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JaneV2.0
11-26-11, 8:12pm
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/evolutionary-psychiatry/201103/low-cholesterol-and-suicide

"Low serum cholesterol has been linked in numerous scientific papers to suicide, accidents, and violence ... No one knows whether violence and suicidal risk have a metabolic byproduct of low cholesterol, or whether having low cholesterol will predispose you to suicide out of hand... However, the brain's dry weight is 60% fat, and cholesterol plays a vital role in neuron signaling and brain structure. In fact, one quarter of your body's free cholesterol is found in the nervous system... It would make sense that if your cholesterol drops too low then mood and behavior could be affected."

Zoebird
11-26-11, 8:55pm
i started to have neurological issues as a vegan -- low cholesterol the assumed culprit.

I naturally have low cholesterol -- it runs in the family that way -- and then when i didn't have any dietary cholesterol for a long time (5-6 years), i started to notice some funny things. The first marker was memory loss and confusion about/by basic things (e.g., not being able to read a clock, even a digital one, and make sense of the time itself and it's meaning). when i mentioned this to our family doctor, and he looked at my bloodwork, he suspected this was the case. he asked if i had other issues -- such as tingling in fingers, anxiety, etc, and he noted that my confusion over questions (e.g., it sounded like someone was an adult on a charlie brown show) was probably related.

did another test, still very low, and he suggested either a medication to increase cholesterol (animal tested, side effects included liver damage, among others), and i declined. he then suggested dietary sources. I started with eggs. Did much better after several weeks (possibly 8-10), and then was feeling normal. Went back to raw dairy, too.

went grain free a year ago, and back to meats. currently "paleo." very happy with it. cholesterol still "low" but, no secondary symptoms or problems.

Sad Eyed Lady
11-26-11, 9:15pm
What is actually considered too low?

JaneV2.0
11-26-11, 9:21pm
If I remember correctly, the author of the article cites 160 as a cutoff. Last time I looked (years and years ago), mine wasn't a lot higher than that, and depression runs in my family. I'm not sure that's coincidental.

Zoebird
11-26-11, 10:47pm
mine was well lower! (114 or sumthin)

Greg44
11-26-11, 11:35pm
JaneV2 very interesting. It almost reads like the statin drugs alter the way the brain makes cholesterol.

"...depleting the ability of the brain and body to make cholesterol through aggressive cholesterol-lowering medication could cause a change in how the brain works."

It sounds like the extreme can cause the problems. High cholesterol can cause heart disease, stroke, etc., but super low cholesterol can cause mental issues. Neither sound like something I want.

JaneV2.0
11-27-11, 1:11am
My take on what I've read is that the most important component of the usual lipid panel is the triglyceride count. I'm not so sure there's much correlation between HDL/LDL and cardiovascular events. Here's an interesting take-away from studies of centenarians:

--from http://stan-heretic.blogspot.com/2008/09/centenarians-large-size-ldl-high-hdl.html

Quote from Nir Barzilai, researcher specializing in healthy centenarians:

"The most publicized and the most important gene located so far, however, is CETP. This gene helps to regulate cholesterol — both LDL, the so-called “bad cholesterol,” and HDL, the so-called “good cholesterol.” Researchers have found that many of the centenarians have extremely high levels of HDL and large overall particle sizes of both HDL and LDL. CETP is involved in regulating these cholesterol particles. At the same time, scientists have found that the life-prolonging variant of CETP preserves exceptional cognitive function and protects against dementia."

Mrs-M
11-27-11, 7:45am
Reiterates the importance of "everything in moderation", heavy on everything... Thanks for the article, JaneV2.0.

JaneV2.0
11-27-11, 10:55am
What stands out to me?--the old chestnut "Choose your parents wisely." Genes do a lot of the heavy lifting.

The contrarian in me loves the following:
"...the centenarians examined have not led the sorts of lives that doctors generally recommend. 'Among our centenarians we have no athletes, no vegetarians,” Barzilai said. Thirty percent of his subjects were overweight or obese in the 1950s, and close to 30% were smokers. 'We have a woman who smoked two packs a day until the age of 91. She is now 105,' he said. 'What I’m saying is that they didn’t do what we tell our patients to do.''

