085 - Cholesterol Part 2 / Sudden Soccer Deaths / Colonoscopies

Nov 8, 2022

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What does history teach us about the controversy over cholesterol? Plus: we look at the zombie myth that soccer players are dying from the COVID-19 vaccine, and we dissect a new clinical trial of colonoscopies that reports disappointing results and compare it to Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney's enthusiasm for the procedure itself!

Block 1:

(1:50) Cholesterol: conflicting animal studies at the beginning of the 1900s

Block 2:

(9:28) Cholesterol: observational studies of high-fat diets in humans, randomized trials on low-animal-fat diets, drug trials

Block 3:

(27:19) Soccer players kicking the bucket? Not so much

Block 4:

(37:47) Colonoscopies: screening recommendations, alternatives to colonoscopies, latest trial

* Theme music: "Fall of the Ocean Queen" by Joseph Hackl.

* Assistant researcher: Nicholas Koziris

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References:

Anybody interested in an in-depth review of the history of cholesterol research can read the series of articles by Daniel Steinberg published in the Journal of Lipid Research

Steinberg, Daniel Thematic review series: the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. An interpretive history of the cholesterol controversy: part 1. J Lipid Res. 2004 Sep;45(9):1583-93. doi: 10.1194/jlr.R400003-JLR200.
Steinberg D. Thematic review series: the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. An interpretive history of the cholesterol controversy: part 2: the early evidence linking hypercholesterolemia to coronary disease in humans. J Lipid Res. 2005 Feb;46(2):179-90. doi: 10.1194/jlr.R400012-JLR200.
Steinberg D. Thematic review series: the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis: an interpretive history of the cholesterol controversy, part 3: mechanistically defining the role of hyperlipidemia. J Lipid Res. 2005 Oct;46(10):2037-51. DOI: 10.1194/jlr.R500010-JLR200
Steinberg D. The pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. An interpretive history of the cholesterol controversy, part 4: the 1984 coronary primary prevention trial ends it--almost. J Lipid Res. 2006 Jan;47(1):1-14. doi: 10.1194/jlr.R500014-JLR200.
Steinberg D. Thematic review series: the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. An interpretive history of the cholesterol controversy, part V: the discovery of the statins and the end of the controversy. J Lipid Res. 2006 Jul;47(7):1339-51. doi: 10.1194/jlr.R600009-JLR200.

Some specific references:

The Seven Countries study is a source of particular controversy:

A review of the Seven Countries Study controversy

http://www.epi.umn.edu/cvdepi/multimedia/critiques-of-the-seven-countries-study-and-ancel-keys/

And a paper written by several researchers trying to dispel some of the myths surrounding it

https://academic.oup.com/eurheartj/article/38/42/3119/4600167?login=false

Cochrane review of statins to prevent dementia

https://www.cochrane.org/CD003160/DEMENTIA_statins-prevention-dementia

The video of Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sXkIUZEWIo

The trial of colonoscopies: https://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMoa2208375

Vinay Prasad's commentary: https://sensiblemed.substack.com/p/screening-colonoscopy-misses-the

New England Journal of Medicine accompanying editorial: https://www-nejm-org.proxy3.library.mcgill.ca/doi/pdf/10.1056%2FNEJMe2211595