The Oversimplification of Cholesterol Testing Can Be Deadly

Early every year, countless Americans embark on a new fitness regime. They go for a physical and maybe for a blood test to measure cholesterol levels. After a clean bill of health, they might train to run a 10K, a marathon or even an Iron man. But what if those tests do not provide a complete picture of your health? What if you are on the verge of a heart attack and have no idea? Before 30, when the human body is at its peak, it can take the strain of being pushed to the limit. As we age, however, cellular changes and the expression of genetic predispositions can dramatically alter our health. Conventional medical tests are too superficial, too limited, and too generic to diagnose all health problems that may be looming. That's why people who present as healthy and are in the so-called "normal range" on cholesterol tests have dropped dead of heart attacks, even as they appear fit enough to run marathons. To get a sense of the complexity involved, look at the results from a recent study on a promising new cholesterol drug, evacetrapib. It was found to lower the "bad" LDL cholesterol in patients by as much as statins do, and doubled "good" HDL cholesterol, giving cardiologists great hope of a new weapon against heart disease. Only it surprised everyone when its use in a human study of 12,0000 patients did not improve users' heart health at all. In fact, one more person in the study had a heart attack than in a placebo group. The drugmaker, Eli Lilly, stopped the study. O...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news