An 8 page overview of the findings and assertions of this report. This paper concludes that neither the methodology nor the data presented in this
report would withstand the rigors of a forensic review. The relationship between serum cholesterol and cardiovascular disease is a very tentative
one and one that is misrepresented to a degree in this article. Bibliography lists 10 sources.
Name of Research Paper File: AM2_PPcholes.rtf
Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
High blood cholesterol has been believed to be a correlate in heart disease for several decades. In a February 1990 "American Family
Physician" article titled "Screening for High Blood Cholesterol" the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (National Health Information Center) identified high blood cholesterol as one of the "principle modifiable
risk factors for coronary artery disease". The article points out that: "A large body of evidence gathered over
several decades, including epidemiological, pathologic, animal, genetic and metabolic studies, supports the lipid hypothesis, the causal relationship between serum cholesterol levels and the development of coronary atherosclerosis"
The belief that high cholesterol levels could be considered a primary modifiable risk factor, however, was not only somewhat controversial at the
time that this article was written, it remains somewhat controversial even today. While the elevated cholesterol levels do raise some concern several studies have de-emphasized the importance of cholesterol
and saturated fats in cardiovascular health (The Lipid Research Clinic, 1984; Fallon and Enig, 1996). The National Health Information Center article contends that conflicting results occurred in such studies
because of "inadequate sample size". The article references the World Health Organization Cooperative Trial involving over 15,000 men that demonstrated a significant reduction (twenty to twenty-five percent) in nonfatal
myocardial infarction while receiving clofibrate. Interestingly, however, even this study found no difference in fatal myocardial infarction. Another referenced study was the Lipid Research Clinics Coronary Primary Prevention
Trial involving 3,806 men that saw a decrease in cardiac events to 7.0 percent from 8.6 percent, and in nonfatal myocardial infarction to 19 percent from 24 percent while receiving