A 1988 study gave 30 men with mild hyperlipidemia or hypertension 4.2 grams of spirulina a day. Total serum cholesterol fell significantly, most in those with high cholesterol or high cholesterol intake, and returned to baseline once they stopped.
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Supplements
Mexican traditional medicine lowers bad cholesterol, dissolve gallstones
Female mice fed a gallstone-inducing diet and then given black radish juice for six days cleared cholesterol gallstones and saw cholesterol and triglycerides fall and HDL rise, Mexican researchers report. The radish is a traditional remedy for gallstones in Mexico.
Cancer
Hormone Replacement Therapy, Trans Fat, Dietary Cholesterol Linked to Ovarian Cancer Risk
Following 126,920 post-menopausal women for nine years, a Cancer Causes Control study tied current hormone therapy use to 29 percent higher ovarian cancer risk. Estrogen-only users were at 63 percent; the 20 percent rise for estrogen plus progestin was not statistically significant.
Disease
LDL (Bad) Cholesterol May Not Be So Bad After All - What You Need to Know...
Cardiologist Stephen Sinatra argues high cholesterol does not cause heart disease and that LDL particle size matters more, with small dense particles driving plaque and large buoyant ones posing little risk. He says diet, not drugs, changes particle size, and urges statin users to take CoQ10.
Disease
The Cholesterol Myths that May be Harming Your Health
Dr. Mercola argues that cholesterol and high-fat diets do not cause heart disease, citing cardiologist Ernest Curtis's two-part series challenging the decades-old studies behind the link, and traces the theory to a German pathologist's work over a century ago.
Food
Foods that lower cholesterol, risk of heart disease
A study found that a diet built around cholesterol-lowering foods such as nuts, plant sterols and soy beat a low-saturated-fat diet at lowering bad cholesterol. Harvard Medical School lists other options: oats, barley, beans, eggplant, pectin-rich fruits, and two ounces of nuts a day.
Food
Soy lowers cholesterol
A JAMA study led by David Jenkins found six months on a diet of soy, nuts and plant sterols lowered LDL cholesterol about 14 percent against controls, beating a low-saturated-fat diet. A separate analysis of 43 studies put soy's LDL reduction at roughly 4 to 6 percent.
Food
Cholesterol lowering foods prevent heart disease
A JAMA study found six months on a diet built around soy foods, plant sterols and nuts cut LDL cholesterol by as much as 14 percent from baseline, against 3 percent for a low-saturated-fat, high-fibre diet. Two levels of clinic support produced similar results.
Nutrition
You can lower cholesterol, but can't cut cardiovascular risk
A trial halted 18 months early found that adding niacin to statins in 3,412 high-risk patients raised HDL and lowered LDL but did not cut heart attacks, strokes or hospitalizations for acute coronary problems or revascularization.
Diet
Low cal diet plus soy protein good for cholesterol
Fifty-two patients with hyperlipidemia followed a 1,400 kcal diet with 30 grams of soy protein daily for four weeks and ended with lower LDL and total cholesterol than controls. Everyone on the low-calorie diet lost weight and waist and hip circumference.
Food
Eating too much fat boosts stroke risk
Following 7,579 women and 6,372 men in Copenhagen for 33 years, Marianne Benn tied rising non-fasting triglycerides to ischemic stroke in both sexes; women in the highest band were nearly four times as likely to have one. Cholesterol tracked with risk only in men.
Food Chemicals
Eggs shell out more vitamin D, less cholesterol
USDA testing of large eggs from 12 locations found 185 mg of cholesterol per egg, down from 215 mg a decade ago, and vitamin D at 41 IU, up from 25 IU. Researchers suggest improvements in hens' diets may explain the drop.
Drug
Vytorin more effective than simvastatin in lowering cholesterol in some patients
A trial found Vytorin cut cardiovascular events in chronic kidney disease patients by 17 percent against placebo, which critics say does not show Zetia adds to simvastatin. An Italian trial in diabetic heart patients found Vytorin 10/20 cut LDL 32.2 percent against 20.8 for simvastatin 40 mg.
Disease
Merck's Vytorin cuts heart risk moderately
In an Oxford-led trial of about 9,000 people with chronic kidney disease, 15% taking Vytorin had a heart attack or stroke versus 18% on placebo. Because the trial never tested simvastatin alone, Cleveland Clinic's Steven Nissen says it reveals nothing about whether adding Zetia helps.
Heart & Blood
Job stress, cholesterol boost cardiovascular disease risk
Among 17,415 healthy women followed over a decade in the Women's Health Study, those reporting high job stress faced 40 percent higher risk of heart attack, stroke, bypass surgery, angioplasty or death. Job insecurity tracked with risk factors but not with events.
Diet
Healthy diet helps memory, protects against disease
Forty-four overweight adults aged 50 to 75 spent four weeks on an anti-inflammatory diet of oily fish, barley, soy protein, blueberries, almonds, cinnamon and vinegar. LDL cholesterol fell 33 percent, blood lipids 14 percent, blood pressure 8 percent and a clotting marker 26 percent.
Chemical
Nonstick Cookware Linked to High Serum Cholesterol
Stephanie Frisbee and West Virginia University colleagues measured serum lipids in 12,476 children and teens whose drinking water had been contaminated with PFOA, and report that the chemicals used to make Teflon may raise total and LDL cholesterol. Nearly all blood samples were contaminated.
Miscellaneous
September is National Cholesterol Education Month
September is National Cholesterol Education Month. CDC notes more than 102 million American adults have total cholesterol at or above 200 mg/dL and more than 35 million are at 240 or higher, a level that puts them at high risk for heart disease, usually with no symptoms.
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