| Description | The belief that low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol causesatherosclerosis and subsequent heart disease is a fundamentalprecept of modern medicine. Therapies aimed at reducing serumLDL cholesterol are currently considered to be an essential elementof any attempt to prevent coronary heart disease (CHD).While it currently enjoys widespread acceptance among healthauthorities and medical practitioners, numerous lines of evidenceraise questions about the LDL hypothesis. Native LDL cholesterol isa vitally important substance and is not in any way atherogenic.Statin drugs, the only LDL-lowering agents shown to have clinicalbenefit in reducing the incidence of heart disease, have beenshown to exert their benefits via mechanisms totally unrelated toLDL cholesterol reduction.A potential causative role in atherosclerosis and heart diseasehas indeed been detected for oxidized LDL, but this form of LDLshows no correlation with serum levels of native LDL. Rather,individual antioxidant status appears to be a key factor influencingserum concentrations of oxidized LDL. |
