As an internist/epidemiologist I was thrilled by this well written book (as good as Gary Taube's, and much more fun to read). I hope to be around when the pillars collapse around the fifty year old specious theory of cholesterol's role in CVD.However,like the erroneous theories of gastric ulcer causation, Big Pharma and the medical establishment are unlikely to give up on this money-making enterprise soon. The theory is now orthodoxy, and like any threat to a religion, people like Kendrick will be considered heretics for years to come. Think of Helicobacter pylori.

Dr. Kendrick, with razor sharp British wit, provides an understandable, but fact and research supported explanation of the truly unforgivable self-interested leadership provided by our National health organizations, and the Pharmaceutical industry, as they promote a profit driven statin drug scam on our world populations. It becomes clear how our willingness to take the word of doctors as fact and in our best interest, does not serve us well.

Kendrick, using the gentleness of wit, delivers a healthy dose of reality on the fallibility of doctors. Hey, they are human! They are busy and fall victim of taking the word of other "experts" that they should be able to count on. It is apparent that those sources are influenced by forces not acting in our best interest!! Naively, they probably do think there is little harm in statins. Hey, remember Thalidomide?

You owe it to yourself to get the facts before exposing yourself to expensive, and, tragically, very unnecessary and potentially very very harmful medication sold to fix a "cholesterol problem" that in no way is the problem, based on the most elementary scientific method and unbiased interpretation of their own research results.

Dr. Kendrick has done us all a huge favor taking the risk, and putting in the effort to expose this fraud. This sham is on a scale that could truly land corporations in huge lawsuits, as with tobacco. But, as you will see, they are most cleaver and innocent in their methods......

Best of all, you will sleep better getting some real answers to this baffling barrage of media and MD rhetoric. Like, "what is cholesterol anyway?"

So it turns out that Big pharma, and your doctor are conspiring to worsen your health so that they can make money.

Can I ask How???

If big pharma is fabricating research about cholesterol to convince doctors to prescribe statins to improve your health...how are they in conspiracy??

Do you really think that all the drugs are bad and you are better off with natural remedies...then let me ask you this ....do you think if any of these natural remedies was as wonderful as it is claimed to be, do you really think that a drug company would not snatch it and sell it to you as a pharma grade expensive product and make a fortune out of it.

Let me enlighten you:

if you read the book for entertainment ..I can see that

but if you read it for info and even worse if you believed it...then you are saying that all these legitimate people and organization such as the American heart association, American college of physicians are conspiring against you....as you would have concluded here from reading this book by somebody who claims he knows (why would you believe that he is trying to help you)

It is hard to come up with great medical discoveries but it is very easy to fabricate some cure it all sell on the internet miracle cure and get rich doing it

So who do you really think is after your money????conspiring against you????

Choose whether to take statins for yourself rather than let the bias in this book do it for you (which I would say is worse than the pharmaceutical companies)
All you conspiracy theorists should bear in mind that Kendrick is more than a GP, he also works for a pharmaceutical company.

Heres a summary of the most important if not all the data


CHOLESTEROL TREATMENT TRIALISTS COLLABORATION META-ANALYSIS OF ALL THE DATA. LANCET 2005:366:1267

Secondary prevention (if you've already got some form of vascular disease):Number needed to treat:21 over 5 years to prevent one vascular event.

Primary Prevention (if no established cardiovascular disease), in high risk patients: Number needed to treat of 40 over 5 years to prevent one event



FURTHER METANALYSIS OF THE PRIMARY PREVENTION TRIALS LANCET 2007:369:168. They found for patients with no pre-existing cardiovascular disease
1.No evidence of reduction in total mortality
2.Overall cardiovascular events reduced with statins (NNT OF 67 over 5 years)
3.Analysis suggests benefit is only seen in high risk men aged 30-69 (NNT 50)
4.Women did not seem to benefit, nor anyone over the age of 69



BINGO - Take some personal responsibility, make up your own mind and stop expecting the doctor to agree with you about cholesterol. If you get side effects ask yourself if the benefits listed above are worth it.


