Your body needs cholesterol in order to create a healthy balance of cell membranes and hormones that help you function. However, having bad cholesterol (LDL) can cause an unhealthy build-up of plaque in your arteries.
In the mid to late 1980s, young doctors throughout American medical schools were being taught that statin medications would cure heart disease. Big Pharma was promoting high cholesterol as the primary risk factor for heart disease and the drug manufacturers' new medicines as the cure.
Fast forward to 2014 where, despite billions of dollars in profits and millions of statin prescriptions, heart disease remains our number one killer.
Is there a new way to test your cholesterol levels to help indicate if you're staying within a healthy range?
The old testing for cholesterol was taking a look at your total cholesterol (HDL, LDL, Triglycerides). Today, doctors now have the ability to dissect each type of cholesterol. This allows your doctor to evaluate each type of cholesterol individually so you can know if you're at risk for potential health problems.
With all this new knowledge at had, is cholesterol still considered to be the main risk factor for heart disease?
Dr. Stephen Sinatra joins Dr. Mike to discuss and bust the cholesterol myth you've been made to believe for years.