Mrs-M
11-27-11, 10:58am
Sometimes it just doesn't make any sense does it. It just simply does not add up.

JaneV2.0
12-2-11, 1:16pm
And for anyone (like me) interested in pursuing this subject, here's a blog featuring research from the NIH and others:
[URL="http://www.healthydietsandscience.blogspot.com/"]http://www.healthydietsandscience.blogspot.com/[/URL
Today's citation addresses total cholesterol levels and longevity.

DuraMater
12-3-11, 7:34am
And for anyone (like me) interested in pursuing this subject, here's a blog featuring research from the NIH and others:
[URL="http://www.healthydietsandscience.blogspot.com/"]http://www.healthydietsandscience.blogspot.com/[/URL
Today's citation addresses total cholesterol levels and longevity.

Wow. Evidently I should be dead. I eat meat and some dairy but my serum cholesterol is usually between 114 and 140. Just always has been low... I'm doomed!! ;0

JaneV2.0
12-3-11, 12:24pm
Mine runs lower than I'd like, too--I'd prefer the high, healthy centenarian profile. Maybe as I've aged, it's gotten higher (triglycerides excepted). At any rate, I certainly won't take steps to lower it.

Suzanne
12-3-11, 5:02pm
Jane, thanks for the great resource! I've bookmarked it - and am doing my best to stay off it until after finals..

Jemima
12-3-11, 8:45pm
If I remember correctly, the author of the article cites 160 as a cutoff. Last time I looked (years and years ago), mine wasn't a lot higher than that, and depression runs in my family. I'm not sure that's coincidental.

I suffered a depressive crash over a year ago and my cholestrol was 134 (thanks to Lipitor) at the time. While I don't think that triggered my depression, I'm convinced that my very low cholestrol made it far worse than it had to be. I've been depressed before, but never like *that*.

Lipitor is also related to muscle loss (which has also affected me) and a higher risk of diabetes. I threw mine out in September.

Jemima
12-3-11, 9:07pm
What stands out to me?--the old chestnut "Choose your parents wisely." Genes do a lot of the heavy lifting.

The contrarian in me loves the following:
"...the centenarians examined have not led the sorts of lives that doctors generally recommend. 'Among our centenarians we have no athletes, no vegetarians,” Barzilai said. Thirty percent of his subjects were overweight or obese in the 1950s, and close to 30% were smokers. 'We have a woman who smoked two packs a day until the age of 91. She is now 105,' he said. 'What I’m saying is that they didn’t do what we tell our patients to do.''

An anecdote in a book I was re-reading recently described two men, one of whom saw his doctor regularly, exercised religiously, and ate healthfully, and one of whom distrusted doctors, was clinically obese, smoked and drank heavily, and often went to bed at 3:00 AM, sleeping until 1:00 PM. The author asked the reader to guess who was the better person. It turned out that the man with what we've been led to believe are unhealthy habits was Winston Churchill, who lived to be 91, and the health nut was Adolf Hitler, who died by suicide at the age of 56.

The author is a doctor and stated that he had high blood pressure but was not taking anything for it. He is a drop-out from mainstream medicine and the high income that goes with it, and is now doing medical missionary work. He and his family live simply, frugally, and happily. (If anyone is interested, the book is Serve God, Save the Planet by J. Matthew Sleeth, M.D. It's a really good simple living read even for non-Christians.)

Jemima
12-3-11, 9:18pm
And for anyone (like me) interested in pursuing this subject, here's a blog featuring research from the NIH and others:
[URL="http://www.healthydietsandscience.blogspot.com/"]http://www.healthydietsandscience.blogspot.com/[/URL
Today's citation addresses total cholesterol levels and longevity.

Great website! Thank you!

JaneV2.0
12-3-11, 10:45pm
Thanks for your citation, Jemima. Dr. Sleeth reminds me of Doctors Robert. S. Mendelsohn and J. Gilbert Welch and others who have written extensively on the folly of today's for-profit medical juggernaut.