Statins are the so-called "wonder drugs" widely prescribed to lower blood cholesterol levels that claim to offer unparalleled protection against heart disease. Many experts claim that they are completely safe and that they are also capable of preventing a whole series of other conditions. This groundbreaking study exposes the truth behind the hype surrounding statins and reveals a number of crucial facts, including that high cholesterol levels do not cause heart disease; that high-fat diets—saturated or otherwise—do not affect blood cholesterol levels; and that for most men and all women the benefits offered by statins are negligible at best. Other data is also provided that shows that statins have many more side affects than is often acknowledged. This hard-hitting survey also points a finger at the powerful pharmaceutical industry and an unquestioning medical profession as perpetrators of the largely facetious concepts of “good” and “bad” cholesterol that are designed to convince millions of people to spend billions on statins. With clarity and wit, this appeal to common sense and scientific fact debunks common assumptions on what constitutes a healthy lifestyle and diet, as well as the idea that there is a miracle cure for heart disease.
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"[The Great Cholesterol Con] will save you a lot of heartache—LITERALLY!" —Examiner.com
About the Author
Dr. Malcolm Kendrick has contributed to numerous medical journals on the topic of coronary heart disease and currently runs a general practice.
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174 of 177 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
If you've somehow managed to sidestep the pressure to go on statins, this book will provide you with justification. Kendrick walks you, step by step, through your own physiology and bio-chemistry, and backs his contentions that cholesterol can not be the cause of heart disease by citing and summarizing published studies that bear this out. The book is technical but highly readable thanks to an easy conversational style (if your high school biology teacher had been Kendrick, you'd have understood everything and gotten an A). If you don't really care about arterial plaques and exactly how they're formed (and exactly how they're not) the take-away message is pretty much this: statins are ineffective for women, especially for women over 50 years old, and for anybody over 70 years old. Further, statistical studies may indicate that lowering cholesterol encourages cancer. Many of the points Kendrick makes here are also borne out in Gary Taubes' excellent "Good Calories, Bad Calories." Both of these books are recommended.
I also feel somewhat compelled to add this: While doctors will tell you they've rarely seen anyone with side effects from statins, among my own circle of middle-aged friends, I know 3 who've had serious problems with their livers, one who had some muscles permanently destroyed, one--a usually energetic tennis player-- who felt, for the few months he took statins, as though he had the flu, and could barely go to work-- and one who was left with ringing in the ears and a facial tic. All of these are listed as side effects of statins, as Kendrick points out.
I also feel somewhat compelled to add this: While doctors will tell you they've rarely seen anyone with side effects from statins, among my own circle of middle-aged friends, I know 3 who've had serious problems with their livers, one who had some muscles permanently destroyed, one--a usually energetic tennis player-- who felt, for the few months he took statins, as though he had the flu, and could barely go to work-- and one who was left with ringing in the ears and a facial tic. All of these are listed as side effects of statins, as Kendrick points out.
90 of 92 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
It is remarkable that the fat-cholesterol hypothesis of heart disease gained such an established place in US medicine, culture, and popular consciousness, despite a lack of any -strong- evidence to support the theories (including that "bad cholesterol" causes heart disease) and despite sometimes stronger evidence against the theories. The emergence into broader understanding of insulin resistance around the year 2000 was a watershed in the demise of these two theories. I believe the last two months will be looked back on and viewed as the death of these hypotheses.
Perhaps most important, last week results were published that showed that a drug that lowered LDL ("bad") cholesterol not only did not prevent heart attacks, but may have increased them. The LDL went down, but not the heart attacks. This fairly well disproves the idea that even "bad" cholesterol is really that "bad" in the first place.
There has also been the appearance of two very well researched books on this topic:
Good Calories Bad Calories by Gary Taubes
The Great Cholesterol Con by Malcolm Kendrick (not the same title from Colpo)
Both are impeccable in their science, both show that the fat/cholesterol theory has been, well, frankly, fraudulent from a scientific point of view. Kendrick was lead author of the 14 Countries Study. He took WHO data on fat consumption and heart disease in a large group of countries. From these he selected the seven countries with the lowest fat consumption, and the seven with the highest fat consumption, and compared the rates of heart disease in the two groups. Every one of the countries with the lowest level of fat consumption had a higher rate of heart disease than any of the countries with the highest fat consumption. Do a double take? Read that again.
Taubes goes as far back as 1846 reviewing the science on the cause and cure of obesity (=carbohydrate consumption). He doesn't miss a stitch.
Both books describe in detail the scientific errors, and false thinking, that led to the acceptance of both hypotheses as if they were Laws, and "settled science" rather than controversial, from s true scientific point of view, from start to finish. Both make good case studies of the methods of good and bad science.
Now we are all going to have to do psychotherapy to treat our obsessive-compulsive fat/cholesterol delusional phobias. But will anyone REALLY stop buying 2% milk instead of whole, or discarding those luscious fatty skin from their chicken breast? I suggest everyone read these two books as part of their psychotherapeutic process.
Perhaps most important, last week results were published that showed that a drug that lowered LDL ("bad") cholesterol not only did not prevent heart attacks, but may have increased them. The LDL went down, but not the heart attacks. This fairly well disproves the idea that even "bad" cholesterol is really that "bad" in the first place.
