I'm interested in paleobiology at the moment, readers might have noticed. Mostly how we might have gotten to where we are now without a Sky Pixie. The ancient past is fascinating. Not only single carbon chemistry under far from equilibrium conditions but big stuff like dinosaurs and cardiologists.
People love dinosaurs. If it's not LDLc levels, it's particle counts or apoB numbers. Am I going to die (yes!)? Will it be from CDV or cancer? Let us examine the entrails of a lipid hypothesis which lies eviscerated here before us. Messy.
How many apoBs can I see???? Do they have purple spots (i.e. does the apoB particle under the microscope have focal regions which are hyper-reflective to photons of 400nm wavelength when irradiated by full spectrum bullshit?).
I think we have to think have to respect the views of the president of the ACC. ACC is the American College of Cardiologists. These folks are wildly intelligent, free thinking, adventurous, swashbuckling promoters of new ideas. The newest idea on view from the president of the ACC is this one:
‘Some prominent cardiologists have questioned the 2013 guidelines, but the ACC and AHA have shown little appetite to return to LDL targets. “LDL may or may not correlate to cardiovascular outcomes,” Dr. Kim Allan Williams, president of the ACC, told Reuters last week1.’
Malcolm Kendrick has an excellent post up on this quote. But let's just say it again, it really is so good:
“LDL may or may not correlate to cardiovascular outcomes”
By whom?
Dr. Kim Allan Williams.
Who is?
President of the ACC.
Which is?
The American College of Cardiologists.
Of course, the statement does leave open the possibility that cardiovascular outcomes MAY correlate to LDL levels. More likely not.
Peter
I've read that while statins lower cholesterol, it doesn't lead to any change in cardiovascular health.
ReplyDeleteSo what does the correlation between cholesterol and heart disease tell us? Do cholesterol numbers matter?
Whew! Pretty wound-up post by your standards, Peter. Even leaving the "bs" word fully unpacked.
ReplyDeleteGreat link to Dr Kendrick's column. Quite disappointing (and frightening, too) that despite our Western tradition of Enlightenment it is so easy for people to build great and enduring edifices on foundations of misinformation.