The Natural Approach for Creating Wellness vs. The Traditional Medical Model of Treating Disease - Very important simple concept

A holistic, natural approach to health does not look for a “silver bullet” cure for a specific problem. Traditional western medicine finds a specific diagnosis and then prescribes a specific treatment for that diagnosis, often overlooking the effect of that treatment on every cell in the body. Modern medical doctors usually treat symptoms rather than the cause of the problem. Doctors also treat the disease rather that treating a person. 

The holistic approach to health looks at the whole person and creates wellness rather than treating disease. Natural, nutritional solutions to health problems are an important part of medicine, and were given the name Orthomolecular Pharmacology by Dr. Linus Pauling. Pauling is one of only four individuals to have won more than one Nobel Prize. Pauling’s work was ridiculed and he was viciously attacked by the medical establishment and drug companies.  Why?  Here is a clue; you can’t get a patent on a natural molecule so much of the profit motive was eliminated. 

Natural molecules can keep us well and reverse disease without the side effects usually seen with drugs. These natural molecules work in harmony with each other and create a synergistic effect (the total effect is greater than the sum of the constituent parts.) It isn’t a specific molecule aimed at a specific condition that gets results. Rather, it is the synergy of the whole spectrum of nutritional molecules working together that reverses disease and keeps us well.

Even people who should know better get confused. The traditional medical paradigm has so influenced our culture that even well-educated nutritional specialists sometimes give advice like, “If you have ________ then you should take _______”. Please keep in mind that to reverse disease and create health  you need to optimize your orthomolecular solutions by relying on the synergistic effect of full spectrum nutrition.

To illustrate this principle let me share the experience of a good friend who recently had heart problems. He had read one of the first drafts of my book, “I Fired my Doctors and Saved my Life,” so when he finished talking to his cardiologist he came to see me. I showed him My Total Life Saving Regimen in the appendices of my book and he began doing what had saved my life. In a recent visit to his cardiologist he reported that his symptoms were gone and the doctor’s examination verified that there had been significant improvements.  “The medications I prescribed are doing a better job than usual.” said the doctor.  “I haven’t been taking medications. Here is the list of what I am doing”, replied my friend. A growing look of bewilderment crossed over the doctor’s face as he read the extensive list of supplements and life style change included in My Total Life Saving Regimen. Not being accustomed to the synergistic effect of full spectrum nutrition and life style change he handed the papers back to my friend and said, “Whatever you are doing, keep it up.”

Here is an article in a regional newspaper in Southwest Florida that covered one of our Mensa Health Sciences Seminars on natural solution to health issues.

Natural Health Advocates Speak Out About “Best Medicine”

http://thenaturaladvocate.blogspot.com/2010/09/natural-health-advocates-speak-out.html

For more info, contact: http://www.bestself.myshaklee.com/   

Ask us to explain the Shaklee Member Referral Program

If you prefer personalized service call us: 239-591-4565

Let's Get the State Out of the Marriage Business

Revs.  Sam and Bunny Sewell deliver pre-marital counseling and are recognized by the State of Florida and Collier County as approved for purposes described by the marriage license laws. They do "Spiritual Marriages" that don't involve the state in any way, as well as marriage ceremonies for people who have a license from a secular authority. See http://www.bestselfusa.com/

