This book has totally convinced me that the high cholesterol-heart disease hypothesis is a convoluted myth promoted by the pharmaceutical giants in order to sell billions of dollars worth of statins. Kendrick explores a vast amount of research that contradicts the official hypothesis; research that, for financial, ideological and conformity reasons, is largely ignored or dismissed by the mainstream. The `mainstream' being the pharmaceutical giants and the well funded and too well respected researchers who sit snugly in their very deep pockets.
Kendrick argues convincingly for such initially surprising and little known positions as: diet does not affect cholesterol level, a below average cholesterol level is far more harmful than a high cholesterol level and statins can cause heart failure! He does acknowledge that statins can slightly reduce the risk of heart disease in certain groups, but only because statins function as a blood anti-coagulant in much the same way as aspirin. Otherwise statins are bad, bad, bad, and anyone taking them or thinking of taking them should seriously consider what Kendrick has to say.
Thanks partly to the work of Kendrick and others the harmful side effects of statins are now reasonably well known - how could they not be with so many millions of people taking statins and daily reporting, at least to each other, the negative consequences of doing so: muscle damage, liver damage, cancer, depression and impaired cognitive function such as memory loss. Perhaps the most damaging consequence of the abiding faith in the cholesterol-heart disease hypothesis, a faith that absolutely nothing is allowed to challenge as far as the mainstream is concerned, is that it serves to discourage research into, and treatment of, the true causes of heart disease.
Kendrick is clear that by far the main cause of heart disease is stress. He defines stress in detail, identifies its causes and describes the physiological mechanisms by which stress ultimately damages the endothelium lining of the blood vessels. Basically, if you want to reduce your risk of heart disease, reduce your stress levels via moderate alcohol consumption, regular exercise, quitting smoking (and cocaine), cultivating rewarding friendships and finding, if you can, a job you enjoy.
An important book that will shock you into the realisation that the great cholesterol con is even greater and far more pernicious than you may currently think possible.