“[C]urrent evidence supports ignoring LDL cholesterol altogether,” says the University of Michigan’s [Dr. Rodney] Hayward as quoted in the cover story in businessweek from January 17th, 2008 titled “Do Cholesterol Drugs Do Any Good?” Hi, this is Larry Hobbs @ fatnews.com. Rodney A. Hayward, MD, Professor of Public Health and Internal Medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School. Rodney A. Hayward, MD Veterans Affairs Ann Arbor Healthcare System 2215 Fuller Road, Mailstop 11H Ann Arbor, MI 48105-2399 (734) 647-4844 phone (734) 647-3301 fax rhayward@umich.edu “If cholesterol lowering itself isn’t a panacea, why is it that statins do work for people with existing heart disease?,” the article asks. Statins have other biological effects according to Dr. James K. Liao at the Vascular Medicine unit of Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Statins reduce an enzyme called Rho-kinase which causes inflammation which damages arteries according to Dr. Liao. “When [you knock] down the level of Rho-kinase in rats, they don’t get heart disease.” Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), an omega-3 fatty acid found in Fish Oil, also reduces Rho-Kinase. I assume that other natural supplements do as well. “The way our health-care system runs, it is not based on data, it is based on what makes money,” “[says drug industry critic Dr. Jerome R. Hoffman, professor of clinical medicine at the University of California at Los Angeles - UCLA.]” www.businessweek.com