I will agree that it is much less a factor that has been claimed.
But the point in my wording was that IF this study was really interested in health benifits, and IF they really believed what they say regarding cholesterol, then they would not have arrived at these conclusions. They contradict themselves.
I don't actually have an opinion about oily fish either: I just have an automatic reaction to this cholesterol stuff when I see it :0)
Cholesterol levels are a measurable proxy indicator. Unfortunately Cholesterol levels don't actually correlate to health and wellness, making their use as proxy indicators of health worthless. Their ease of measurement does pay large dividends to statin manufacturers though. It's a classic marketing ploy: fix on a proxy indicator, convince people that it is a true measure of health and then treat it. People can then see their "health" improve, when in fact all that is changing is a proxy indicator.
Some interesting facts:
More than 60% of all heart attacks occur in people with normal cholesterol levels.
The majority of people with high cholesterol never suffer heart attacks.
Half of all heart attack victims have none of the standard risk factors (i.e., smoking, obesity, genetics, or high cholesterol).
The real solution to heart disease is to halt the causes of arterial inflammation. One cause is homocysteine, a harmless acid-like waste product that forms when you eat red meat and other protein foods. Homocysteine is quickly broken down by certain B vitamins, so that it isn’t usually a problem. But if a person isn’t getting enough of these B vitamins (either due to thyroid supression or diet deficiency), then homocysteine builds up to dangerous levels and “burns” the delicate tissue of the artery walls. Plaque is then formed at the site of this inflammation as the body attempts to heal the damage. This plaque build up is dangerous, causing narrowing of the arteries.
Studies show that a high level of homocysteine is one of the most dangerous risk factors for heart disease. It increases a person’s risk of heart attack by three times.
The answer to heart disease is not statins, nor is it anti-inflammatory drugs. The answer is solving the B-vitamin deficiency. This is usually due to an underactive thyroid gland which inhibits the absorption of B vitamins and therefore causes homocysteine levels to skyrocket.
Correcting the thyroid function in patients enables homocysteine levels to normalize on their own — without any need for extra vitamin intake.
As to what causes thyroid supression in the first place: well, I'm out of my comfort zone here. Some qualified Freeper could chip in, perhaps.
Disclaimer: for brevity (hey I'm on my lunch break!) most text I have used above was lifted from pages at this location. This is a semi-commercial vitamin supplement site but contains a lot of collated, free data for interested browsers.