You've also got to ask yourself why Kendrick the self proclaimed expert hasn't published any research on the subject describing his enlightening theories. Surely if its important enough and his theories have validity they would be published in a peer reviewed journal? No? I wonder why not ?

Choose whether to take statins for yourself rather than let the bias in this book do it for you (which I would say is worse than the pharmaceutical companies)
All you conspiracy theorists should bear in mind that Kendrick is more than a GP, he also works for a pharmaceutical company.

Heres a summary of the most important if not all the data


CHOLESTEROL TREATMENT TRIALISTS COLLABORATION META-ANALYSIS OF ALL THE DATA. LANCET 2005:366:1267

Secondary prevention (if you've already got some form of vascular disease):Number needed to treat:21 over 5 years to prevent one vascular event.

Primary Prevention (if no established cardiovascular disease), in high risk patients: Number needed to treat of 40 over 5 years to prevent one event



FURTHER METANALYSIS OF THE PRIMARY PREVENTION TRIALS LANCET 2007:369:168. They found for patients with no pre-existing cardiovascular disease
1.No evidence of reduction in total mortality
2.Overall cardiovascular events reduced with statins (NNT OF 67 over 5 years)
3.Analysis suggests benefit is only seen in high risk men aged 30-69 (NNT 50)
4.Women did not seem to benefit, nor anyone over the age of 69



BINGO - Take some personal responsibility, make up your own mind and stop expecting the doctor to agree with you about cholesterol. If you get side effects ask yourself if the benefits listed above are worth it.

At first glance this book seems very well researched and written, and essential reading for anyone taking statins or concerned about cholesterol levels.

Dr Kendrick criticises research into the saturated fat - cholesterol - heart disease link, on the basis that most of the researchers involved in this field had set out to prove this link rather than studying it objectively. The author then seems to apply similarly biased thinking to try to prove his own theory that stress is the primary cause of heart disease.

Dr Kendrick is right to point out that a number of countries with high saturated fat consumption and low incidence of heart disease have been conveniently ignored by those trying to prove the diet-heart hypothesis. The author makes no attempt however to find other explanations for this. A lot of research is being carried out into homocysteine which is a non-essential amino acid that has been found to be very irritating to the outer lining of the arterial wall. Homocysteine is produced when there is insufficient folic acid, B12 and B6 in the body to convert methionine (found abundantly in animal meats) into cysteine, which can be excreted by the kidneys. Interestingly, populations with high saturated fat intake and low incidence of CHD all seem to have high consumption of these B vitamins in their diets, as well as Omega 3 fatty acids which are known to be cardio protective. Has this been conveniently ignored by Dr Kendrick because is doesn't fit his stress-heart hypothesis?

I work in the field of cardiac rehabilitation and it is an area where a multi-disciplinary approach is required. Diet, activity levels, smoking, pharmacology and stress are all major factors and trying to suggest that one factor is more important than the others is, in my opinion, completely wrong.

For a book written predominantly about stress and heart disease, the practical advice on reducing / dealing with stress is a disappointing page and a half postscript.

The book is very good at showing some of the misinformation that does exist about cholesterol and heart disease and explaining some of the problems with statins and some of the research that has been carried out by drug companies. If however, you are looking for a book to help improve the health of your heart, then this book on it's own is not comprehensive enough.

