Posted on 06/27/2010 10:19:52 PM PDT by CutePuppy
The amount of cholesterol circulating in the bloodstream is partly regulated by the brain, a study in mice suggests.
It counters assumptions that levels are solely controlled by what we eat and by cholesterol production in the liver.
The US study in Nature Neuroscience found that a hunger hormone in the brain acts as the "remote control" for cholesterol travelling round the body.
Too much cholesterol causes hardened fatty arteries, raising the risk of a heart attack.
The research carried out by a US team at the University of Cincinnati found that increased levels of the hunger hormone ghrelin in mice caused the animals to develop higher levels of blood-circulating cholesterol.
Levels in the blood rise because signals from the brain prompt the liver to store less cholesterol, the researchers said.
It is known that ghrelin inhibits a receptor in the brain in its role in regulating food intake and energy use.
In a separate experiment, they found that blocking this receptor in mice also increased levels of cholesterol in the blood.
Potential treatment
The researchers said the finding needs to be replicated in humans but potentially opens up a new way of treating high cholesterol.
Study leader Professor Matthias Tschoep said: "We have long thought that cholesterol is exclusively regulated through dietary absorption or synthesis and secretion by the liver.
"Our study shows for the first time that cholesterol is also under direct 'remote control' by specific neurocircuitry in the central nervous system."
Fotini Rozakeas, cardiac nurse at British Heart Foundation, said: "This interesting study on mice shows for the first time that blood cholesterol levels can be directly controlled by signals transmitted from the brain to the liver where cholesterol is formed.
"This could potentially open up new forms of treatment to control cholesterol levels..."
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(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...
Excellent post.
The best cholesterol levels I ever had was after a few months on the Atkins diet. BP was normal, blood sugar levels normal.....Don’t see how the brain had anything to do with that.
My cardiologist is convinced it’s all in the genes.
Exactly. Bad science all the way around.
In the early studies, they found cholesterol in clots and concluded it was the cause rather than the effect.
But cholesterol is everywhere in the body in relatively large amounts. In your skin, in your bones, in your organs and tendons, inside each and every cell.
I’ve read even among people who have bad diets, 85% of the cholesterol in their blood was made in their own liver.
Having said that, the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis is complex, and not completely understood by any means. Clearly hypertension is a big contributing risk factor, but how hypertension increases the risk of athero is not known. Vascular inflammation plays a major role, and undoubtedly there are strong genetic components.
To say that elevated cholesterol is a risk factor among people who are for whatever reason predisposed to arterial inflammation IS NOT the same as saying cholesterol caused the problem.
“To say that elevated cholesterol is a risk factor among people who are for whatever reason predisposed to arterial inflammation IS NOT the same as saying cholesterol caused the problem.”
The genetic defect leading to familial hypercholesterolemia is not involved in regulation of inflammatory responses. It results specifically in high blood cholesterol (specifically LDL), and this is what predisposes all those with this disease to develop atherosclerosis. Mice with various genetic mutations in cholesterol-related genes develop atherosclerotic lesions. There are many other examples. There are clearly many contributing mechanistic factors, but cholesterol is definitely a risk factor. When the diets of people from countries that traditionally ate low fat/low cholesterol foods changed to a Western diet, the incidence of coronary disease increased markedly.
I thought the Harmonic Convergence back in 1985 was supposed to take care of stuff like this. Another wasted trip to Mt. Shasta. Aum!
I thought the Harmonic Convergence back in 1985 was supposed to take care of stuff like this. Another wasted trip to Mt. Shasta. Aum!
"This could potentially open up new forms of treatment to control cholesterol levels..."
"This could potentially open up new invalidate all existing forms of treatment to control cholesterol levels..."
So you are saying vitamins A, C, and E cause hardening of the arteries?
Vitamin C causes hardening and cracks in the arteries?
Strange since C helps with collagen production, which makes the vessels (not to mention other tissues, like skin for example) more elastic and thus help with vascular dilation.
Those give my husband severe leg cramps. We can’t get his down with diet and exercise alone. At 70 he’s doing 30 mins on the treadmill and 50 sit ups per day along with all the other daily activities. Weight is normal, his triglisricides are the biggest problem, he has a carb issue, he’s a meat, bread and potato kind of guy and has a sweet tooth.
But it also is a family trait, most of his family are on the stuff.
But it doesn't work for Mark Spitz. He has to take statins even though he exercises.
I believe hardening of the arteries is caused by free radicals and inflammation rather then cholesterol.
Inflammation is a major but often overlooked or understated factor in many malfunctions of the body (and the mind), especially chronic ones. Genetic predisposition could be a magnifying factor but could also be only a psychosomatic factor in developing of disease or its symptoms.
Exactly. For most it's a hope, for some it's an opportunity, for few it's a disaster...
It’s interesting also that the focus was slightly shifted from “cholesterol” to “cholesterol and fats”.
Really? Which fats? Many fats are quite pro-inflammatory, some have a hard time with heat and cooking.
Heck, I eat fats. Store nearby has a wonderful antipasta bar - all kinds of Greek olives, dried sauteed peppers, feta cheese...
Any “American” style diet (which is high in fats) is very high in processed foods that have had nutrients and components stripped.
I still maintain it is not a simple correlation between level of cholesterol and risk. And in fact that seems to be verified by the numbers that show just about half the people who die from sudden cariac events have normal or even less than normal cholesterol levels.
Nutritional "education" in the U.S. is woeful. Some people are still worried about eating eggs and other products because of their "cholesterol"... Same with different fats, including mono-/poly- saturated/unsaturated fats - many people just lump it all together, but then replace butter with margarine or eat the worst processed foods because of "low fat, low calories" on the labels.
Just like it has been shown recently that increasing the level of HDL and higher ratio of HDL to LDL is more important and beneficial than concentrating on reducing the overall "cholesterol" level, most people don't know about it.
right, there are certainly cases where statins are appropriate. I just see a lot of 30-50 year old overweight underworked types taking a lot of pills that they probably wouldn’t need if they exercized. I’m speaking of the statins and the type 2 diabetes medications primarily but the various hypertensions meds fall probably fall into theis category too. I know an individual who requires all kinds of these pills (that he doesn’t tolerate well) because he spends all day and every day sitting around drinking very large quantities of beer. All he has to do is quit drinking and start working and the pills and their side effects will go away.
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