I am so happy to see SOME, no ANY medical doctor using common sense in this low cholesterol cult that has developed.  In 1997, after over 2 years eating EXTREMELY low fat with virtually NO red meat and daily exercise, by annual physical showed my cholesterol was "borderline high".  And at the ripe old age of 31, my doc wanted me on a statin.  I passed and he fired me as a patient.

If I could for over 2 years eat a virtually fat free diet (never more than 20% of diet from any type of fat) and still have high levels, I figured the whole thing was BS.

My current doctor has fired me for the same exact reason.  I am now pawned off on PAs (physician assistants) and not allowed to see a real doc in the practice because, to quote my chart, "patient refuses to allow herself to be medicated to help her health".  Nice 'eh.

Here is a little known reason for the new, absurdedly low cholesterol numbers.  Big pharm is lobbying, and lobbying hard, to get statins added to our water supply, just like they did for flouride.

Yep, you too can be on a liver killing drug by opening your tap, whether you want it or not.

Great.  At the rate of demise of our jobs and livelihood, it won't be long before we won't be able to afford the filters to get rid of the crap and 70+% of our population will be forced onto drugs that will only make us sicker and more indebted to the AMA and pharmeceutical corporations.

If we don't wake the heck up and mobilize SOON against these horrors, I fear it will be too late.  I cry over the future for my children and grandchildren.

HDL and LDL are not good and bad cholesterol.  

They are lipoproteins which carry cholesterol to and from the liver.

Dr. Mercola,  I printed out your report and had planned to give it to my engineer husband who has been on statin drugs for several years. I was hoping for a solid argument that would finally convince him to get off Lipitor.  Unfortunately, I think the words you use to describe the simple ratios of HDL:Cholesterol and Trig.:HDL are inaccurate mathematically, so the report by page 3 will totally turn him off.  I think you should say the following:

HDL:Cholesterol ratio:  Divide your HDL count by your total cholesterol count.  That percentage should ideally be above 24%.

Triglyceride:HDL ratio:  Divide your Triglyceride count by your HDL count. That NUMBER should be below 2.  

For example, my counts are as follows:

Total cholesterol= 219 MG/DL; HDL= 43 MG/DL; and triglycerides are 85 mg/DL.

My HDL/Cholesterol ratio is 43/219=.196 = 19.6%.  (too low)

My Triglyceride/HDL ratio is 85/43= 1.97   (An okay ratio, since this is a NUMBER less than 2, or a PERCENTAGE less than 200!)

Hope you see my point and will clean up you math language, so we can show a revised report to the many people who still remember eighth grade arithmetic and need to get the straight story.  

Thanks.

KL

About 30 years ago when alot of attention was starting regarding cholesterol levels, I'd been reading an Adele Davis book where she explained briefly how choles...was necessary in preserving youth, especially vegetable-based, and not to be afraid of it. As simple as that sounds, I followed that, going lightly on fatty red and pink meats and processed meats (which I hadn't even taken to as a kid when they were the new thing) and ate loads of avacadoes every week!     Now at 54, I'm still taken for 10 or more years younger, have no physical ailments/complaints, I've still never had levels checked nor do I intend to and I stay away from medicos with a vengence!  It's easier and more practical to find out things for yourself as Dr. M. often recommends!

JB

Many years ago I always came up with the cholesterol score of 8.7 (obviously scored differently here in Australia), and was told it had to be less than 5.5.  At the time I was a vegitarian who only occassionaly ate cheese, so I tended to ignore the recommendations to go to statins.  Eventually I met a doctor who insisted and so I am now on them and my score is 4.5.  My husband always got a score of 4.5 and was told he was great.  2 years ago he had chest pains and was flown to Brisbane by the flying doctor (1000k away), where they found 9 blockages and did 5 bipasses.  The surgeon said after that if he had known that he was so full of cholesterol he might have refused to do the operation.  It seemed that all his arteries are absolutely clogged with the stuff - so much for the great cholesterol score!  Now he is on statins and also takes B6, B12 and megafol as they say he has hyperhomocysteinemia which is a fault in a gene MTHFR - we found this out after his son found he had it and it is inherited so he has it too (Won't tell you what their slang for this gene is but you might be able to work it out!).   Even after all this the doctor wanted him to have a fasting blood test the other week to check his cholesterol levels as they now want to get everyone down below 3.5 here.  Told the Doc that the result will not be accurate given the history, but they insisted!  Wow, his levels are now at 3.5 - does this mean that all that stuff in his arteries never existed? I don't think so.  Unfortunately the only way we can find out just how clogged up he is now, is to open up an artery and look - not willing to do that.

All this makes me wonder just how accurate are these tests and what are they really telling us anyway?!!

Also no-one told us to take COQ10 either - I had to find that info out while looking on the web, and our Doc cannot understand why we take it - some education needed here I think!