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As I have predicted in the past, a new Pew Foundation study of U.S. Census data confirms what I've been saying -- marriage in America is falling out of fashion.
Among those aged 18 to 29, only 20 percent are now married, compared to 59 percent in 1960. Just 51 percent of all those over the age of 18 are now married, compared with 72 percent in 1960.
The trend away from marriage is now accelerating, rather than slowing down, and I believe that by 2020, marriage will be a road taken by a minority of adults.
I believe the reasons for marriage falling out of favor with Americans are many, including my own clinical observations that the vast majority of married people consider their unions a source of pain, not pleasure, and that too few of them are equipped with the psychological and behavioral tools to achieve true intimacy or maintain real passion. When the architecture of a relationship is airless and seemingly without exit (without bankrupting your family by hiring lawyers and having your kids pack overnight bags every week), people will eventually learn to steer clear of it.
Perhaps no factor, however, is more responsible for the decline of marriage in America than government participation in it. The fact is that getting a marriage license means, essentially, signing a Draconian contract with the state to manage the division of your estate in the event of a divorce, without ever having read that contract.
The contract, if it included all the relevant laws pertaining to divorce, child custody, spousal support and other relevant matters, would probably run hundreds of pages. And what’s more, the contract, once signed, may be changed by the state legislature at any time, leaving the parties to it with no recourse.
This all means that getting married in America is—in the current scheme—an act of self-abandonment which subjugates one to government in a more infantilizing fashion than nearly any other voluntary action you could take.
Actions have consequences. So it is no surprise that volunteering to be lorded over by the state would result in feelings of confinement while married. Nor is it any surprise that signing over one’s rights to self-determination to the state in such dramatic fashion would result in the state over-using its power to dictate how married couples ought to conduct themselves in the event of a divorce—even if they have no children.
And it is also predictable that people would eventually find this distasteful, because human beings instinctively love liberty, especially in matters as personal as love and the raising of families.
The solution is obvious: Get the state entirely out of the marriage business. No more marriage licenses. No more special treatment of married couples by the IRS or any other facet of government. No state ever had a legitimate claim to issue marriage licenses, to begin with, since marriage is a spiritual commitment and quite often, a religious one. And it is, fundamentally, an intensely personal one based in autonomy—until city hall gets involved and messes everything up.
In the new paradigm I suggest, every couple wishing to get married would state that intention to their house of worship or their community of family and friends. They would take meaningful vows in front of gatherings of loved ones. Then they would—like knowledgeable and competent adults, rather than state-dependent, incompetent children—sign financial documents they generate together (while represented by attorneys or knowledgably waiving that right) which would govern how their assets should be pooled during the term of the contract and how they should be divided in the event they decide to end the contract. The state’s interest would be limited to enforcing laws about fair amounts of child support and fair visitation rights which must be included in such documents when children are born.
That’s it. The state would protect kids financially and emotionally from parents who fail to protect them. Otherwise, they would have no business getting involved in people’s marriages at all. They never had any business getting involved in them, to begin with.
Trust me, if marriage were thus structured as a union of heart and mind between competent adults making reasoned decisions, rather than abdicating their autonomy and infantilizing themselves, it would have a much better chance of surviving in our culture.
As currently conceived—with the state lording over anyone who decides to pull a marriage license—the institution is doomed and will barely exist in 75 years.

New Light On Medicinal Benefits of Plants

ScienceDaily (Dec. 15, 2011) — Scientists are about to make publicly available all the data they have so far on the genetic blueprint of medicinal plants and what beneficial properties are encoded by the genes identified.

The release of the resources follows a $6 million initiative to study how plant genes contribute to producing various chemical compounds, some of which are medicinally important.

"Our major goal has been to capture the genetic blueprints of medicinal plants for the advancement of drug discovery and development," said Joe Chappell, professor of plant biochemistry in the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture and coordinator for the Medicinal Plant Consortium (MPC).

Project partner Dr Sarah O'Connor at the John Innes Centre will now work with her research group towards the first full genetic sequence of a medicinal plant and will also experiment with combining beneficial properties from different plants to create the first new-to-nature compounds derived from plants. A priority focus will be compounds with anticancer activity.

"Fewer and fewer new drugs have been successfully making it to the marketplace over the last 10 years, in large part because of a reliance on chemical synthesis for making new chemicals," said Chappell. "Somehow in our fast-track lives, we forgot to take advantage of the lessons provided by Mother Nature. That is all changing now with the recognition that two-thirds of all currently prescribed drugs can be traced back to natural sources and the development of resources such as those in the MPC to facilitate new drug discovery activities."

