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July/August 2003 | June 2001
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The Killer Exposed
Every man carries deadly forms of cholesterol in his blood, and they can increase his heart-disease risk by up to 300 percent. The really scary part: A standard cholesterol test won’t tell you if you have them.
By Robert Superko, MD
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Back when researchers first discovered the correlation between cholesterol levels and heart disease, many of us thought we’d discovered the root cause of coronary heart problems. We thought that doctors were finally in a position to intervene and save patients from a pernicious and deadly disease. Those on the front line felt on top of the world – or at least on top of the summit they had been scaling for so many years.
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The researchers were wrong. How do I know? Because I was one of them. In fact, I participated in one of the original studies to determine the effects of lowering cholesterol on heart-disease risk. Over the course of the study, we met with patients periodically to review their progress. Since that study included only male participants, I was surprised one afternoon to see a woman waiting for me. Her question was simple: "My husband’s cholesterol numbers were perfect, and you told him that based on those numbers he was at a low risk of heart disease. So why did he drop dead suddenly of a massive heart attack?"
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As you can imagine, I was devastated, but at the time I didn’t have an answer to giver her. Almost 20 years have passed since that day, and I now believe I can finally offer her – and many others who have lost husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, sons and daughters to an unexpected heart attack – an answer to that question.
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Excerpted from Before the Heart Attacks by H. Robert Superko, MD (© 2003 Rodale, Inc.)
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