The raison d'etre of this website is to provide you with hard scientific information which may help you make informed decisions in your quest for health (so far I have blogged concise summaries of over 1,500 scientific studies and have had three books published).

My research is mainly focused on the effects of cholesterol, saturated fat and statin drugs on health. If you know anyone who is worried about their cholesterol levels and heart disease, or has been told to take statin drugs you could send them a link to this website, and to my statin or cholesterol or heart disease books.

David Evans

Independent Health Researcher

Friday 31 October 2014

Low cholesterol levels weaken the heart

This study was published in Circulation Journal 2014 Oct 30
 
Study title and authors:
Low Blood Pressure, Low Serum Cholesterol and Anemia Predict Early Necessity of Ventricular Assist Device Implantation in Patients With Advanced Heart Failure at the Time of Referral From Non-Ventricular Assist Device Institutes.
Fujino T, Kinugawa K, Hatano M, Imamura T, Muraoka H, Minatsuki S, Inaba T, Maki H, Kinoshita O, Nawata K, Yao A, Ono M, Komuro I.
Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo.
 
This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25354551

A ventricular assist device (VAD) is a mechanical pump that's used to support heart function and blood flow in people who have weakened hearts. The device takes blood from a lower chamber of the heart and helps pump it to the body and vital organs, just as a healthy heart would.

This study analysed the factors predicting early necessity of a ventricular assist device in patients with advanced heart failure. The study included 46 patients who had a history of hospitalisation for heart failure management.

Regarding cholesterol levels, the study found that patients with cholesterol less than 144 mg/dL (3.7 mmol/L) had a 709% increased risk of early necessity of a ventricular assist device compared to patients with higher cholesterol levels.