What Do We Really Know About Cholesterol? And New Study Findings: V...

So what do we really know about cholesterol?
But first, some fun ! I've recently came across this awesomely hilarious video that kinda illustrates scientific findings or theories in regards to healthy eating, and particularly cholesterol and its health effects. Please watch it first, laugh, and then continue reading :)

While I posted it here for fun, it does somehow highlight how - to an extent before becoming sarcastic - we progressed in our knowledge about the presence of cholesterol, the types of cholesterol (LDL and HDL),... yet the video also highlights a concern for the general population and health fanatics: how to really know what is true in regards to what is healthy, and what is not? More on this below..

So about that new study?

HDL levels have been considered the healthy indicator of a good cholesterol, combined with low levels of LDL.
Yet, two major general population studies conducted in Copenhagen - Denmark, namely the Copenhagen City Heart Study and Copenhagen General Population Study, with a population count of over 52,000 men and 64,000 women, yielded a conclusion that extreme high levels of HDL are linked to higher levels of mortality. Børge Nordestgaard, one of the authors of the study noted:

These results radically change the way we understand 'good' cholesterol. Doctors like myself have been used to congratulating patients who had a very high level of HDL in their blood. But we should no longer do so, as this study shows a dramatically higher mortality rate

The levels of HDL associated with increased mortality stood at 73 mg/dL for men, and 93 mg/dL for women. Lower "good" levels of HDL were not related to increased mortality on the other hand (58 mg/dL for men and 77mg/dL).
Mortality rates were calculated through monitoring of participants for over an average of 6 years, while keeping track of their medical conditions. 106% higher mortality was recorded among men, and 68% in women.
And while the authors reference earlier studies which have been conducted and had similar results, yet they lacked the general population factor, and the recorded mortality rates in this study were higher.

And while the study does not negate the common knoweldge that HDL levels are healthy, yet the highest mortality was found in extreme HDL levels, and could influence the medical community's take on overall healthy cholesterol levels. The study's final conclusion was as follows:

men and women from the general population with extreme high HDL cholesterol had high all-cause mortality. This was most pronounced in men, and for cardiovascular mortality. These findings need confirmation in future studies.

For full details about the study, you can check reference 4 below.

Now going back into that video at the top, and the whole confusion thing about scientific conclusions, particularly regarding health.
While some would consider blaming science for it, it is really far beyond reality. Let us first start by defining science...

What is science?

Science and scientific knowledge are constructed based upon experimenting and hypothesis.
If we look up the definition of science in Wikipedia:

is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe

And science is essentially based upon scientific experiments, the definition and purpose of which would be as follows:

A test under controlled conditions that is made to demonstrate a known truth, examine the validity of a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy of something previously untried.

Why do we have such contradicting results?

They're not really contradictory, if you think about the scientific nature illustrated above. It is basically a learning curve over time.

The conditions might be less than sufficient, such as small sample base, short experimental time frame,...
Inaccurate conclusions drawn from study results.
Non-reproducible Results.
It really drills down to conducting further experiments, figuring out more accurate causality links, learning and basing on others' findings or mishaps.

Final take?

Science is not carved in stone. If you reference, for example, the findings of the recent study, the researchers clearly state that their results would need confirmation by further research.
One thing is certain though. Science seeks to increase knowledge and improve human life.
It is just the matter of finding the correct conclusions, the right experiments, and voila!

Science Rules.jpg

Thank you for reading through!

@mcfarhat

References:

Photo Credits:

Image 1
Image 2
Image 3
Image 4: Own creation, using this awesome tool http://www.textfx.co/view/ygqY8

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Recent Posts:
If you enjoyed this post, you might want to check out some of my earlier posts:

What Do We Really Know About Cholesterol? And New Study Findings: Very High HDL Levels Linked To Higher Mortality

So about that new study?

What is science?

Why do we have such contradicting results?

Final take?