What Happens When Your Cholesterol Goes Too Low?

re: What Happens When Your Cholesterol Goes Too Low?

dox — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 23:43:42 GMT

DR MERCOLA:

I DON'T KNOW IF YOU WILL SEE THIS.

FIRST, I MUST SAY YOU HAVE A FANTASTIC WEBSITE AND CLEARLY HAVE DISPELLED THE MYTH ..AT LEAST ON CERTAIN LEVELS.. THAT "IGNORANCE IS BLISS". NOW TO MY QUESTION (ANYONE ELSE IN THE COMMUNITY FEEL FREE TO RESPOND ).

MY FATHER HAS BEEN ON STATINS FOR YEARS AND IS IN HIS LATE 80s. HE HAS 2-3 STENTS AND UNDERWENT AN AORTIC REPAIR WITH AN ENDOGRAFT STENT JUST 2 YEARS AGO. HE IS ALSO BEING MANAGED FOR ANEMIA WITH PROCRIT INJECTIONS.

A COUPLE OF MONTHS AGO HE WAS DIAGNOSED BY HIS NEUROLOGIST WITH POSSIBLE PARKINSONS. IS THERE A CASE AGAINST PFIZER? HIS LDL HAS BEEN IN THE 50-70 RANGE FOR QUITE SOME TIME.

THANX ALWAYS

re: What Happens When Your Cholesterol Goes Too Low?

Go with God — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 22:47:27 GMT

What about the statins in Red Yeast Rice? I have my 86 year-old mother taking a combo of RYR and COQ10 for cholesterol around 250. Her number dropped almost 30 points in 5 weeks on RYR/C0Q10 and we were thrilled. But after reading all these comments, I'm wondering if having her take the supplements may hurt her more than help her in the end! Please help me with your comments!!

re: What Happens When Your Cholesterol Goes Too Low?

kfarias_203 — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 17:16:17 GMT

My total cholesterol used to be 155 [people told me that was good], but stroke runs in the women in my fathers family. I have been eating eggs and raw milk now for the past few years and have brought my total cholesterol up to 178. I believe that is better. I drink raw goats milk mostly but we also have raw cows milk. We go to another state and buy it as it is illegal in Georgia. We love it! We also get the raw butter when we can. The smell of pastueriezd milk makes me feel nauseaous.

re: What Happens When Your Cholesterol Goes Too Low?

Wedgirl — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 15:12:27 GMT

Found this article very interesting in regard to the link to depression and lower cholesterol levels. Perhaps that is why most of my clientele on statins were also on anti-depressants and sleep medications. The pharmaceutical companies make money hand over fist simply by treating the side affects of the initial prescription. It is evil yes; but sadly excellent marketing.

re: What Happens When Your Cholesterol Goes Too Low?

growlove — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 12:53:55 GMT

Seeking insight about something: I have experienced extreme fatigue and problems with dizziness, vertigo, light headedness, etc for the past 2 years. So far the doctors have found no cause. The year before all this started I was told that my cholesterol was too high (272) and offered a prescription to lower it. I declined the prescription and instead made lifestyle changes. By the next year my cholesterol was 178 and I had lost 30 lbs. But that's when the fatigue, etc, began. It was very noticable to me, over a period of about 5 months I went from working out enthusiastically 5-7 times a week to dragging myself there 2-3 times a week. Now I have had to give up workouts and just do walking. (It's not eating too little, or B12 deficiency, or low iron, or anything like that. It's all been checked) I have trouble sleeping, but can find nothing else that's caused these problems. Could it be related to my cholesterol? How can I get more info about the specific cholesterol numbers and where they actually should be? I would truly value any insights or suggestions, and appreciate your time reading my story.

re: What Happens When Your Cholesterol Goes Too Low?

SavedbyHisGrace — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 12:32:56 GMT

Dr. Mercola--

I know in the past you have not been able to raise your cholesterol. I too have low cholesterol--wondering if there's anything you've tried lately that has raised it? Thanks for any help you can give--or anyone else who has successfully raised teir cholesterol.

Thanks. Laura

re: What Happens When Your Cholesterol Goes Too Low?

bagarino — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 10:51:12 GMT

Sometimes it is hard to say which causes which. That people who have very low cholesterol (VLC) are prone to cancer is undisputed (last measured my total cholesterol was just 169 against a recommended minimum here in Europe of 180 so I fall into this category, having dropped it from 250 by following Dr. Mercola's advice of fish oil / lower carb consumption and exercise). But these are just the raw statistics. What these numbers don't say is that people with VLC are NOT dying of circulatory diseases so something else (often cancer) must eventually get them; that some people with VLC are actually in that condition because they have a carcinoma (that cause cholesterol falls) that has not yet developed to the point where it can be diagnosed. I'd be happier with my cholesterol in the 180 - 200 bracket as VLC affects mood and sex hormone production. Other than including lots of cholesterol in my diet (which I do anyway) what can I do?

re: What Happens When Your Cholesterol Goes Too Low?

KAC — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 10:41:11 GMT

I was telling a coworker that I eat boiled eggs everyday for breakfast for the last couple of weeks. It holds me over for lunch and gives me my needed protein. Eggs is an excellent source of nutrition. My coworkers comment was well you probably don't worry about your cholesterol level.

