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| A PATIENT
BULLETIN
January
2004
Cholesterol is an Anti-Inflammatory Enough
cholesterol is essential in your tissues because all hormones - including
your sex hormones - are made from cholesterol. Enough cholesterol
is also essential in your tissues because cholesterol is a very necessary
anti-inflammatory agent.
Inflammation
occurs in your tissues daily. Ordinary daily activity causes minor injuries
in tissues. Your bodies' inflammatory response 'mops up' this worn-out
tissue, just as it does when you have an actual injury. Cholesterol's
job in your tissues is to stop the inflammatory response once its job
is done.
The
inflammatory response is also responsible for destroying organisms,
such as viruses and bacteria, that can make you ill. In fact it
is your inflammatory response to a virus, not the virus itself, that
causes all the symptoms of a flu - from aches and chills to a runny
nose and nausea.
It has
been known for a long time that auto-immune diseases such as rheumatoid
arthritis, multiple sclerosis and Crohn's disease are the result of
inflammation run amok. Evidence is mounting that will likely add heart
disease, stroke and diabetes to this list. Further, anti-inflammatory
medications are now being tried in the prevention and treatment of polyps,
many cancers and Alzheimer's.
It has
also been known for a long time that the lower your cholesterol the
more likely you are to die sooner of any disease. Now we know why. Cholesterol
stops the necessary inflammatory response from running amok. Remember,
it is the inflammatory response that causes the symptoms...and the disease.
A healthy
total cholesterol is not lower than 170 and a healthy LDL/HDL cholesterol
ratio is not lower than 1.8. These levels ensure enough cholesterol
to prevent your inflammatory response once its job is done.
The
Health Equations Blood Test Evaluation measures your Tissue Cholesterol.
The Evaluation also tells you how to get and keep your Tissue Cholesterol
in a healthy range.
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Comments, questions, discussions welcome...
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