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Books : The Great Cholesterol Con
page 1 of 5
Rating: 
- Pretty damned good ... But.....
This is a great book. It is written in easy going colloquial language that relays a complex subject in plain English. Dr Kendrick does an excellent job of methodically demolishes the Diet-Heart disease axiom one block at a time. Finally the reader is left with the unnerving conclusion that it is not in the vested interests of the massively powerful pharmaceutical companies, (that have invested billions in the development of statin drugs), to acknowledge what one Scottish doctor seems to have done in a single paperback, BUT.... I have a couple of very minor reservations about this book.
Firstly it would have been a nice touch if it had been properly referenced. Dr Kendrick does put a few references in but instead entreats the reader to "...go and look it up on Google if you don't believe me." As Dr Kendrick is lambasting the scientific community for their poor practice of science it would have been preferable for him to set a slightly better example. This will not matter one bit to 99% of the popular science target audience for this book. My second "problem" with this book is that though the author does a great job of knocking down the "Cholesterol myth", he doesn't do such a good job of building up his own hypothesis as to the causes of heart disease.... Once again, no systematic references render him almost as guilty as those groups trying to convice us that there is indeed a link between diet and heart disease.
In Short, a rollicking good read for those who enjoy a good "Pop-Sci" paperback... BUT... ever so slightly hypocritical.
Rating: - Clear exposition of the science
This is a very clear account of various trials and scientific findings on the subject of cholesterol. It puts many previous finding in perspective. A good read that gives a very clear picture.
Rating:
- life-saving
Bold, highly entertaining and thought-provoking. This book will change the way you think about heart disease forever. This description is on the front of the book and is absolutely spot-on. And it has probably saved lives.
For example, after taking statins for several years, my mother-in-law suddenly became very forgetful - repeating the same question four times in less than 15 minutes, forgetting that she had gone shopping or to the doctor that morning, forgetting whether she had driven there or taken the bus, etc. It was quite frightening for all of us.
The battle to persuade my parents-in-law that she needed to stop the statins went on for months until, with the help of this book and "Lipitor: Thief of Memory" by Duane Graveline, they agreed that she should stop - just for a few days, mind you - this so-called "medication" (it's clearly just a poison by another name). Within 10 days of coming off simvastatin (aka Zocor), she was noticeably better, but we're still not sure she will recover completely.
I believe these two books helped to save her life - and certainly the quality of her life.
Rating:
- Yawn Yawn
Another author jumping on the cholesterol band wagon. You know things are getting a bit much when you have two books with the same name.
Yes hardly eating any fat is bad for you. Yes lets write a book about it and earn a few bob. Yes lets include a rendition of terrible humour.
Aaaargh !! Please stop or do some peer reviewed research rather than preaching "pub chat" to the masses
Is it me or does every alternative half baked book on health receive rave reviews ? Is it all a corporation conspiracy ?
Rating:
- Erm...
...hang on a minute. Given that objective peer-reviewed research is the only kind worth paying attention to, if I've interpreted the Lancet data correctly we've got the following scenario: Take two groups of 67 people with cholesterol levels above a particular point. Give one group statins for five years, but don't give any to the other group. During that period, no-one in the first group will experience a 'cardiovascular event', but one person in the second group will. Now divide 67 into the total number of individuals with elevated cholesterol levels and, presumably, that's the number of people who could avoid a heart attack/stroke/angina attack during that period if they DID take statins. It's a large number and I'd be very happy to be one of them, thank you very much.
- Pretty damned good ... But.....This is a great book. It is written in easy going colloquial language that relays a complex subject in plain English. Dr Kendrick does an excellent job of methodically demolishes the Diet-Heart disease axiom one block at a time. Finally the reader is left with the unnerving conclusion that it is not in the vested interests of the massively powerful pharmaceutical companies, (that have invested billions in the development of statin drugs), to acknowledge what one Scottish doctor seems to have done in a single paperback, BUT.... I have a couple of very minor reservations about this book.
Firstly it would have been a nice touch if it had been properly referenced. Dr Kendrick does put a few references in but instead entreats the reader to "...go and look it up on Google if you don't believe me." As Dr Kendrick is lambasting the scientific community for their poor practice of science it would have been preferable for him to set a slightly better example. This will not matter one bit to 99% of the popular science target audience for this book. My second "problem" with this book is that though the author does a great job of knocking down the "Cholesterol myth", he doesn't do such a good job of building up his own hypothesis as to the causes of heart disease.... Once again, no systematic references render him almost as guilty as those groups trying to convice us that there is indeed a link between diet and heart disease.
In Short, a rollicking good read for those who enjoy a good "Pop-Sci" paperback... BUT... ever so slightly hypocritical.
Rating:
- Clear exposition of the scienceThis is a very clear account of various trials and scientific findings on the subject of cholesterol. It puts many previous finding in perspective. A good read that gives a very clear picture.
Rating:
- life-savingBold, highly entertaining and thought-provoking. This book will change the way you think about heart disease forever. This description is on the front of the book and is absolutely spot-on. And it has probably saved lives.
For example, after taking statins for several years, my mother-in-law suddenly became very forgetful - repeating the same question four times in less than 15 minutes, forgetting that she had gone shopping or to the doctor that morning, forgetting whether she had driven there or taken the bus, etc. It was quite frightening for all of us.
The battle to persuade my parents-in-law that she needed to stop the statins went on for months until, with the help of this book and "Lipitor: Thief of Memory" by Duane Graveline, they agreed that she should stop - just for a few days, mind you - this so-called "medication" (it's clearly just a poison by another name). Within 10 days of coming off simvastatin (aka Zocor), she was noticeably better, but we're still not sure she will recover completely.
I believe these two books helped to save her life - and certainly the quality of her life.
Rating:
- Yawn YawnAnother author jumping on the cholesterol band wagon. You know things are getting a bit much when you have two books with the same name.
Yes hardly eating any fat is bad for you. Yes lets write a book about it and earn a few bob. Yes lets include a rendition of terrible humour.
Aaaargh !! Please stop or do some peer reviewed research rather than preaching "pub chat" to the masses
Is it me or does every alternative half baked book on health receive rave reviews ? Is it all a corporation conspiracy ?
Rating:
- Erm......hang on a minute. Given that objective peer-reviewed research is the only kind worth paying attention to, if I've interpreted the Lancet data correctly we've got the following scenario: Take two groups of 67 people with cholesterol levels above a particular point. Give one group statins for five years, but don't give any to the other group. During that period, no-one in the first group will experience a 'cardiovascular event', but one person in the second group will. Now divide 67 into the total number of individuals with elevated cholesterol levels and, presumably, that's the number of people who could avoid a heart attack/stroke/angina attack during that period if they DID take statins. It's a large number and I'd be very happy to be one of them, thank you very much.
