| The Definitive Guide from the World’s Most Respected Doctor 50 Ways to a Healthy Heart Christiaan Barnard, M.D. published 2001 Cholesterol “It can be useful to know your cholesterol level…however there are more important things in life.” Dr. Christiaan Barnard, M.D. In no other country in the world do so many people know something about their blood fat levels. Nowhere else do people take so much medication to reduce their cholesterol levels—namely nine million units per year. In no other country is the turnover of low cholesterol or cholesterol-free food products so high. The battle against fat has taken on the dimensions of a crusade in America. 75% of all Americans have at least one cholesterol test. This is 10% more than nine years ago and double that of 1983. (Every second American can inform you of his cholesterol level.) 49 % of all Americans can spontaneously give you their cholesterol readings—16 times more than in 1983. One in five Americans was told by his doctor that his cholesterol readings were too high. Currently, 69% know that a cholesterol level under 200 serves as a guideline base. In a country that has even initiated a national cholesterol education program, a recent report naturally caused a major uproar: America’s largest medical specialists’ organization, the American College of Physicians, representing 85,000 internists in the U.S., called for a drastic reduction in cholesterol tests. As recently as 1998 they had recommended screenings for everyone between the ages of 20 and 70. Now the experts have done an about-face and recommend. No more cholesterol tests for men under the age of 35. No more cholesterol tests for women under the age of 45. No more cholesterol tests for people over the age of 75. |
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