It is remarkable that the fat-cholesterol hypothesis of heart disease gained such an established place in US medicine, culture, and popular consciousness, despite a lack of any -strong- evidence to support the theories (including that "bad cholesterol" causes heart disease) and despite sometimes stronger evidence against the theories. The emergence into broader understanding of insulin resistance around the year 2000 was a watershed in the demise of these two theories. I believe the last two months will be looked back on and viewed as the death of these hypotheses.
Perhaps most important, last week results were published that showed that a drug that lowered LDL ("bad") cholesterol not only did not prevent heart attacks, but may have increased them. The LDL went down, but not the heart attacks. This fairly well disproves the idea that even "bad" cholesterol is really that "bad" in the first place.
There has also been the appearance of two very well researched books on this topic:
Good Calories Bad Calories by Gary Taubes
The Great Cholesterol Con by Malcolm Kendrick (not the same title from Colpo)
Both are impeccable in their science, both show that the fat/cholesterol theory has been, well, frankly, fraudulent from a scientific point of view. Kendrick was lead author of the 14 Countries Study. He took WHO data on fat consumption and heart disease in a large group of countries. From these he selected the seven countries with the lowest fat consumption, and the seven with the highest fat consumption, and compared the rates of heart disease in the two groups. Every one of the countries with the lowest level of fat consumption had a higher rate of heart disease than any of the countries with the highest fat consumption. Do a double take? Read that again.
Taubes goes as far back as 1846 reviewing the science on the cause and cure of obesity (=carbohydrate consumption). He doesn't miss a stitch.
Both books describe in detail the scientific errors, and false thinking, that led to the acceptance of both hypotheses as if they were Laws, and "settled science" rather than controversial, from s true scientific point of view, from start to finish. Both make good case studies of the methods of good and bad science.
Now we are all going to have to do psychotherapy to treat our obsessive-compulsive fat/cholesterol delusional phobias. But will anyone REALLY stop buying 2% milk instead of whole, or discarding those luscious fatty skin from their chicken breast? I suggest everyone read these two books as part of their psychotherapeutic process.

It is remarkable that the fat-cholesterol hypothesis of heart disease gained such an established place in US medicine, culture, and popular consciousness, despite a lack of any -strong- evidence to support the theories (including that "bad cholesterol" causes heart disease) and despite sometimes stronger evidence against the theories. The emergence into broader understanding of insulin resistance around the year 2000 was a watershed in the demise of these two theories. I believe the last two months will be looked back on and viewed as the death of these hypotheses.
Perhaps most important, last week results were published that showed that a drug that lowered LDL ("bad") cholesterol not only did not prevent heart attacks, but may have increased them. The LDL went down, but not the heart attacks. This fairly well disproves the idea that even "bad" cholesterol is really that "bad" in the first place.
There has also been the appearance of two very well researched books on this topic:
Good Calories Bad Calories by Gary Taubes
The Great Cholesterol Con by Malcolm Kendrick (not the same title from Colpo)
Both are impeccable in their science, both show that the fat/cholesterol theory has been, well, frankly, fraudulent from a scientific point of view. Kendrick was lead author of the 14 Countries Study. He took WHO data on fat consumption and heart disease in a large group of countries. From these he selected the seven countries with the lowest fat consumption, and the seven with the highest fat consumption, and compared the rates of heart disease in the two groups. Every one of the countries with the lowest level of fat consumption had a higher rate of heart disease than any of the countries with the highest fat consumption. Do a double take? Read that again.
Taubes goes as far back as 1846 reviewing the science on the cause and cure of obesity (=carbohydrate consumption). He doesn't miss a stitch.
Both books describe in detail the scientific errors, and false thinking, that led to the acceptance of both hypotheses as if they were Laws, and "settled science" rather than controversial, from s true scientific point of view, from start to finish. Both make good case studies of the methods of good and bad science.
Now we are all going to have to do psychotherapy to treat our obsessive-compulsive fat/cholesterol delusional phobias. But will anyone REALLY stop buying 2% milk instead of whole, or discarding those luscious fatty skin from their chicken breast? I suggest everyone read these two books as part of their psychotherapeutic process.

The physiological information in this book is invaluable. I am convinced that stress is the root of many of the symptoms currently identified as "risk factors" for heart attacks and strokes. Since he is Scottish, and I am American, the use of the metric system makes it a bit confusing at times, but I just read along assuming that the numbers supported his claim. He spends much of the book refuting the most commonly held beliefs of the public and even most mainstream physicians and dieticians as to the causes, risk factors and links to heart attacks and strokes. He uses detailed study information to do so and I would have preferred a less detailed synopsis of each study, but I just skimmed a lot of those to get through. I read this because my husband's lipids just came in a little high, and I am now encouraging him to exercise, take Omega 3s, drink a few glasses of wine and limit his carb intake to lose a little weight. We are not cutting any saturated fats or worrying about his numbers any longer - just working to relax to limit the stress reaction. Worth the read. I'm planning to move on to a few other books written from the same perspective for reinforcement.

