Please help, I've been diagnosed with familial hypercholesterolemia =[ page 5

[peril]

As you'll no doubt notice, this is a first time post. I've got a co-worker with FH that I'm helping with some research, which led me here.

The advice you give and tone that's used is at a minimum ignorant and at worst dangerous. The problem is that by fighting conventional norms and medical advice, you've essentially turned into the monster that the paleo/primal community has worked so hard to combat: people (or doctors) who give a one-size fits all, dogmatic nutritional recommendations.

Maybe next time before you start your insulting rants, you should actually "read up" on the topic before hand.

Perhaps you could tell us exactly what is hypercholesterolemia? What are its symptoms? AFAIK it is nothing but measured high cholesterol. This "disease" is nothing by a symptom.

The real issue here is do those with FH necessarily have to suffer from increased likelihood of CVD, PVD, stroke etc. The Lyon Diet Heart Trial was stopped early because the two trial groups had markedly different death rates despite having very similar total cholesterol.

Yes it is possible to reduce death due to vascular events by using drugs to specifically reduce cholesterol. It is also possible to increase deaths due to other causes. How much better could we do by specifically focussing on anti-inflammatory lifestyles rather than popping pills to mitigate a far from optimal lifestyle?

[Artbuc]

Perhaps you could tell us exactly what is hypercholesterolemia? What are its symptoms? AFAIK it is nothing but measured high cholesterol. This "disease" is nothing by a symptom.

The real issue here is do those with FH necessarily have to suffer from increased likelihood of CVD, PVD, stroke etc. The Lyon Diet Heart Trial was stopped early because the two trial groups had markedly different death rates despite having very similar total cholesterol.

Yes it is possible to reduce death due to vascular events by using drugs to specifically reduce cholesterol. It is also possible to increase deaths due to other causes. How much better could we do by specifically focussing on anti-inflammatory lifestyles rather than popping pills to mitigate a far from optimal lifestyle?

Just read about the Lyon study. Looks like it refutes PB CW regarding consumption of saturated fats, red meat, etc. Also indicates ground flaxseed is helpful even with its high PUFA content. What am I missing?

[fuzzynavel]

I have just finished the book "The Great Cholesterol Con" by Dr Malcolm Kendrick ( a Scottish GP (General Practitioner))
The Great Cholesterol Con: Amazon.co.uk: Dr Malcolm Kendrick: Books...
It is very insightful into cholesterol and the fact that dietary cholesterol cannot be transformed into blood cholesterol.
He uses population studies (published by WHO (World Health Organisation) to show that cholesterol isn't the cause of CVD (Cardiovascular disease).. ..He also goes into Statins and their method of action....potentially they could add a whole day to your life over a 30 year prescription apparently....nobody is quite sure how they work but they appear to thin the blood in a similar way to aspirin/warfarin etc and have no specific cholesterol reducing action.. Many of them have nasty side effects and Vioxx had to be taken off the market after it was blamed for a lot of deaths (potentially 60000-100000 deaths in the US alone)
Cortisol also comes up near the end of the book as a possible cause of heart disease and he has a well thought out argument for stress being a major cause of CVD....not just perceived stress such as a bad day at work but population displacement....again he uses large scale studies to back his arguments...
He is quite humourous in the way that he writes and he does make mention to FH in some parts of the book too...

hope this helps

[Artbuc]

I have just finished the book "The Great Cholesterol Con" by Dr Malcolm Kendrick ( a Scottish GP (General Practitioner))
The Great Cholesterol Con: Amazon.co.uk: Dr Malcolm Kendrick: Books...
It is very insightful into cholesterol and the fact that dietary cholesterol cannot be transformed into blood cholesterol.
He uses population studies (published by WHO (World Health Organisation) to show that cholesterol isn't the cause of CVD (Cardiovascular disease).. ..He also goes into Statins and their method of action....potentially they could add a whole day to your life over a 30 year prescription apparently....nobody is quite sure how they work but they appear to thin the blood in a similar way to aspirin/warfarin etc and have no specific cholesterol reducing action.. Many of them have nasty side effects and Vioxx had to be taken off the market after it was blamed for a lot of deaths (potentially 60000-100000 deaths in the US alone)
Cortisol also comes up near the end of the book as a possible cause of heart disease and he has a well thought out argument for stress being a major cause of CVD....not just perceived stress such as a bad day at work but population displacement....again he uses large scale studies to back his arguments...
He is quite humourous in the way that he writes and he does make mention to FH in some parts of the book too...

hope this helps

How can anyone refute the fact that statins reduce LDL? Whether or not the cholesterol reduction contributes to reduced risk of CVD is, of course, highly debatable. Maybe he is making a distinction between LDL and cholesterol?

