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Video: Cholesterol Myths

The heart organ. We offer treatment for high cholesterol

Dr. Minkoff talks about cholesterol myths.

Dr. Minkoff here.

There is so much barrage and advertisement about taking medicines that lower cholesterol but I just want to talk about it for a little bit because I don’t believe there is a self-respecting cardiologist who can sleep at night if some of his patients aren’t taking statin drugs. And there’s a very elegant review study that was published in the British Medical Journal, I have just the abstract over here.

And it’s very interesting because they looked at over 80,000 people who were age 60 or more to see the bad cholesterol, the LDL cholesterol. Did high LDL cholesterol equate with shorter lifespan? Because that’s the byline. If you take the drugs and your LDL cholesterol goes down, the standard now is it has to be below a hundred but most cardiologists want it as low as they can get it that you will live longer and your body will be better.

And this study with the British Medical Journal actually says the opposite. It says that longevity which is how long you’re gonna live, is longer if your LDL cholesterol is higher not lower. Having high bad cholesterol, neither one of the cholesterols is bad, they’re both needed. It’s a silly way to
talk about this but high LDL cholesterol is not bad if you want to live long. So if you want to live long don’t take those drugs that drive it down. Now there are reasons why the cholesterol can go high and obviously people we’re in an epidemic of cardiovascular and heart disease, okay. So there are reasons for these things but the reason isn’t high cholesterol and simply approaching it by driving down the the good or bad cholesterol isn’t gonna make it any better.

And so I just want people to sort of see this so that they can understand it and they just don’t go that way because we know that these drugs have other problems with premature dementia and with diabetes and some cancers and driving hormone levels down. So they’re not a panacea and I just like to caution people. The one thing I always feel good about a new patient coming in with, is you can stop your statin drug because it isn’t doing anything for you that is going to help you live longer. Some people are on medications and they have to be on the medications or they have to be on the medications until we’re able to readjust their physiology so that they don’t need them. But that’s one that I always feel safe with, is like it’s not doing anything for you, let’s get it that one off. Because having a low LDL cholesterol isn’t gonna really help you or make you live longer. Okay, hope this helps, see you later.

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About Dr. David Minkoff, Medical Director

Dr. David Minkoff graduated from the University of Wisconsin Medical School in 1974 and was elected to the “Phi Beta Kappa” of medical schools, the prestigious Alpha Omega Alpha Honors Medical Fraternity for very high academic achievement. He then completed both a Pediatric Residency and a Fellowship in Infectious Disease at the University of California at San Diego. He worked at the University of California and Children’s Hospitals in San Diego as an attending physician in infectious disease while conducting original research on Ribaviron, a broad spectrum anti-viral agent to fight disease. He also co-directed a neo-natal intensive care unit and worked in emergency medicine. In 1992, Dr. Minkoff’s wife Sue, a Registered Nurse, became interested in nutrition and health and began to go to lectures from some of the experts in the field. At the time, Dr. Minkoff was pretty fixed in his view of traditional medicine and it took a lot of convincing to get him to come to one of these lectures. After hearing Dr. Jeffrey Bland speak, Dr. Minkoff had a eureka moment and began pursuing the alternative field with a vengeance. Based on this new knowledge Dr. Minkoff and his wife set up a small clinic in 1997 to help some friends with their medical problems. What began as an experiment blossomed into Lifeworks Wellness Center, one of the most successful clinics for complementary medicine in the United States. In the process, he gained expertise in Biological medicine, integrative oncology, heavy metal detoxification, anti-aging medicine, hormone replacement therapy, functional medicine, energy medicine, neural and prolotherapy, homeopathy, and optimum nutrition. He studied under the masters in each of these disciplines until he became an expert in his own right. Dr. Minkoff is one of the most in-demand speakers in the field and wrote an Amazon best-selling book called The Search For The Perfect Protein. The demand for the products and protocols he discovered became a catalyst for founding BodyHealth.Com, a nutrition company that now manufactures and distributes cutting-edge nutritional solutions for the many health problems of today. Dr. Minkoff writes two free online newsletters, “The Optimum Health Report” and ”The BodyHealth Fitness Newsletter”, to help others learn about optimum health and fitness. Dr. Minkoff is an avid athlete himself and has completed 43 Ironman Triathlons. To keep his fitness maximal, he lives the lifestyle he teaches to others and tries to set an example for others, so they can enjoy a life free of pain and full of energy.