Other possible causes of coronary heart disease

Although the hypothesis, still current, is that cholesterol is in some way the cause of the atherosclerosis that ultimately leads to coronary heart disease, this hypothesis has been soundly disproved.

We know, beyond any shadow of doubt that high levels of cholesterol in the blood are at best merely a symptom of an underlying condition, and not the cause of either atherosclerosis or coronary heart disease.

As this has become recognised, several other possiblities have been considered. These include:

• Lack of sunshine and Vitamin D
• Bacterial and viral infections
• Lipoprotein (a)
• Lack of vitamin C
• Hyperinsulinaemia (high blood insulin)
• C reactive protein (CRP), which is a measure of inflammation
• Homocysteine, a marker for vitamin B deficiencies

Some of these make a lot more sense - and have a lot more evidence to back them - than high levels of cholesterol or LDL.