Some well-known medicines have come from plants. The once ubiquitous foxglove gives us the cardiac muscle stimulant digoxin. The periwinkle plant offers a source for the widely used chemotherapy drugs vincristine and vinblastine. These and many other medicinal plants, often commonly found in household gardens and flower boxes, harbour a wealth of compounds ripe for medicinal applications.

"Just as the sensory properties of plants interact with and trigger your sense of smell, plants' natural compounds can target and cause a reaction within your body. This gives them tremendous pharmaceutical potential," said Chappell.
During this two-year project researchers set out to develop a collection of data that would aid in understanding how plants make chemicals, a process called biosynthesis. This knowledge ultimately could make it possible to engineer plants to produce larger quantities of medicinally useful compounds as well as different versions with other therapeutic potential.

To develop the resources, the researchers studied the genes and chemical profiles of 14 plants known for medicinal properties or compounds with biological activity. These included plants such as foxglove, ginseng, and periwinkle. The findings will help researchers discover how nature's chemical diversity is created and enable them to uncover new drug candidates or increase the efficacy of existing ones.

"The current understanding of molecules and genes involved in the formation of beneficial compounds is very incomplete," said O'Connor, who is also a lecturer in chemical sciences at University of East Anglia. "However, the ability to conduct genome-wide studies of model plant species has resulted in an explosive increase in our knowledge of and capacity to understand how genes control biological processes and chemical composition."

The MPC project includes participants from the University of Kentucky, Michigan State University, Iowa State University, the University of Mississippi, Purdue University, Texas A&M University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the John Innes Centre in Norwich. The researchers represent a broad spectrum of expertise from plant biology and systematics to analytical chemistry, genetics and molecular biology, and drug development from natural products.

More Evidence that Little Things Mean a Lot.

Look closely at these two photos. The photo on the top is from 2008. Notice how white my beard was. The photo on the bottom is from 2011. Notice how my beard is noticeably darker. These are before Vivix and after Vivix photos. Actually I liked my beard better snow white, but the darker beard is an indication that aging is reversing.

I want to make it clear that I am not saying that Vivix is the sole cause of my hair getting darker. I have no doubt that my entire full spectrum health regimen is reversing signs of aging and Vivix is one contributing factor. This brings up an important point.

A holistic, natural approach to health does not look for a “silver bullet” cure for a specific problem. Traditional western medicine finds a specific diagnosis and then prescribes a specific treatment for that diagnosis, often overlooking the effect of that treatment on every cell in the body. Modern medical doctors usually treat symptoms rather than the cause of the problem. Doctors also treat the disease rather that treating a person. 

The holistic approach to health looks at the whole person and creates wellness rather than treating disease. Natural, nutritional solutions to health problems are an important part of medicine, and were given the name Orthomolecular Pharmacology by Dr. Linus Pauling. Pauling is one of only four individuals to have won more than one Nobel Prize. Pauling’s work was ridiculed and he was viciously attacked by the medical establishment and drug companies.  Why?  Here is a clue; you can’t get a patent on a natural molecule so much of the profit motive was eliminated. 

Natural molecules can keep us well and reverse disease without the side effects usually seen with drugs. These natural molecules work in harmony with each other and create a synergistic effect (the total effect is greater than the sum of the constituent parts.) It isn’t a specific molecule aimed at a specific condition that gets results. Rather, it is the synergy of the whole spectrum of nutritional molecules working together that reverses disease and keeps us well.

Even people who should know better get confused. The traditional medical paradigm has so influenced our culture that even well-educated nutritional specialists sometimes give advice like, “If you have ________ then you should take _______”. Please keep in mind that to reverse disease and create health  you need to optimize your orthomolecular solutions by relying on the synergistic effect of full spectrum nutrition.

