The Statin Controversy by Geoffrey Galley

Author:Geoffrey Galley [Geoffrey Galley]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Melrose Books
Published: 2018-02-14T16:00:00+00:00

To many people that might seem to have been a pointless experiment. After all, rabbits eat grass not cholesterol and all the cholesterol in their bodies is manufactured in their cells from the grass they eat, the air they breathe and the water they drink.

Nevertheless, Anichkov was confident that it was the cholesterol circulating in the blood which ended up in the walls of the arteries. He continued his work with rabbits and ultimately satisfied himself that there was a clear relationship between the level of cholesterol circulating in the blood and the debris in the artery wall. One cannot disagree with his conclusion except to say that the deposition of cholesterol in the arteries did not occur unless the cholesterol circulating in the rabbits’ blood was artificially increased to four or five times the normal level which could only occur in abnormal circumstances* (see item at point 3 on page 50)

Anichkov concluded his 1913 report with the unwarranted observation that the level of circulating cholesterol in the blood of human beings was a key factor in the development of atherosclerosis and therefore lowering the amount of circulating cholesterol would reduce the incidence of heart attacks. Without much thought, Anichkov and his followers translated an illogical experiment carried out on rabbits to the human domain in the firm belief that what happened in the grass-eating rabbits would be equally true for humans. This came to be known as the ‘lipid hypothesis’. Later it would be the basis of a ‘scientific’ belief which sent many millions of individuals to an early grave.

Whether or not Anichkov’s experiments were justifiable, the conclusions he drew from them were clearly flawed for the following reasons:

1.The experiments he carried out in grass-eating rabbits could not be reproduced in other animals such as dogs or rodents. All of these species, like humans, can ingest saturated fats and cholesterol without causing a significant change in the level of cholesterol circulating in their blood. In fact, only about 20% of the circulating cholesterol in man is obtained directly from food. The remaining 80% is synthesised in the cells of the body from biochemicals obtained from the breakdown of foods which do not contain cholesterol and apart from small and short-lived variations relating to the amount of fat consumed, the blood level of cholesterol remains fairly constant in a particular individual.

2.Anichkov admitted that he had fed relatively large amounts of pure cholesterol to the rabbits for an extended period of time and that their blood level was four or five times that found in a normal rabbit. Clearly the rabbits had abnormal cholesterol levels. The range of levels found in human beings varies from the mean level by about 50% plus or minus. Thus, a human being whose cholesterol level lies within the normal range cannot be said to have high cholesterol or low cholesterol. Over 99% of humans have cholesterol levels lying in this normal range.

3.*A small number, (about one in 350 human beings), have abnormally high cholesterol which is known as familial hypercholesterolemia or hyperlipidaemia.

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