Cholesterol is not a poison nor is it a waste product.

Cholesterol is an essential molecule in  both animal and in human biochemistry. Did you know that the human body actually produces cholesterol? Yes, we make it from scratch! Almost all of our cells are equipped with the enzyme to make cholesterol. A healthy person synthesizes up to two grams of cholesterol per day. An average dieta diet-a with no cholesterol restriction, adds only 500 milligrams per day to your own daily production.

High total cholesterol, low HDL and high LDL levels are symptoms only-indicators of some internal imbalance. Increasing evidence is accumulating linking internal imbalances to diet excesses and deficiencies. These are the same diet excesses and deficiencies that are at the root of the health alterations traditional Medicine claims is caused by high cholesterol.

Arterial Plaque

It is a fact that cholesterol is found in plaque. However, arterial plaque contains much more than just cholesterol. The bulk of arterial plaque is made up of cell and tissue rubble that is infiltrated with the cells found in inflammation, and dotted with some cholesterol and calcium. Yes, arterial plaque also contains calcium!. The presence of calcium in plaque is what made arteriosclerosis detectable in the past when X-rays were the only available technology to visualize internal structures. Here is an interesting thought: How come nobody has ever advocated to lower calcium intake to reduce plaque and avoid heart attacks and stroke?

What is an Artery Made of?

"Wikipedia", The Free Encyclopedia is a good place to find out. Take your time to visit the links in the following paragraph. The information is pertinent and well-illustrated.

The following is a quote from Wikipedia:

"The outermost layer is known as the Tunica adventitia or the adventitia, and is composed of connective tissue. Inside this layer is the Tunica media, or media, which is made up of smooth muscle cells and elastic tissue. The innermost layer, which is in direct contact with the flow of blood is the Tunica intima, commonly called the intima. This layer is mainly made-up of endothelial cells. The hollow internal cavity in which the blood flows is called the lumen".

The abundance of elastic tissue correlates positively with the location of arterial plaque for a very good reason:

THE INITIAL DAMAGE IN ARTERIOSCLEROSIS IS

AN ALTERATION OF THE ELASTIC TISSUE .

A CORROSION OF THE WALL RATHER THAN A CLOGGING OF THE LUMEN

Rust invades the whole tickness of the wall.

Rust is the most familiar example of corrosion. It is an oxidative corrosion of iron. Rust causes weakening of iron by degradating iron's essential properties. It also causes an overall swelling of the material.

Another example of corrosion is the degradation that may occur in plastic. Although there are many forms of this sort of corrosion, the most frequent form is a decrease in length and a greater brittleness of the plastic molecules under the influence of oxidizers like free radicals.

Similarly arteriosclerosis results from the chronic inflammation process

following

the degradation of arterial elastic fiber.

The idea that corrosion of the arterial wall is the cause of arteriosclerosis is nothing new: In 1961 Doctor Kilmer McCully, came up with just the idea of arterial corrosion and for Dr. McCully the culprit of arteriosclerosis is not cholesterol, it is rather the potent oxidative amino-acid homocysteine (What is homocysteine?) His theory was rejected by the Medical Establishment and cost him his positions at Harvard University and the Massachusetts General Hospital. However his theory has gained strength more recently and homocysteine has become one of the hottest topics in research. . McCully's book, "The Heart Revolution, describes how a deficiency of some vitamins of the B group (B6, Folic acid and B12) increase homocysteine levels and create the best conditions for arteriosclerosis to develop. (At the Amazon website you can search inside McCully's book)

Aneurysm

The inflammation of arteriosclerosis almost always progresses inward resulting in the narrowing of the lumen of the blood vessel.

Should the condition develop more toward the outside of the artery an aneurysm may result.

About Hormones

Although their exact mode of action is not always elucidated, it is well admitted that some hormones protect against arteriosclerosis and coronary heart disease. A well-known example is the protection the hormone progesterone provides to women. Women lose that protection after menopause and without progesterone they then have almost the same rate of coronary heart disease as men of a comparative age.

Another hormone of great interest in protecting against arteriosclerosis is dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA). The protection DHEA provides to arteries stems from its specific property to  increase the production of elastin by arterial fibroblasts and constitute another good argument to accept McCully's elastic fiber corrosion hypothesis as a prefered explanation for arteriosclerosis.

What Can We Do?