This book will give you more than enough science to understand what cholesterol is and how it performs necessary functions in the human body. Dr Kendrick has a solid understanding of biology and effortlessly exposes the flaws in the diet/cholesterol hypothesis. His wit and incisive observations will have you shaking your head with amazement at the way the research data is manipulated and then presented as proof that high cholesterol causes heart disease and that statins are the wonder drug of the 21st century. Thankfully, in the midst of all this detailed information and analysis, Dr Kendrick manages to make us chuckle.

At times this book gets a bit too technical for the layman-there are many terms which will be unfamiliar to the average reader. But if one forges on, Dr, Kendrick's points are easily understood.

Summing up: If one walks away still thinking that high cholesterol causes heart disease after reading this book, all i can say is please contact me, because I have a great deal on a bridge in Brooklyn that I need to get off my hands quickly..

If you've somehow managed to sidestep the pressure to go on statins, this book will provide you with justification. Kendrick walks you, step by step, through your own physiology and bio-chemistry, and backs his contentions that cholesterol can not be the cause of heart disease by citing and summarizing published studies that bear this out. The book is technical but highly readable thanks to an easy conversational style (if your high school biology teacher had been Kendrick, you'd have understood everything and gotten an A). If you don't really care about arterial plaques and exactly how they're formed (and exactly how they're not) the take-away message is pretty much this: statins are ineffective for women, especially for women over 50 years old, and for anybody over 70 years old. Further, statistical studies may indicate that lowering cholesterol encourages cancer. Many of the points Kendrick makes here are also borne out in Gary Taubes' excellent "Good Calories, Bad Calories." Both of these books are recommended.

I also feel somewhat compelled to add this: While doctors will tell you they've rarely seen anyone with side effects from statins, among my own circle of middle-aged friends, I know 3 who've had serious problems with their livers, one who had some muscles permanently destroyed, one--a usually energetic tennis player-- who felt, for the few months he took statins, as though he had the flu, and could barely go to work-- and one who was left with ringing in the ears and a facial tic. All of these are listed as side effects of statins, as Kendrick points out.

Dr. Kendrick sounds like he'd be fun at a party. Full of information and presented in an entertaining way, it is very easy to read even though you may be quite upset at how you've been misled by the media and health industries. My only qualm is that because of his presentation, those firmly entrenched in their "low fat good", "cholesterol is evil" mindset might dismiss him as being a bit off his rocker. Take his advice and check the research for yourself if you have doubts.

ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS I HAVE EVER READ. NOT ONLY WAS THIS BOOK EASY TO FOLLOW AND UNDERSTAND, IT WAS FUN AND FUNNY. I WAS FREQUENTLY SMILING, IF NOT OUTRIGHT LAUGHING WHILE READING THE MATERIAL. I APPLAUD THE AUTHOR FOR MAKING THIS TOPIC APPROACHABLE AND NON INTIMIDATING.

I very carefully read this book. I wasn't convinced when I started that he could prove his thesis. While I was immediately put off by his writing style (the funny bits just don't work for me and they seem very unprofessional given the subject), I stuck with it. I believe he does a very good job of detailing the evidence that is out there on cholesterol and heart disease. He uses publicly available data (much of which I was able to find via google or the URLs he included in the book), though I cannot say that I looked at it in depth.

There's a lot in this book that will make you mad. The way medicine in our country (and his, the UK) is so controlled by big business. It really is a shame the FDA has been made toothless over the last 15 years.

This is a book written for anyone to understand. It is not only written in very good prose, but is even fun to read. The author has his own particular style of using humor while explaining the contradictions in the Lypid Hipothesis.

The book contains helpful information, and is very humorous and thorough , but is much too technical for the ordinary lay reader.

