Re: The Cholesterol Paradox

"Diarmid Logan" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> http://www.healthcentral.com/news/NewsFullText.cfm?id=516315
>
> The Cholesterol Paradox
>
> A study finds higher levels may actually benefit people with heart
> failure.

That's not what the study showed.  It showed better outcomes in patients
with higher cholesterol levels. The study did not show that high cholesterol
levels benefit people with heart failure.  You are already attaching
causality to it.
I would tend to go along with the notion that sick people in general will
have lower cholesterol and thus the association of poor outcomes in whatever
disease you are studying.
Conversely, people who are eating well are the ones not experiencing a lot
of severe symptoms and you would see higher cholesterol.
Survey paper work research studies in which variables are not manipulated
are of limited use.  They only show associations but do nothing to prove
causality.
Cholesterol levels associated with coronary artery disease when used as a
risk factor for CAD is valid only in the younger age group. I don't recall
the cutoff but older individuals who do not have CAD and a high cholesterol
actually are better off.  This is another paradox and shows that cholesterol
per say is not the sole factor in determining outcomes or risk factors.