For many years, eggs have gotten a bad rap as a forbidden food because of their cholesterol content. The mere mention of cholesterol conjured up fear and was enough to banish eggs entirely from the diets of many Americans. No cholesterol was the most important benefit trumpeted in advertising and on the labels of many food products. It is also becoming clear that many of our perceptions about various dietary factors are inaccurate. Not only have studies shown that eggs do not significantly affect cholesterol levels in most individuals, but the latest research suggests that eating whole eggs may actually result in significant improvement in one's blood lipids (cholesterol) profile-even in persons whose cholesterol levels rise when eating cholesterol-rich foods.

Eggs contain choline (90% of Americans are deficient), protein, promotes weight loss, prevents blood clots and protects eyesight. Choline is necessary for brain and memory development.

I often think to myself, so God created an egg and everything in it is good except for the cholesterol. This doesn't even make sense. Also, same goes for milk. People think skim milk or low-fat milk is better - oh, so God decided it would be up to the humans to take the bad stuff out of milk.

re: What Happens When Your Cholesterol Goes Too Low?

chibaby — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 10:36:37 GMT

i've brought my triglycerides down over 200 points by adding fish oil to my diet (about 2800 mg a day--i'm not a fish eater). I also took Metagenics new insulin resistance shake product called Ultra Meal 360 Plus for two and a half months. My cholesterol has dropped from 340 to 228 by using the above and also correcting my vitamin D3 level deficiency. My LDL's have dropped considerably also--now 133. I have also added pantethine 900 mg a day-recommended also by my hollistic MD--for liver and abdomen fat reduction as well as lipid modification.I also found that eating walnuts and almonds and other high fiber in my diet had modified lipids without any supplements at all. The supplements brought everything down further. My diet otherwise has not changed too much. I still eat too much refined sugar and grains, so i consider the above nothing short of a miracle.

re: What Happens When Your Cholesterol Goes Too Low?

anettta — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 13:10:50 GMT

I strongly believe that high level of good cholesterol is essential for a good health. All hormones are produced from it, so any immbalance may cause premature aging, dementia, you name it.
Dr. Mercola posted a wonderful film some time ago, about the older people who were really healthy and full of energy, so rarely seen nowadays. Scientists were doing research and they found out that what the whole group had in common is high level of good cholesterol and its big molecule size.
I'm from Poland and my family which is still over there are the people who are over 80years old. All my grandparents, lived in the cityand died in their 60's due to their poor diet, however some uncles and aunts, are still doing great!Breakfast is the most important meal of their day. Usually they have scrumbled eggs(1-3) with garlic or a glass of raw sour milk. During a day they work really hard taking care of their plants and small animals,they always keep themselves busy and are working a lot in the sun.They all are in good mental and physical health because of their lifestyle and consumption of high cholesterol containing eggs.

re: What Happens When Your Cholesterol Goes Too Low?

Cheryl Rounds — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 06:25:51 GMT

From the very beginning the rat studies with statins were showing an increase of cancers. The mechanism most talked about is that statin drugs have the ability to help the body build extended systems of capillaries. (angionesies) While this might help with circulatory problems -- cancers require that the body build these systems of capillaries to keep them well nourished and growing.
Another theory about how statins may cause cancer is that statin drugs interfere with a chain of reactions that also produce Coenzyme Q10. CoQ10 is almost always low with cancers and is in fact one of the alternate cures

re: What Happens When Your Cholesterol Goes Too Low?

proatc — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 19:06:44 GMT

Was just in my MD meeting and this subject came up, and just verbatum as mentioned by Dr. Mercola, they recommended the guidelines of 70mg of LDL as the target goal. They also stated that the practice protocol should be Level 1 Rx of statin drugs, Level 2 the newer statin drugs and Level 3 would be a Niacin supplement!

Before I rolled my eyes to the back of my head, I looked at all of the FNP's and MD's in the room and they were nodding their little heads like robots. Was I the only one hearing that if the first 2 levels don't lower their LDL use a supplement like Niacin, a B-vitamin? Why not start them on a supplement before the statins, especially if you use it as a last defense when all else fails and it is a vitamin!!!! And then Huuumm, maybe diet is the answer if a vitamin is part of the treatment. Why don't we send them to our Nutritionist on staff? Way easier to give pills I guess. I might need an Optometrist to get my eyes pried back to look forward.

re: What Happens When Your Cholesterol Goes Too Low?

Infidel — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 18:18:13 GMT

Mercola forgot to mention - Cholesterol is Also our Waterproofing.
Couldn't you envision someone 'melting' in the shower! :-)

re: What Happens When Your Cholesterol Goes Too Low?

seg — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 17:44:31 GMT

Not surprising at all since Cholesterol is in everthing that's alive and not the villain as conventional medicine would like you to believe but rather the hero...They blame cholesterol for everything....If a drunk driver gets in an accident they blame the car, not the drunk driver.....and how could their statins help my heart when it destroys muscle cells? what is my heart made out of again - yeah good old MUSCLE., well i'll pass on them thank you and they can keep AND USE their statins, hell i'll even give them the ok to use the ONES THAT THEY WOULD PRESCRIBE ME ALSO - i'm being generous now.....

re: Cholesterol Can Go Too Low

mmc88121 — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 20:28:09 GMT

As long as you are on Statins The pharmaceutical companies are the winners. They degrade your health and take your money.

Mary