Content

• The Cholesterol Conundrum
• Beyond cholesterol - to the primary causes of CVD
• The power of CAC and the calcium score

The Cholesterol Conundrum

Cholesterol is strongly implicated in cardiovascular disease

• Cholesterol is vital for life (no cholesterol no life)
  • You have over 30 trillion cells and all of them need cholesterol in their membranes
• Your body actually makes most of your cholesterol
  • ~20% comes from your diet
• If you eat less cholesterol your body will make more (and vice versa)
  • Dietary cholesterol is not really relevant anymore
• When your body transports the cholesterol around your bloodstream, it can't just tag along
  • Blood is aqueous (water-based) whereas cholesterol is a lipid (fat) and so they cannot easily mix.
  • Your body makes these exotic kinds of 'boats' called "lipa-proteins" (VLDL) to help carry cholesterol until it is needed.
    • In these boats we have Cholesterol and Triglycerides (a storage form of fat)

• Low Density Lipa-Protein (LDL) (The bad cholesterol)
  • Starts off as VLDL
  • VLDL goes around the body and to your muscles and lets triglycerides out to be burnt/used.
  • Once the 'boat's' have used most of their triglycerides, you're left with an LDL Particle (mostly cholesterol)
  • Goes back to the liver after about 2 days
    • Picked back up, recycled, broken up etc...

• High Density Lipa-Protein (HDL) (The good cholesterol)
  • Transfers Triglycerides and cholesterol molecules in and out of the LDL class to balance the system
  • If you have a low HDL, it's generally a bad risk marker

What happens when something goes wrong?

• The root causes drive a lot of the bad processes in the body

Primary Root Causes of Heart Disease

Thomas Dayspring

• Genuine expert on cardiovascular health

Cholesterol and disease experts are called "lipidologists"

The majority of Heart Attacks are due to INSULIN RESISTANCE

LDL is a near-worthless predictor for cardiovascular issues* (people with LDLc above 200mg/dL, or 5.3 mmol/L are rate...)

• Insulin resistance is so much more important when addressing heart disease risk that it "towers" over LDL

Insulin Resistance

• Pancreas releases lots of hormones and Insulin is the master hormone (it controls alot of other hormones)
• Cells respond to the insulin signal
• When you eat food stuffs (particiularly carbohydrates) (breads, pastas, cereals) (usually nutrient poo)
  • But they are mostly glucose (sugar molecule)
  • It is the primary stimulant for insulin to be released (Insulin is needed to manage glucose)
  • Insulin goes out and controls how the glucose is used within the body
• Dietary fat doesn't affect insulin at all
• Protein affects insulin a little bit

• If you have too much carbohydrate then you drive up your insulin levels
• Too much glucose, too much insulin

Fructose is a special sugar that goes straight to the liver

• Too much fructose and it can cause insulin resistance

The end of the road is Type 2 Diabetes

Measuring for this - Metabolic Mayham

Metabolic syndrome is now known as insulant resistant syndrome

Draft Root Cause for Cardiovascular Disease

• Fatty liver
  • Increase in blood insulin
  • increase in blood glucose
  • increase in blood pressure