Ron Rosedale, MD (mercola.com)

So Why Take Cholesterol-Lowering Drugs?

The pharmaceutical companies thought that you might think that.

They went back to the drawing board. They did more "research" and found (coincidentally) that statin drugs had anti-inflammatory effects.

Therefore we're currently being told to stay on our cholesterol-lowering drugs because now they work by reducing inflammation and perhaps not even by reducing cholesterol, and in fact perhaps in spite of it.

Aspirin reduces inflammation for a lot less money. So does vitamin E, and fish oil, and dietary changes without the dangers of drugs and having many other benefits instead.

What About Triglycerides?

Triglycerides are just medical terminology for fat.

A person with high triglycerides has a lot of fat in the bloodstream.

Triglycerides are generally measured when a person has fasted overnight.

High fasting triglycerides are either from manufacturing too much, or using (burning) too little.

In other words, what high triglycerides are telling you is that you are making too much fat and you are unable to burn it.

This indeed is a major problem.

The inability to burn fat underlies virtually all of the chronic diseases of aging, and in fact may contribute to the rate of aging itself.

As such, one might think that the control all fat burning and storage might be very important in heart disease, and the other diseases of aging such as diabetes, obesity, osteoporosis, and even cancer. Indeed, this appears to very much be the case.

The two hormones that to a major extent control our ability to burn and store fat, insulin and leptin, appear to play a major role in all of the chronic diseases of aging.

I would call them the most important hormones, indeed chemicals in the entire body. But that is a story for next time.