low cholesterol

[tara97]

I have not been given the exact numbers but the doctor sent me a letter that I had abnormally low cholesterol. Anyone else? I always like to look for comorbidities. i know that cholesterol is essential for making D, cortisol and other hormones.

[jimmylegs]

I haven't had my cholesterol numbers done yet.. what's your diet like for meat, poultry, fish, egg yolks and dairy? might be a good idea if you do some daily cholesterol calculations...

I don't normally look at minimum cholesterol targets and I can't remember seeing a minimum before... (there should probably be one for vegans, but that's another issue).

I found something that said keep daily cholesterol intake below 200mg. so I went and looked up how much would be in a beef tenderloin steak, and it's 130mg. I used www.nutritiondata.com to get that number, it's a great resource.

[leonardo]

Low Cholesterol is linked with lower EDSS. There were two or more studies on that but it's not clear causes what. Maybe its lack of physical activity that causes high Chol. in persons with high EDSS.

According to what I've read on G. Jelinek's page low cholesterol is ok, most Chinese people have very low cholesterol and they do not get heart diseases (it's described in book: The china study).

However I found some information that there is link between low cholesterol and depression.

[jimmylegs]

I think as with most other things, moderation is the key. low cholesterol diets make sense for individuals with a history of high cholesterol diets. personally prior to dx I had had a zero cholesterol diet for 15+ yrs so it is entirely likely that some or all of my health issues were related to deficient/imbalanced fat and cholesterol among other things. I remain curious about a minimum cholesterol requirement, even though i'm back to being an omnivore these days..

[Anonymoose]

I've been reading up on cholesterol to try to decide my next step. According to this study ( http://www.jneuroinflammation.com/conte ... -8-127.pdf ), high total cholesterol is associated with greater brain atrophy/loss of mass. Higher HDL and lower triglycerides is associated with fewer enhancing lesions. Which cholesterol level was low? (I'm waiting for cholesterol levels too).

Edit: High total cholesterol (not LDL) associated with lower brain parenchymal fraction/greater atrophy.

[NHE]

I've been reading up on cholesterol to try to decide my next step. According to this study ( http://www.jneuroinflammation.com/conte ... -8-127.pdf ), high LDL is associated with greater brain atrophy/loss of mass. Higher HDL and lower triglycerides is associated with fewer enhancing lesions. Which cholesterol level was low? (I'm waiting for cholesterol levels too).

Thanks. It looks like an interesting paper.

[tara97]

yeah I dont know the numbers yet. My dad has low cholesterol and schizophrenia. I dont think its diet. I think its my liver's responsibility. thanks for the insite. interesting stuff.

[jimmylegs]

on that note - luckily your liver is built of your diet. total liver cell turnover takes about 5 months. dna is reprogrammable in high cell turnover tissues, so you can change liver function based on how you feed the regeneration process. example: liver cirrhosis is reversible with zinc therapy.

fun article
Believe it or not, your lungs are six weeks old - and your taste buds just ten days! So how old is the rest of your body?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/artic ... -body.html
'I can take 70 per cent of a person's liver away in an operation and around 90 per cent of it will grow back within two months,' explains David Lloyd, consultant liver surgeon at Leicester Royal Infirmary.'

related fyi - i helped a friend prepare a presentation on schizophrenia. fyi zinc is low, copper high, and fatty acids deficient in schizophrenic patients.
easy test for fatty acid deficiency in schizophrenic patients: give them some niacin, if they have absent niacin flush response, they are deficient in polyunsaturated fatty acids.

[CureOrBust]

I stumbled across this paper while searching for something else, and thought of this thread.

http://www.nature.com/jcbfm/journal/v33 ... 2194a.html

Although an increased leukocyte and platelet adhesion is observed in cerebral venules of mice with either hypertension (HTN) or hypercholesterolemia (HCh), it remains unclear whether the combination of HTN and HCh exerts a comparable effect on leukocyte and platelet recruitment in the cerebral microvasculature. Thus, we examined whether HCh alters platelet and leukocyte adhesion, and blood–brain barrier (BBB) permeability, in cerebral venules in two models of murine HTN: DOCA salt-induced and angiotensin II (Ang II) induced. In both models, the mice were placed on either a normal or cholesterol-enriched diet. An enhanced recruitment of adherent leukocytes and platelets in cerebral venules was noted in both HTN models in the absence of HCh, but not in its presence. The Ang II-induced increase in BBB permeability was attenuated by HCh as well. Both total and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels were elevated in the HCh mice. The HTN-induced increase in leukocyte and platelet adhesion was attenuated in apolipoprotein A-I transgenic mice (ApoA1-Tg) and blunted in wild-type mice treated with the ApoA1 mimetic peptide, 4F. Our findings indicate that mild HCh significantly blunts the cerebral microvascular responses to HTN and that HDL may have a role in mediating this beneficial effect of HCh.