[fuzzynavel]

How can anyone refute the fact that statins reduce LDL? Whether or not the cholesterol reduction contributes to reduced risk of CVD is, of course, highly debatable. Maybe he is making a distinction between LDL and cholesterol?

Ill go grab the book and re-read the relevant section for clarity and repost a little later.

[fuzzynavel]

He didn't say that Statins don't reduce LDL.....he just said there is no proof in the method of action....he actually says that Statins reduce the risk of dying with CVD by up to 30%..
Strangely enough none of the major studies report mortality data for their subjects....upon further digging it was found to not be significantly different from the placebo group....In one study "The 4S Study" (arguably the most positive statin study yet) more people died while using the statins than in the placebo group (but this is insignificant apparently.) Have you even noticed that most of the Statin studies that are positive have actually been carried out by scientists who are funded by the big pharma companies? Something to think about...back later

[Pamsc]

I have a friend that has a version of this, and my understanding is that unlike most people, the cholesterol he eats does cause him to have high cholesterol that causes heart damage _because of a defect in metabolism_. He had two triple bypass operations before age 50. He came for dinner and I cooked fish and rice (which I didn't eat) and baked tomatoes with olive oil and herbs and salad with olive oil and balsamic vinegar dressing. You may have to cut saturated fat and eggs, but from his experience you should still be able to eat chicken and olive oil. From my understanding, you don't need a very low fat diet, even though the doctors may say that . You need a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol. So start by using plenty of good quality olive oil to keep your fat intake from going too low. And see how often your doctor is willing to test (or even if you can buy a home test machine) so you can self-experiment on what foods do affect your cholesterol.

[JonnyH]

Hi

Dont want to hi-jack the thread, but on the subject of FH, is it something you have from birth? as this article, and a few others I have read say:

Familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH)

Reason I ask is I have high cholesterol since going primal, my ratios are very good, but my LDL is high. Also my mum has highish cholesterol.
I'm 45 now, and always had lowish cholesterol until I went primal a few years ago. So if I'm reading the above article right, I havent FH?!

Cheers

[Texasbill]

Perhaps you could tell us exactly what is hypercholesterolemia? What are its symptoms? AFAIK it is nothing but measured high cholesterol. This "disease" is nothing by a symptom.

Seems to me that you just did a cursory search of "hypercholesterolemia" in the absence of the operative word "familial"...an important distinction.

The fact that you first begin your response with a question "what is hypercholesterolemia" and then end it with a dietary recommendation of how to fix it is more than a little alarming.

A little background here first. I follow a Paleo style diet. I believe that it's the way humans were meant to eat. So, don't take this as my hopping on a Paleo board to just stir the pot. For normal people, eating Paleo is what we were meant to do.

Genetic disorders require different recommendations. A uniform, dogmatic approach to every individual, even with genetic disorders, is incredibly reckless.

To answer your question, though, FH is a genetic disorder that's passed down to children at birth. There's a range of severity, but the bottom line is that these individuals have problems processing LDL. Specifically, in the cases of those that have CHD (like my friend) they have problems metabolizing lipoprotein(a).

At the end of the day, I'm not a doctor, which is why I'm scouring for information among the Paleo community regarding dietary recommendations for this disease. I believe that the current low fat diet he's been prescribed is dangerous in other ways, but if the man can't metabolize fat, I'd assume that a blanket paleo recommendation would be dangerous. I look at his condition almost as if he's a diabetic, only instead of not being able to produce insulin and metabolize glucose, he's unable to efficiently metabolize LDL. Sticking with that example, you wouldn't recommend that a type 1 diabetic eat sweet potatoes, would you?