I'm convinced that my dad's doctor killed him with prescription drugs (Statins). Don't let this happen to you or your family!!
I thoroughly enjoyed this book! Get your highlighter out you're going to need it; this book will BLOW YOUR MIND!! We've been lied to folks, and most doctors don't even have a clue; they follow like sheep and don't use their brains.

Well, I gather from the reviews that the people looking to buy this book have already made up their mind (perhaps people with "pill" phobias or those who've had side effects) and they're searching for it on amazon to confirm what they already believe. Kendrick does a good job of pandering to the public and takes the oppotunity to have a rant about his colleagues whilst glorifying his own superiority over them. A revolutionary martyr who puts his "head on the chopping" block infront of his colleagues!!! How courageous!! Please !! Try looking at Hulda Regehr Clarks "Cure for all advanced cancers" who thinks all cancers are caused by liver flukes, flying in the face of medical opinion,maybe we should congratulate her on her courage (or on her bank account) aswell !

Kendrick twists the facts and confuses the issues to suit his own purpose.Take for instance the "high fat diets don't cause heart disease". This is hardly a revelation. Anyone who eats a high fat diet but eats a normal amount of food isn't going to have an increased rate of heart disease, naturally. This doesn't justify naming a chapter "eat anything you like, diet has got nothing to do with heart disease". Thats just plain dum.

The point is that in the majority of the population who are obese (approx 30% in US and its getting worse,quadrupuled in the last 25 years), much of their weight comes from fat ie.they have a high fat diet and consume large amounts of it. Granted they probably eat a large amount of carbohydrates and this should be targeted aswell. However the reason fat is often targeted by the Public Health department is because it contains more calories per gram then the other food types (Protein 4 cal/ Carbohydrate 4 cal/g Fat 9 calories/g !) and obese people tend to consume a disproportionate amount of it. Now are you going to say obesity isn't associated with heart disease and lots of other major health problems ? (Well I'm sure thats one of Kendricks next targets in creating a name for himself)

Basically you shouldnt really be cutting any of the food types from the diet (especially fat and protein which contain essential fatty acids and essential amino acids which cannot be manufactured by the the body), it should be a balanced diet which is in line with medical thinking.

Must of the research is carried out by the pharmaceutical companies (and much of it is not!) but the people working there aren't all in cahoots out to defraud the public, it would only take one person with a conscience to let the cat out of the bag and the company would get massively sued. Look what happened to Merck and Vioxx. The doctors looking after the patients aren't getting secret handouts. Its absurd. Unfortunately the "its all about money" argument is attractive to many and often skews reasoned thinking. Pharmaceutical companies may have money as a major goal but lets not pretend they have hypnotised and bribed us all. Medications people take for blood pressure, heart disease, stroke etc in general have a small increase in average life expectancy for the population taking them. Is Kendrick suggesting we shouldn't take any of them ? Perhaps, and that certainly would appeal to many. Personally, as long as I wasn't getting any significant side effects I would take statins, I'd like to reduce my risk of heart attack (until the evidence states otherwise) even if that risk reduction was small. Especially considering coronary heart disease is the biggest killer in the UK.

Why does he cast aside morbidity as if its not important ? I'd still rather not have a heart attack even I was going to die at the same age! There are lots of medications that have been proved SO FAR to only effect morbidity and not mortality. Is morbidity irrelevant ? It seems so in Kendricks eyes.


Kendrick also has a chapter on stress and its association with heart disease. Well huh ? Is this mean't to be a revelation. NOT


Basically the world of research on heart disease is evolving and evidence is growing but not in a perfect way. One could take any branch of evolving treatments and write a book about the inconsistances and inadequancies of the research surrounding it. This appears to be how Kendrick makes his living. It would be ok if it was presented without bias and such a flippant tone (not to mention a moronic if not juvenile relentless sarcasm). The problem is if it wasn't written that way it'd be boring and the public wouldn't want to buy it and it isn't scientific enough for the medical profession to want to read it.


Perhaps when medical research further refines its ideas on cholesterol and a more defitive answer is found about the nature of build up of atherosclerotic plaques there maybe a better drug than statins, for now I think I'll carry on recommending them.



