A combination of cholesterol lowering foods can achieve similar cholesterol lowering results to statins according to a recent study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2005.

The research, conducted by Canadian scientists, involved the comparison of a diet rich in foods known to reduce cholesterol with a popular statin known as lovastatin.

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A study, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine in 2004 has found that high total cholesterol levels can double an individuals remaining lifetime risk of developing coronary heart disease.

The researchers used data from the Framingham Heart Study (FHS) to determine how total cholesterol levels influence overall heart disease risk. More than 7,000 men and women were studied of which 1,120 developed coronary heart disease during the 25 year study period.

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Many people believe that diets high in fat will lead to a greater risk of heart disease in later life however this is not necessarily the case. Countries such as Spain, Greece, Italy, and France all have remarkably low rates of heart disease while consume a Mediterranean style diet that is relatively high in fat.

Recent scientific studies point instead to two specific types of fat, trans fats and saturated fats, which are thought to increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.

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Diets high in soy may reduce the incidence of heart disease according to recent studies. One such study, published in The Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2002, looked at 64,915 women from Shanghai, China, in order to determine the effects of soy food consumption on the risk of coronary heart disease.

Over an average follow up period of 2.5 years, 62 new cases of coronary heart disease were documented. The researchers found that women in the highest quartile for soy protein intake were 75% less likely to develop coronary heart disease over the study period compared to women in the highest quartile for soy protein intake.

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A study published this month in the Journal of Chiropractic Medicine has found that high doses of vitamin C can reduce an individuals LDL cholesterol levels and subsequently lower their risk of heart disease.

The research, conducted by Marc McRae of the National University of Health Sciences in Illinois, involved the analysis of results from 13 trials on the effects of vitamin C on cholesterol levels. The minimum dosage of vitamin C taken across the studies was 500mg/day for a period of between 3 and 24 weeks.

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While most people know that cigarette smoking is the primary cause of lung cancer cancer, what many people don’t know is that most premature deaths due to smoking are actually due to coronary heart disease rather than lung cancer. It is estimated that 20% of all deaths from heart disease are attributable to cigarette smoking.

Smoking has many effects on the body that lead to increased coronary heart disease risk. First, toxic substances in cigarettes such as carbon-monoxide, nicotine, and aromatic hydrocarbons lead to inflammation of the arteries and blood vessels in the body.

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A new study, conducted by researchers at the University of Northern Carolina and published in the journal Dynamic Medicine, has found that young adults with metabolic syndrome are much more likely to have had been physically inactive and had poor aerobic fitness levels as children.

The data from the study came from children aged 7-10 years who were part of the Cardiovascular Health in Children and Youth Study, a follow up of the participants was conducted 7 years later when the individuals were aged between 14 and 17 years.

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High levels of LDL cholesterol and a high ratio of LDL to HDL cholesterol are both considered to be strong risk factors for heart disease. Several studies have found that pectin, a complex carbohydrate found in many fruits, can lower LDL cholesterol levels and therefore improve heart health.

In 1987, a group of scientists at the University of Florida studied the effects of pectin on serum cholesterol levels in a group of 27 individuals who were at a moderate to high risk of heart disease.

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Cholesterol is a lipid that can be both manufactured by the body and ingested in food. It should be noted that dietary cholesterol is not the same as cholesterol found in the blood (serum cholesterol) and that dietary cholesterol often has little impact on the levels of cholesterol in the blood.

Are high levels of cholesterol in the blood harmful? In short, yes, a number of studies have found a correlation between coronary heart disease and high levels of serum cholesterol.

The graph below shows the combined results of three Finnish studies from 1972, 1977 and 1982 for men aged between 30 and 59.

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People who consume two alcoholic drinks a day may be as much as 30% less likely to die from heart disease compared to non-drinkers according to a recent Danish study published in the European Heart Journal.

The study included 11,914 men and women from the Copenhagen Heart Study and spanned a period of almost 20 years. Researchers tracked participants leisure time physical activity levels and weekly consumption of alcohol in order to determine the effects of physical activity and exercise on ischemic heart disease.

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A recent American study published in the Journal of Circulation Research has suggested that very fine particles emitted from vehicles triggers an inflammatory response in the arteries which in turn leads to atherosclerosis and an increased risk of heart attacks and strokes.

The five week study involved exposing mice to ultra-fine particles sourced from a Los Angeles freeway. These mice experienced a 55% increase in the formation of atherosclerotic lesions when compared to mice breathing filtered air free of the particles.

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