To illustrate this principle let me share the experience of a good friend who recently had heart problems. He had read one of the first drafts of my book, “I Fired my Doctors and Saved my Life,” so when he finished talking to his cardiologist he came to see me. I showed him My Total Life Saving Regimen in the appendices of my book and he began doing what had saved my life. In a recent visit to his cardiologist he reported that his symptoms were gone and the doctor’s examination verified that there had been significant improvements.  “The medications I prescribed are doing a better job than usual.” said the doctor.  “I haven’t been taking medications. Here is the list of what I am doing”, replied my friend. A growing look of bewilderment crossed over the doctor’s face as he read the extensive list of supplements and life style change included in My Total Life Saving Regimen. Not being accustomed to the synergistic effect of full spectrum nutrition and life style change he handed the papers back to my friend and said, “Whatever you are doing, keep it up.”

Here is an article in a regional newspaper in Southwest Florida that covered one of our Mensa Health Sciences Seminars on natural solution to health issues.

Natural Health Advocates Speak Out About “Best Medicine”

http://thenaturaladvocate.blogspot.com/2010/09/natural-health-advocates-speak-out.html

For more info, contact: http://www.bestself.myshaklee.com/   

Ask us to explain the Shaklee Member Referral Program

If you prefer personalized service call us:  239-...

We do free nationwide nutritional counseling

Here is the original Little Things Mean a Lot article:

Little Things Mean a Lot! - by Sam Sewell, PhD

We are so very grateful for the way that Vivix has helped bring about major improvements for so many people since its introduction in August 2008.

Of course big things are happening with Vivix, however my big eye opening experience happened before Vivix was introduced to the public. I went from needing a heart transplant to full heart health in just two years without drugs or surgery. Videos explaining that welcome revolution in my life are at: http://ifiredmydoctors.blogspot.com/ The book we wrote on the subject can be ordered in print or PDF download at: http://www.lulu.com/content/1575438

I am pleased to report that since my recovery I haven’t had any “big” problems on which to base an extraordinarily noteworthy or astonishingly remarkable Vivix testimonial. I am certain that the “Total Life Saving Regimen” which resulted in the reversal of my heart disease is also playing an important role in the prevention of other significant health problems along with starting Vivix when it was first released.

As we age there is a cluster of minor symptoms that most people assume are a natural part of growing old. Using Vivix has caused me to question that assumption. At nearly seventy years of age I have noticed lots of little improvements, and collectively, “little things mean a lot.”Age spots – A few months after I began using Vivix I got an Email from Dr Sandy Bevacqua reporting that the age spots on her hands had vanished. In July 2008 I had used my computer scanner to make an image of the ‘thumbs up’ gesture. I looked at that “before” image of my hand and there were the age spots. When I got Dr Bevacqua’s email, I looked down at my hands. No age spots!  “Total Life Saving Regimen”, or Vivix, who knows?

Dry eyes – I had adjusted to the reduction of natural moisture in my eyes the last few years by buying several bottles of eye drops at a time and using them every few hours. Since I began using Vivix, the natural moisture in my eyes has returned and I no longer buy or use eye drops. “Total Life Saving Regimen”, or Vivix, who knows?

Night vision – As a former Navy aviator I am very aware of the problems associated with a reduction in night vision. I no longer pilot an aircraft, but I love driving my trophy-winning muscle car at night. I began to notice the symptoms of reduced night vision, and had reluctantly adjusted to no more “midnight rambling.” Since taking Vivix, my vividly sharp “pilots” night vision has returned, and now I am comfortable going for late night cruises, just to hear the purr or roar of my five liter V-8. Other car nuts can see a photo of “Black Beauty” on my Shaklee personal web page at http://bestself.myshaklee.com/us/en/about.html “Total Life Saving Regimen”, or Vivix, who knows?

Aches and pains – When I was about twenty-five years old I jumped across a small creek while out hunting. I landed on the other side and injured my left ankle. For more than forty years I had experienced chronic pain in that ankle, and a consistent “click” when I did range of motion movements. Since beginning Vivix the click and the pain have completely disappeared.  “Total Life Saving Regimen”, or Vivix, who knows?