In conclusion Kendrick has highlighted some of the flaws of statin research and this maybe useful to the public when deciding whether to go on as statin, especially if its for primary prevention or you are getting side effects and have an over zealous GP.(there is an easy solution to this though STOP taking it !!) Unfortunately he does this in a self congratulatin and highly biased way. It is a less than sensible approach on trying to inform the public. I found many of his little anecdotes nauseating and sychophantic. In general this book reminded me of adverts for "get fit in 3 weeks" or similar, supposedly exposing the stupidity of conventional knowledge but really just turning out to be a big con themselves. The Colossal Kendrick Con has a much better ring to it.I've no doubt however that this review will be regarded as unhelpful, most sensible people won't be interested in this book where as the "anti-cholesterol" establishment will de dying(likely of a heart attack) to cast their vote.



As an aside heres a hilaroius quote from Kendrick in the media talking about the placebo effect " Then, after doing tests and listening carefully to the patient, the doctor can say. `If you take this pill, I fully believe it will do you good.' In many cases it will. Where is the deceit in that?".
As a patient would you like to be patronised as such? Given a pill to take where the doctor says it will make you better but you don't know if theres any scientific evidence behind it ? Are we all to be treated as children ? I'm all for complementary therapies if they make us feel good but I'm not up for some patronsing GP doling out sugar pills and telling me they're magic healing pills.




Sorry to rant on but all this anti-establishment, big buisness corporation conspiracy paranoia, pill phobia and medicine bashing without reasoned argument drives me crazy

Well, I gather from the reviews that the people looking to buy this book have already made up their mind (perhaps people with "pill" phobias or those who've had side effects) and they're searching for it on amazon to confirm what they already believe. Kendrick does a good job of pandering to the public and takes the oppotunity to have a rant about his colleagues whilst glorifying his own superiority over them. A revolutionary martyr who puts his "head on the chopping" block infront of his colleagues!!! How courageous!! Please !! Try looking at Hulda Regehr Clarks "Cure for all advanced cancers" who thinks all cancers are caused by liver flukes, flying in the face of medical opinion,maybe we should congratulate her on her courage (or on her bank account) aswell !

Kendrick twists the facts and confuses the issues to suit his own purpose.Take for instance the "high fat diets don't cause heart disease". This is hardly a revelation. Anyone who eats a high fat diet but eats a normal amount of food isn't going to have an increased rate of heart disease, naturally. This doesn't justify naming a chapter "eat anything you like, diet has got nothing to do with heart disease". Thats just plain dum.

The point is that in the majority of the population who are obese (approx 30% in US and its getting worse,quadrupuled in the last 25 years), much of their weight comes from fat ie.they have a high fat diet and consume large amounts of it. Granted they probably eat a large amount of carbohydrates and this should be targeted aswell. However the reason fat is often targeted by the Public Health department is because it contains more calories per gram then the other food types (Protein 4 cal/ Carbohydrate 4 cal/g Fat 9 calories/g !) and obese people tend to consume a disproportionate amount of it. Now are you going to say obesity isn't associated with heart disease and lots of other major health problems ? (Well I'm sure thats one of Kendricks next targets in creating a name for himself)

Basically you shouldnt really be cutting any of the food types from the diet (especially fat and protein which contain essential fatty acids and essential amino acids which cannot be manufactured by the the body), it should be a balanced diet which is in line with medical thinking.

Must of the research is carried out by the pharmaceutical companies (and much of it is not!) but the people working there aren't all in cahoots out to defraud the public, it would only take one person with a conscience to let the cat out of the bag and the company would get massively sued. Look what happened to Merck and Vioxx. The doctors looking after the patients aren't getting secret handouts. Its absurd. Unfortunately the "its all about money" argument is attractive to many and often skews reasoned thinking. Pharmaceutical companies may have money as a major goal but lets not pretend they have hypnotised and bribed us all. Medications people take for blood pressure, heart disease, stroke etc in general have a small increase in average life expectancy for the population taking them. Is Kendrick suggesting we shouldn't take any of them ? Perhaps, and that certainly would appeal to many. Personally, as long as I wasn't getting any significant side effects I would take statins, I'd like to reduce my risk of heart attack (until the evidence states otherwise) even if that risk reduction was small. Especially considering coronary heart disease is the biggest killer in the UK.

