The cholesterol-inflammation connection
Above link is an article from CNN article on cholesterol & inflammation and their relationship to heart health.
One of the potential pit falls of conventional medical approach is that the thought processes are linear and do not take account of the complexity of biology. For example, many medications are used to improve the lipid profile including LDL (considered the bad cholesterol) and HDL (considered the good cholesterol). However, the reality is not so simple.
One of the benefits of studying with Dr. Andrew Weil was learning about systems approach to understanding illness. Dr. Weil taught that inflammation is a commonality in many illnesses and that a nutrition regimen that takes account of lowering inflammation can result in many benefits. It seems that more of physicians are discovering that is true. Below is a quote from the original CNN article.
"Inflammation is the common denominator in nearly all of the diseases we deal with," says James O'Keefe, MD, director of preventive cardiology at the Mid America Heart Institute in Kansas City, Missouri. "Heart disease, diabetes, dementia -- they're all tied to inappropriate, low-grade, chronic inflammation." CNN
To keep inflammation to a minimum, Dr. O'Keefe recommends a restricted-calorie diet (similar to the Mediterranean diet), consisting of fruits and vegetables, lean protein, nuts, vinegar, tea, and fish oil, as well as low to moderate alcohol intake.
"The key to restoring good health to America is getting people to tune in to the connection between the dynamic, hour-to-hour nature of inflammation and their general health and well-being -- of their heart, their brain, their blood," says Dr. O'Keefe. "From a health standpoint, nothing is more important than keeping those inflammation levels down." CNN
It's wonderful to see that even the medical profession is catching on to the one of the essential tools of integrative medicine.