I continued to be troubled by residual shoulder pain from the heart medications, although I had discontinued them over a year before. I realized recently that I am now exercising pain free.

Hair darker – Several people have commented that my gray hair appears darker recently.

More restful sleep – Like many people my age, I was experiencing irregular sleep patterns. my new regimen has resulted in more peaceful, uninterrupted sleep at night. I also notice that it does not take me as long to “wake up” in the mornings, and that my overall attitude is a lot more upbeat.  “Total Life Saving Regimen”, or Vivix, who knows?

Infections and fungus – Since I began using Vivix my toenail fungus is gone. Nor have I experienced my usual gum infections for months.  “Total Life Saving Regimen”, or Vivix, who knows?

Psoriasis – Since high school I have battled with psoriasis. Since my doctorate is in the behavioral sciences, not the physical sciences, I have lots to learn about health. One of the things I have learned is that both psoriasis and heart disease are inflammatory ailments. The effect of my new health regimen on my psoriasis is probably the most significant indicator of improved health. I took photos of my psoriasis-inflamed legs.

The psoriasis is not totally gone but it is improved so dramatically that the camera can now barely detect the inflammation. When my skin is completely healed I will take new photos and post them on our health sciences blog. “Total Life Saving Regimen,” or Vivix, who knows?
 
These small improvements are most likely the result of an increase in fundamental overall healthiness. Vivix heals cells from the inside out, so I am not surprised that small solutions are the result of big changes in my body.

See this slide presentation for more information on VIVIX:
http://n.b5z.net/i/u/10001533/i/VivixConsumer.pdf

We did an analysis of the science that supports longevity research and the break through Shaklee product; VIVIX!
"The Natural Advocate" - Longevity - Youth - Resveratrol - Polyphenols - and the Giant Grape

And here is a picture of the “Giant Grape”

  

New Nano-Particle Cancer Therapy Kills Individual Cancer Cells

New Nano-Particle Cancer Therapy Kills Individual Cancer Cells
AND:  STAY AWAY FROM CHEMOTHERAPY AND RADIATION

Gold-covered nanoparticles might make cancer cells unable to stand the heat
In the Works - They embed themselves in tumors and bake them to a lethal 108 degrees when activated with an infrared laser. Early testing in mice has been encouraging.

By Amber Dance, Special to the Los Angeles Times
Scientists are turning up the heat on cancer with a one-two punch of radiation plus fever temperatures that could shrink stubborn tumors.

Drugs and radiation can beat back tumors, but some cancer cells usually survive the assault. So researchers at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston fortified their arsenal with gold-covered nanoparticles that embed themselves in tumors and bake them to temperatures of 108 degrees when activated with an infrared laser.

Conventional cancer therapy effects every cell in the body.  Tins new therapy isolates individual cancer cells and destroys them with out damaging other healthy cells.  It is estimated that this therapy will be available within the next five years.

STAY AWAY FROM CHEMOTHERAPY AND RADIATION

By Dr. James Howenstine, MD.

For many years it has been known to well informed individuals within the medical community that chemotherapy and radiation were quite toxic and essentially worthless in the management of malignancies. This information is carefully covered up by our controlled media so that these two methods of therapy are regarded by lay persons as the proven therapy for malignancies. Like lemmings going over a cliff the general public lines up for these therapies and nearly all treated persons proceed to die.

To the person who inquires how can an essentially worthless therapy continue to be used as the answer is simple. It is all about money. Chemotherapy drugs bring in more than a trillion dollars annually to the pharmaceutical industry. Oncologists frequently make (actually the number can now be over $50,000 per injection) $1000 from every injection administered to a patient. There are 40 National Cancer Institute Centers scattered across the USA. Each of these employs thousands of employees. Curing cancer would be devastating for the economy and must not be allowed to occur. Research programs whose alleged purpose is to cure cancer see their funds steered into harmless areas where no cancer cures will ever result. Less than 1% of research funds are spent finding methods to prevent the spread of cancer, which is the cause of fatal cancer cachexia which kills 90% of cancer victims.