Why does he cast aside morbidity as if its not important ? I'd still rather not have a heart attack even I was going to die at the same age! There are lots of medications that have been proved SO FAR to only effect morbidity and not mortality. Is morbidity irrelevant ? It seems so in Kendricks eyes.


Kendrick also has a chapter on stress and its association with heart disease. Well huh ? Is this mean't to be a revelation. NOT


Basically the world of research on heart disease is evolving and evidence is growing but not in a perfect way. One could take any branch of evolving treatments and write a book about the inconsistances and inadequancies of the research surrounding it. This appears to be how Kendrick makes his living. It would be ok if it was presented without bias and such a flippant tone (not to mention a moronic if not juvenile relentless sarcasm). The problem is if it wasn't written that way it'd be boring and the public wouldn't want to buy it and it isn't scientific enough for the medical profession to want to read it.


Perhaps when medical research further refines its ideas on cholesterol and a more defitive answer is found about the nature of build up of atherosclerotic plaques there maybe a better drug than statins, for now I think I'll carry on recommending them.



In conclusion Kendrick has highlighted some of the flaws of statin research and this maybe useful to the public when deciding whether to go on as statin, especially if its for primary prevention or you are getting side effects and have an over zealous GP.(there is an easy solution to this though STOP taking it !!) Unfortunately he does this in a self congratulatin and highly biased way. It is a less than sensible approach on trying to inform the public. I found many of his little anecdotes nauseating and sychophantic. In general this book reminded me of adverts for "get fit in 3 weeks" or similar, supposedly exposing the stupidity of conventional knowledge but really just turning out to be a big con themselves. The Colossal Kendrick Con has a much better ring to it.I've no doubt however that this review will be regarded as unhelpful, most sensible people won't be interested in this book where as the "anti-cholesterol" establishment will de dying(likely of a heart attack) to cast their vote.



As an aside heres a hilaroius quote from Kendrick in the media talking about the placebo effect " Then, after doing tests and listening carefully to the patient, the doctor can say. `If you take this pill, I fully believe it will do you good.' In many cases it will. Where is the deceit in that?".
As a patient would you like to be patronised as such? Given a pill to take where the doctor says it will make you better but you don't know if theres any scientific evidence behind it ? Are we all to be treated as children ? I'm all for complementary therapies if they make us feel good but I'm not up for some patronsing GP doling out sugar pills and telling me they're magic healing pills.




Sorry to rant on but all this anti-establishment, big buisness corporation conspiracy paranoia, pill phobia and medicine bashing without reasoned argument drives me crazy

Heart disease is caused by a chronic lack of vitamin "C" in the body. "C" is what the body uses to repair the walls of the arteries. Most people have some degree of what is called sub clinical scurvy. Or, a lack of vit "C".
Scurvy causes the walls of the arteries to weaken. When they get weak enough you will get a heart attack or, more rarely, a stroke. A good read to complement what Dr. Kendrick said is to read "Why animals don't get heart attacks, but people do".
Joe

An excellent and insightful review of the lack of evidence that either cholesterol or a high fat diet causes coronary heart disease. Described by one leading authority as "the greatest scam ever perpetrated on the American public, this information has been persistently suppressed by powerful vested interests such as manufacturers of statins and low fat foods in an effort to protect their extravagant profits. This meaty book is well written and correctly emphasizes the important contributions of stress to coronary disease.

Superb science/medical writing. I was already familiar with a lot of the story about cholesterol misinformation, but I still found it very useful to see the issues dissected one-by-one, with comprehensive references to the relevant research studies. The author is obviously extremely well-read in this area, far beyond the main dietary studies. His final chapter about stress and heart-disease is a must-read for anyone interested in these topics, and the fact that he had been so thorough in the earlier part of the book makes me take his speculations seriously. It comes with a good dose of quirky British (actually Scottish) humor, which I enjoyed a lot.

