in deaths from cancer and infection. Fortunately that made it in to the NY Times recently.

Quote from the NY Times article:

"Besides having more heart problems, patients taking torcetrapib were more likely to die of cancer and infection than those on a placebo. In all, 93 patients taking torcetrapib died, compared with 59 who took a placebo"

and from Dr. Daniel J. Rader of the University of Pennsylvania:

“It appears that HDL evolved as a component of the innate immune system and that its composition is critically important to its function.”

Dr Rader gets this week's prize for least well read cardiologist. It's the LDL that matters! But how many cardiologists would read Ravnskov? After all he is one of the most effective critics of the lipid hypothesis. Would you, as a cardiologist, read papers by someone convinced that yourself and the rest of the cholesterol industry is wrong?

Cholesterol and both arteriosclerosis and infection

Cholesterol and cancer

Note that Ravnskov explains all three of the problems seen in the Illuminate trials.

Again a quote from Dr Rader via the NY Times:

"But over all... it is premature to announce the death of CETP inhibitors on the basis of the torcetrapib experience alone"

My opinion?

He's wrong.

Peter