Preventing unfavorable chemotherapy results from being seen by the public in TV, radio, and newspaper reporting is combined with malicious quackery charges and actual death threats to practitioners who have legitimate cancer cures. I am aware of at least a dozen cancer cures since 1900 that have been ignored or suppressed. Several persons with bonafide cancer cures have been so vilified they died alcoholics or committed suicide. Prominent physician Dr. Milbrook Johnson was fatally poisoned the night before he was scheduled to speak on a national radio network in the 1940s about the ability of Dr. Royal Rife’s electronic equipment to cure cancer and infections.



Both chemotherapy and radiation have such toxic effects on the human body they must be stopped before they kill the patient. In the early days of chemotherapy drugs it was noted that skeptical patients who refused to take chemotherapy usually lived longer than patients treated with chemotherapy. (in the 1940’s research was done that showed the average life expectancy was 4 times longer for those that took no treatment)

Radiation therapy directed toward a bone containing cancer might initially seem innocuous but actually has effects throughout the body. Circulation of blood through areas of ionizing radiation being delivered to bone is able to transport this radiated blood to distant sites where it can injure bone marrow production of killer lymphocytes, red blood cells, macrophages and platelets. Loss of appetite and nausea can also be seen. Conventional radiation to the abdomen and other areas may be followed by permanent injury to the small intestine, liver, pancreas, colon, (diarrhea, pain) and arteriosclerosis of arteries in any field of radiation.

A suspected cancer patient had x-ray films showing numerous lucent identical sized masses overlying brain and spinal cord tissue. The films were misread as metastasis from a prior malignant melanoma instead of echinoccocal cysts spread from the family dogs. Massive radiation of brain and spinal cord tissue caused complete loss of appetite with no food intake and death in 8 days in a previously well 26 year old woman.

What are results of chemotherapy drugs? Associate Professor Graeme Morgan of Australia was the lead researcher on an article titled “The contribution of cytotoxic chemotherapy to 5 year survival in adult malignancies.” This research showed that chemotherapy improved 5 year survival by less than 3% in adults with cancer. In 1987 Dr. Lana Levi of the University of California wrote “most cancer patients in this country die of chemotherapy. It does not eliminate breast, colon, or lung cancer. This fact has been known for over a decade. Women with breast cancer are likely to die faster with chemotherapy than without it.”

Dr. Ralph Moss Ph.D. relates that “Conventional Cancer therapy is so toxic and dehumanizing that I fear it more than I fear death from cancer. Yet most alternative therapies regardless of potential or proven benefit, are outlawed, which forces patients to submit to the failures that we know don’t work because there is no other choice. Dr. Moss was employed as a science writer for Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. Chemotherapy drugs are cellular poisons so they are quite toxic. They are also quite expensive. In his book The Cancer Industry he documents how the close links between the pharmaceutical industry and the cancer establishment enables an inadequate therapy like chemotherapy to become promoted and established as standard care.”

In a 1995 interview Dr. Moss related that chemotherapy was effective in only 2 to 4 % of all malignancies (Hodgkin ’s disease, Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia, childhood leukemia, testicular cancer and Choriocarcinoma.)

The package inserts for chemotherapy drugs admit that taking a course of chemotherapy drugs can increase your risk of subsequently developing a new cancer by about 10%.. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) warns that the powerful drugs used in chemotherapy can cause cancer in employees who handle them (nurses, pharmacists, cleaning personnel). If continued too long these drugs are fatal. The damage to white blood cells, killer lymphocyte and red blood cell production makes the patient vulnerable to overwhelming (bacterial and fungal) infections which are the cause of death in many patients on chemotherapy and radiation. It never made sense to me why administering toxic substances that cause major side effects could possibly heal a serious illness like a malignancy.