There has also been the appearance of two very well researched books on this topic:
Good Calories Bad Calories by Gary Taubes
The Great Cholesterol Con by Malcolm Kendrick (not the same title from Colpo)
Both are impeccable in their science, both show that the fat/cholesterol theory has been, well, frankly, fraudulent from a scientific point of view. Kendrick was lead author of the 14 Countries Study. He took WHO data on fat consumption and heart disease in a large group of countries. From these he selected the seven countries with the lowest fat consumption, and the seven with the highest fat consumption, and compared the rates of heart disease in the two groups. Every one of the countries with the lowest level of fat consumption had a higher rate of heart disease than any of the countries with the highest fat consumption. Do a double take? Read that again.
Taubes goes as far back as 1846 reviewing the science on the cause and cure of obesity (=carbohydrate consumption). He doesn't miss a stitch.
Both books describe in detail the scientific errors, and false thinking, that led to the acceptance of both hypotheses as if they were Laws, and "settled science" rather than controversial, from s true scientific point of view, from start to finish. Both make good case studies of the methods of good and bad science.
Now we are all going to have to do psychotherapy to treat our obsessive-compulsive fat/cholesterol delusional phobias. But will anyone REALLY stop buying 2% milk instead of whole, or discarding those luscious fatty skin from their chicken breast? I suggest everyone read these two books as part of their psychotherapeutic process.
82 of 88 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Superb science/medical writing. I was already familiar with a lot of the story about cholesterol misinformation, but I still found it very useful to see the issues dissected one-by-one, with comprehensive references to the relevant research studies. The author is obviously extremely well-read in this area, far beyond the main dietary studies. His final chapter about stress and heart-disease is a must-read for anyone interested in these topics, and the fact that he had been so thorough in the earlier part of the book makes me take his speculations seriously. It comes with a good dose of quirky British (actually Scottish) humor, which I enjoyed a lot.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
A Sarcastic Book With A Gem At The End
The author (Dr. Malcom Kendrick) provides a sarcastic review of the evidence that rising cholesterol blood levels are associated with increases in cardiovascular disease. Read more
Published 2 months ago by J. Smith
Don't judge a book by its cover
With a title like The Great Cholesterol Con, my initial concern was that this might be a fringe book with no real scientific substance. However, that is not so. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Stephen Goldberg
An eye opening book
This book totally destroys any ideas that lowering cholesterol is a good idea. Many facts and figures that show how study after study keep proving that lowering cholesterol is much... Read more
Published 7 months ago by R. Collins
Brilliant overall
This book explains that the cholesterol hypothesis is well and truly dead! It has been disproven, comprehensively. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Jodi-Hummingbird
ACCORDING TO THE MONICA STUDY
in men aged 55 to 64 years, 10-year population changes in serum cholesterol level alone explained 35% of the variance of change in fatal and nonfatal coronary events. Read more
Published 11 months ago by D.M.
The Great Cholesterol Con
This is a great book regarding the whole cholesterol and heart disease connection. The author does a very good job of reviewing the science that got us to the current concensus and... Read more
Published 14 months ago by James E. Mitchell
Very useful information, a bit confusing though.....
Being now almost 53 (woman) the doctors are starting to talk about my high cholesterol. I have to say that I am a very young looking, healthy 53 year old, many people believe that... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Francisca
Everybody Used to Know This
The Great Cholesterol Con by Dr. Malcolm Kendrick is splendid! Kendrick is funny as well as insightful. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Morley Evans
An entertaining book about a serious subject
I've previously reviewed Uffe Ravnskov's book on the same subject - "Fat and cholesterol are good for you". Read more
Published 24 months ago by Iona Tamsin Stewart
ANOTHER STATIN DROP-OUT
Great to have one's suspicions documented! I'm one of the growing number of people with genetically determined high cholesterol for whom statins cause serious side effects. Read more
Published on May 18, 2010 by Helen Epstein
Inside This Book
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Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs):
(learn more)
metabolic syndrome, overall mortality data, total mortality data, cholesterol hypothesis, raised cholesterol level, atorvastatin group, statin trials, low cholesterol level, statins work, saturated fat consumption, taking statins, neurohormonal system Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Ancel Keys, The Lancet, Asian Indians, Australian Aboriginals, American Heart Association, Framingham Study, New England Journal of Medicine, Surgeon General, Study Type, Journal of the American Medical Association, Linus Pauling, World Health Organization, South Asian, Heart Protection Study, Karl Popper, Professor Sir Charles George, Henry Blackburn, National Institutes of Health, Seven Countries Study, Whitehall Study, American Journal of Epidemiology, Professor Michael Oliver, British Heart Foundation, Simon Broome Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Surprise Me!
metabolic syndrome, overall mortality data, total mortality data, cholesterol hypothesis, raised cholesterol level, atorvastatin group, statin trials, low cholesterol level, statins work, saturated fat consumption, taking statins, neurohormonal system Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Ancel Keys, The Lancet, Asian Indians, Australian Aboriginals, American Heart Association, Framingham Study, New England Journal of Medicine, Surgeon General, Study Type, Journal of the American Medical Association, Linus Pauling, World Health Organization, South Asian, Heart Protection Study, Karl Popper, Professor Sir Charles George, Henry Blackburn, National Institutes of Health, Seven Countries Study, Whitehall Study, American Journal of Epidemiology, Professor Michael Oliver, British Heart Foundation, Simon Broome Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Surprise Me!
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