Cholesterol, Estrogens, and Heart Disease | A Different Perspective | August 19, 2023

This week, on A Different Perspective, Doc talks about why cholesterol isn’t the evil we’ve made it out to be. Women fear estrogen hormone levels and breast cancer over poor cardiovascular health due to the fantastic marketing teams breast cancer has behind it, cholesterol has been made out to be the main reason for cardiovascular disease, even though the truth is entirely different.

Doc talks about the cardiovascular protective aspects of estrogens. This is why, after menopause, women are at a greater risk of heart disease – and why women who go through early menopause are more likely to have increased risk – the hormonal changes that happen.

This does not mean that you should go out and get hormone therapy. Artificial hormones not only don’t help the heart, they increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. This also doesn’t mean post-menopausal women should try to get their hormone levels back to what they should be during the cyclic years. If you’re in a different stage of life, you need different hormone levels. Even if the extra estrogens make you feel better, that doesn’t mean you are better.

As Doc talks about cardiovascular disease and what leads to it, he points out a few breaks in logic that we’ve been missing, including the following:

--If LDL causes plaquing, why isn’t there plaquing everywhere?

--Just because we find cholesterol where there is plaque doesn’t mean the cholesterol caused the plaque. There had to be artery damage, first.

--Oxidized fats, calcium, and macrophages are also necessary for plaque buildup. So, let’s also get rid of the oxygen, calcium, and macrophages!

Doc points out that the arteries must be damaged before the cholesterol shows up or there’s plaque buildup. What’s causing the damage? Find out and get A Different Perspective on estrogens, cholesterol, and cardiovascular disease!