In conclusion, the results of this study indicate that mild HCh significantly blunts the recruitment of leukocytes and platelets in the cerebral microvasculature in both low and high Ang II models of HTN. Our findings are also consistent with a role for HDL and ApoA1 as mediators of this antiinflammatory and antithrombogenic effect of a cholesterol-enriched diet. These observations suggest that HDL and ApoA1 may be effective therapeutic targets for prevention of the systemic inflammatory response that accompanies HTN. Whether our results bear on the responses of intracranial arteries to the combination of HTN and HCh remains unclear. The beneficial effects of ApoA1 mimetic treatment on the cerebral microcirculation suggest that elevations in HDL or administration of the ApoA1 mimetic may also afford some level of protection against any impairment of endothelial function in intracranial arteries that result from chronic arterial HTN. However, additional work is needed to directly address this interesting possibility.

And this one while I am at it.
http://www.jneuroinflammation.com/conte ... -8-127.pdf

Although i haven't read the full, articles, I do not think either of them talk of extremely low levels. Sorry.

[CaveMan]

One must always be wary when the words "Association or Corrolation" are used, they do not in any way imply a causal relationship and the results can only ever produce a Hypothesis that needs to be rigorously tested by multiple and repeated trials.

Any association like those mentioned above can be viewed in multiple ways.
1/ Elevated cholesterol levels may cause an increase in MS Disability markers.
2/ Increased MS Disability markers may cause Elevated cholesterol levels.
3/ Elevated cholesterol levels and increased MS Disability markers may both be caused by an as yet unidentified factor.

Considering the lack of success at targeting cholesterol as a causative agent in CHD and the discrepancies of the "Lipid Hypothesis", my bets are on the 3rd possibility and that elevated cholesterol levels is a response by the body to manage as best it can the current disease process.

There is no such thing as good or bad cholesterol, all of it is good and essential, elevated or depressed levels are merely an indicator of the bodies current management protocol of disease processes. Along with it's lipid transport functions and being a precurser to steroidal hormones, cholesterol also plays a vital function in transport of nutrients and a key player in the immune system.
Elevated LDL levels are often caused by dysfunction of the "reverse cholesterol transport" system, which relates back to liver dysfunction.

An interesting note from the link below, a chart of WHO epidemiological on cholesterol levels and mortality.
1/ Low cholesterol is associated with an increased risk of infectious diseases.
2/ High cholesterol is associated with an increase in autoimmune, CVD & other chronic diseases.

The lowest mortality is when cholesterol levels are between 200-240mg/dl
The current max of range for cholesterol is 200, reduced from 240 a few years back on the recomendation of a board of doctors employed by Statin drug manufacturers, was this decision to improve health or increase sales?
http://renegadewellness.files.wordpress ... -chart.pdf

[ElliotB]

Although this is an older thread, it is actually quite a fascinating and important topic, as views on cholesterol are indeed changing. According to Dr. David Perlemutter who has spent his entire medical career, about 30 years, studying the brain and disease, cholesterol, more specifically that higher cholesterol than what is currently recommended is vital to good health, and in preventing many diseases including diseases of inflammation. I highly recommend his books, especially his newest ones, Brain Grain and Brain Maker.

[PointsNorth]

on that note - luckily your liver is built of your diet. total liver cell turnover takes about 5 months. dna is reprogrammable in high cell turnover tissues, so you can change liver function based on how you feed the regeneration process. example: liver cirrhosis is reversible with zinc therapy.

fun article
Believe it or not, your lungs are six weeks old - and your taste buds just ten days! So how old is the rest of your body?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/artic ... -body.html
'I can take 70 per cent of a person's liver away in an operation and around 90 per cent of it will grow back within two months,' explains David Lloyd, consultant liver surgeon at Leicester Royal Infirmary.'

related fyi - i helped a friend prepare a presentation on schizophrenia. fyi zinc is low, copper high, and fatty acids deficient in schizophrenic patients.
easy test for fatty acid deficiency in schizophrenic patients: give them some niacin, if they have absent niacin flush response, they are deficient in polyunsaturated fatty acids.

The book by William Walsh called 'Nutrient Power' says that in many conditions like bipolar a person is deficient in B6 and zinv while copper levels are elevated. My ND thinks highly of Bill Walsh's approach. Walsh has a huge following by a great many psychiatrists.

http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00J75I ... TF8&btkr=1

[Leonard]

I have not been given the exact numbers but the doctor sent me a letter that I had abnormally low cholesterol. Anyone else? I always like to look for comorbidities. i know that cholesterol is essential for making D, cortisol and other hormones.

In general, I think Perlemutter is right and a bit higher cholesterol is ok. Is good for your Vitamin D.

But if you have MS, I think you are better off with low cholesterol. In particular, the oxLDL is very damaging, causes great oxidative stress. I think medication such as Simvastatin and Metformin reduce oxLDL. Not too long ago, an extensive suty was reported about the use of Simvastatin in the Lancet, and indeed - as you would expert - progression significantly slowed among the group patients who used Simvastatin.

[Scott1]

But if you use a statin you deplete Q10 so you need to adjust for that.

http://www.functionalmedicineuniversity ... ic/883.cfm

Regards,