Dr. William Campbell Douglass II, MD “To understand the utter hypocrisy of chemotherapy, consider the following: The McGill Cancer Center in Canada, one of the largest and most prestigious cancer treatment centers in the world, did a study of oncologists to determine how they would respond to a diagnosis of cancer. On the confidential questionnaire, 58 out of 64 doctors said that all chemotherapy programs were unacceptable to them and their family.

In 33 years of conventional medical practice I referred all patients with malignancies to oncologists. The only survivor was a Chinese man with a low grade lung cancer. He responded every five years or so to a few doses of radiation.

In my opinion one of the most important verses in the Bible is Proverbs 14:12 There is way that seems right unto man but its end is the way of death. Drug company owners and executives, politicians, world leaders and media executives have unbelievable wealth and power in this world. However, they face a tortured eternity following death. This seems to be a very unwise tradeoff.

Anyone reading this article has my permission to copy or publish this information. Hopefully, some individuals will be made aware that there are safe effective alternatives to chemotherapy and radiation in the treatment of malignancies.

Dr. James Howenstine

Dr. James A. Howenstine is a board certified specialist in internal medicine. The Second Edition of his book A Physicians Guide To Natural Health Products That Work is available. Dr. Howenstine can be reached by phoning 001-506-2262-7504.

Low "good" cholesterol doesn't cause heart attacks

Andrew M. Seaman | Reuters – Thu, Dec 1, 2011

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Despite plenty of evidence that people with low levels of "good" cholesterol are more prone to heart attacks, a large new study suggests that the lacking lipid is not to blame.

The analysis of data on nearly 70,000 people in Denmark affirmed the link between low levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL), the so-called "good" cholesterol, and raised heart attack risk in the general population. But in people with a gene mutation that lowers HDL, heart attack risk was not found to be higher at all.

"Association itself doesn't mean causality," said lead author Dr. Ruth Frikke-Schmidt, a consultant in the Department of Clinical Biochemistry at Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen.

The results, published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, indicate that just having low HDL is not what raises the likelihood of a heart attack.

"People with low 'good' cholesterol also have a whole bunch of other factors that relate to heart disease," said Dr. Christopher Cannon, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and editor of the American College of Cardiology's website.

It's difficult to study and isolate "good" cholesterol, added Cannon, who was not involved in the new study. People with low HDL often suffer from obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes and sometimes have higher levels of LDL, or "bad" cholesterol, he said.
To try to isolate the effects of HDL itself, Frikke-Schmidt and her colleagues focused on people with a well-known variant of a gene called LCAT, which lowers HDL levels and occurs in about four percent of the population.
The variant gene is used as a stand-in for low HDL, she noted, but people with the variant don't necessarily have the other risk factors that usually affect HDL levels in the larger population.
In the new study, a 13 percent decrease in HDL relative to average levels in the population was linked to an 18 percent increase in heart attack risk -- if the low HDL was not explained by a gene variant. For people with the variant gene, the same HDL reduction was not linked to any increased risk of heart attack.
The findings add to a growing body of research that's making cardiologists second guess what they've thought for decades, Cannon told Reuters Health.
"It's a total relook at what we thought was gospel," he said.

The findings fit in with Frikke-Schmidt's earlier research showing that two other genetic variants that lower "good" cholesterol levels are not associated with an increased risk of heart disease.

According to both Frikke-Schmidt and Cannon, the debate is particularly important, because there are currently drugs in trials that would raise "good" cholesterol.

If low HDL is not a cause of heart attacks, raising HDL may not be protective, they point out.

Ruling out low levels of "good" cholesterol, Frikke-Schmidt said the most likely cause of the increased risk is so-called remnant lipoproteins, which are like "bad" cholesterol and carry fats through the blood.

Until the real mechanisms are sorted out, Cannon said it's still important for people to try and raise their "good" cholesterol by exercising and losing weight.

"Beyond that there are so many question marks," he said. "We're kind of in a wait and see mode."

SOURCE: http://bit.ly/sWrkZo The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, online