Dr. Aseem Malhotra: " The most interesting finding was the higher one's LDL in older population...

Dr. Aseem Malhotra: " The most interesting finding was the higher one's LDL in older population, the lower the risk of death statistically. Right. So the question is, how is that possible? Well, one of the things that's been forgotten because of all this focus on heart disease and this Ford hypothesis is that cholesterol has a really important role in the immune system."

"Older people are more vulnerable dying from infections. And there's also an association, I must stress that we don't know if it's causal, but there is an association with low cholesterol and cancer which again is likely to relate to the immune system. So that just to muddy the waters a bit further that just lowering cholesterol for the sake of it may actually be harmful."

"It's not that it has no detrimental effect. Now, what is a risk factor, major risk factor of heart disease? It's a process in the body called insulin resistance. So it's essentially over time, your body becoming resistant to the hormone insulin, and that is driven essentially by food, diets that are high in starch and sugar, ultra processed foods, being sedentary, and also to some degree chronic stress, and insulin itself, when it's, you know, raised chronically for a long period of time, or if you're eating a lot of junk food, it directly is toxic to the inner lining of the heart arteries."

"So that's what it causes heart disease. And that's accepted in the literature. Why is it not well known or publicized? Because not never been really an effective drug to tackle insulin resistance has then been proven in a trials to prevent heart attacks. And of course, you know, there is no market for healthy lifestyle really, for just eating real food, you know, not being sedentary."

"That's really the missing link. And when I institute this plan with my patients, Megan, you know, the lifestyle plan based upon the best evidence, and I don't say to my patients, don't take statins. I say, listen, this is the absolute benefit, you know, without even talking about harms."

"I mean, harms come in as well in terms of quality of life, limiting side effects in particular, like muscle fatigue, like what's on your roll experience. Most patients when given that 1% figure, Megan, don't want to take the pill. And I actually write my letter back to their general practitioner and say, listen, the patient has decided they don't want to take the statin."

"I've given them the information and their decision should be supported in keeping with the principles of ethical evidence-based medical practice. So actually, what the statin issue highlights is that if we were practicing true ethical evidence-based medicine in health care, Megan, we'd sort out the health crisis very, very quickly."