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Politics : A US National Health Care System? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: RetiredNow who wrote (17548)	5/4/2010 10:58:26 AM
From: TimF	Respond to of 42652

You really are trying to bust the common wisdom when you say that there is no link between high cholesterol and heart disease. It might not be the mainstream view, its also not one I'm endorsing, but its hardly an "the Earth is flat" type of issue. Our understanding of many of the factors behind heart disease is far less solid than our understanding of the basic physical configuration of the Earth. Generally these types of issues "X is the main reason behind health condition Y", are things that the conventional wisdom frequently gets wrong (at least if your looking more for root causes, not proximate causes like "a blockage in a blood vessel feeding the heart causes a heart attack"). Which doesn't mean that betting against conventional wisdom is the safe way to go, its still usually the best understanding that we have, its just that its no so solid as its often projected as being in many cases. (Also I'm not sure she's saying there is no link, but rather that there is no solid evidence of a casual link leading from high cholesterol to heart disease. "No solid evidence of X", is far less bold than "not x", and "a casual relationship leading from Y to Z", is far more specific and limited than "no link between Y and Z".)

To: RetiredNow who wrote (17548)	5/4/2010 11:32:33 AM
From: i-node	Respond to of 42652

Wow. You really are trying to bust the common wisdom when you say that there is no link between high cholesterol and heart disease. This is the most commonly espoused theory among doctors today, which is part of the reason statin drugs have done so well. With all the studies and evidence that we've been pounded with over the last decade, how can you say there is no link? It's like you are saying the earth is actually flat. I'm not saying you are wrong, but the studies have shown that the probability is higher that you will have heart disease, if your cholesterol is high. I didn't see the term "no link" -- what I saw was a reference to causality. The first thing you learned in your basic statistics course was that "correlation isn't causation". Yet, we are all running around spending money to artificially reduce numbers that haven't been shown to improve our odds at all. It seems like creating a false sense of security. This is very strange behavior. I'm doing it, but I feel foolish for doing it and I'm about to come to the end of the line with it.

To: RetiredNow who wrote (17548)	5/4/2010 11:33:17 AM
From: Lane3	1 Recommendation Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 42652

This is the most commonly espoused theory among doctors today, which is part of the reason statin drugs have done so well. Indeed. With all the studies and evidence that we've been pounded with over the last decade, how can you say there is no link? As I have argued on this thread many times, studies don't always show what they are claimed to show for a variety of reasons. One is cherry picking. Another is the failure to isolate variables. Another is confusing correlation with causation. Another is who's paying for the study. Another is the type of study is misunderstood, epidemiological studies taken as the equivalent of double-blind prospective studies. Failing to understand what "risk factor" means. Peer pressure. Etc., etc. Maybe the most prominent one is cognitive dissonance. I have tons of clips and links on this subject, unfortunately too many to locate any particular argument on demand. I assure you that there is plenty of debunking going on out there.