Lowering cholesterol waste of time: Cardiologist busts heart disease myths

Lowering cholesterol ‘complete waste of time’: Indian-origin British cardiologist busts myth about heart disease

You may have heard your doctor warn you about the dangers of higher cholesterol levels. Indian-origin British cardiologist Dr Aseem Malhotra has challenged that notion. He believes cholesterol has nothing to do with heart disease.

Dr Aseem Malhotra is a health adviser to the Donald Trump-aligned Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) initiative. He is the same professional who has linked King Charles and Princess Kate Middleton's cancer to COVID-19 vaccines.

Most cardiology guidelines treat raised low-density lipoprotein (LDL) as a direct cause that must be controlled early. Cholesterol causes no symptoms. So, doctors encourage preventive action rather than waiting for trouble.

Doctors typically warn against high cholesterol because long-term studies link high LDL to a greater chance of heart attacks and strokes.

Traditionally, doctors cite evidence from large trials, which indicates that lowering LDL levels reduces the risk of future events in individuals at higher risk.

According to Dr Aseem Malhotra, most statin trials are industry-funded, rather than independently verified. That's why the Gandhi-inspired cardiologist considers such trials biased.

“There was a dogma that saturated fat causes heart disease. It's complete bullsh*t now,” cardiologist Dr Malhotra said.

“I wasn't cherry-picking. I looked at all the data and put it together. It clearly showed that there was no relationship. So, if saturated fat doesn't cause heart disease, that means cholesterol can't be that important a risk factor for heart disease,” he said.

“So, I looked at all the cholesterol data, and I thought, hold on a minute. For most people, it isn't a risk factor for heart disease, only in extreme cases. So, cholesterol isn't that important a risk factor,” the cholesterol expert added.

Lowering cholesterol is a complete waste of time

When Dr Aseem Malhotra discovered that cholesterol wasn't a significant risk factor, he wondered how statins that lower cholesterol levels worked. In 2021, he collaborated with two other cardiologists and did an analysis of this.

“We took all of the published data up to date on randomised controlled trials on cholesterol-lowering drugs, and said, ‘Is there a correlation from those trials that you lower LDL cholesterol, and you prevent cardiovascular events?' No correlation at all,” Dr Malhotra said.

“So, my approach to patients, and everyone should hear this, is that lowering cholesterol is a complete waste of time, based upon the best evidence independently analysed,” he added.

Watch the complete interaction here:

Source: LiveMint
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