I liked the book, and agree wholeheartedly with its conclusion that stress -- not cholesterol -- causes heart attacks. However, the author's flippant tone makes one wonder at times if he's being serious or not.

He also seems to muddy the waters somewhat, using "heart attack deaths" as the definition of "heart disease." True, death is the ultimate statistic, but I'd imagine that most readers would also be highly concerned about debilitating, non-fatal heart problems.

Heart disease isn't exactly a "fun" subject, and I'd have a preferred a more scholarly, scientific approach, such as Ravnskov's "Cholesterol Myths." Still very much worth reading, though.

Rarely has such concise, funny [yes] and deadly serious book been written about the hoax of "bad cholesterol". Fear of -and the war on- cholesterol is the driving force behind poor quality foods and ineffective drugs with side-effects. We now know [and thanks Dr. Kendrick] that lowering cholesterol with drugs will never, repeat never, prevent a heart attack in or extend the lives of women and he smoothly presents the same case for the vast majority of [especially older] men.

Pass this book on to your doctor, or send a copy to those you see promoting the fear of cholesterol on a next TV program, or other 'opinion leader' [my own copy will go to a top cardiologist]. No one can argue with the hard reality and logic of this book.

Feel upset about having ignored the underlying causes of heart disease by the cholesterol distraction. The book is unfortunately silent about homocysteine, that artery toxin easily lowered with a daily multivitamin but Dr. Kendrick endorses omega-3 oil as beneficial, and he explains the evil role in the endgame of 'stress'.

Debate about the causes of heart disease will continue to change with time and may differ for many of us but at least we now know what heart disease is NOT caused by, and that is "bad cholesterol".

A 'must read' for the cost of a few 'cholesterol pills' but probably healthier, no doubt safer and certainly more entertaining!

Although Dr. Kendrick's writing style is witty and lighthearted, his logic is murderously accurate. He exposes not only the circular reasoning upon which the cholesterol theory of heart disease is based, but also the involvement of the pharmaceutical companies in perpetuating the scam. He points out, for example, that some of the recent published statin trials omitted total mortality data--an ominous omission. It is important that the public recognize the bad thinking that is driving the ongoing "statination" of the developed world, and it's even more important that physicians know it. So by all means read this book, and get one for your family doctor.

And here I thought I had read all the great books on the subject!
Looking to my left, I can see my special Tasmanian oak bookcase, an anniversary gift; it holds only books of exceptional value.
There are several titles by Dr. Abram Hoffer, then there are three on the subject of cholesterol and its colourful history in modern medicine.

Those are: Ravnskov, U : "The Cholesterol Myths"
Colpo, A : "The Great Cholesterol Con"
Hartenbach W: "Die Cholesterin-Luege"

They are framed by Skrabanek's "The Death Of Humane Medicine" and "Nutrition And Physical Degeneration" by Dr. Weston A. Price.
After reading Dr. Malcolm Kendrick's book "The Great Cholesterol Con" I knew I had found another work worthy of occupying sacred space.

Kendrick is a practicing doctor who freely shares his considerable wisdom on the internet, in organisations such as The International Network Of Cholesterol Skeptics[...] and in various publications such as Red Flags.

Once you read something Kendrick has written, you become hooked in a subtle way; his ability to convey the meaning of complex material in a user-friendly manner would have made him a superb teacher. However, I am glad he became a doctor instead as he can do so much good with his insight and with his often idiosyncratic style and demeanour; his patients can only benefit from this skeptic who does not accept things the way they are alleged to be, without question.

The book contains a wealth of information and bucketfuls of the truth. It will no doubt raise hackles in certain quarters and it may receive some scathing critiques. But it is certain to join the other noble works mentioned above in disseminating that what the establishment does not want to be disseminated. It will spread the word !
No, I don't agree with all of his statements but this is mainly a matter of assigning importance to various facts of life. His views on nutrition are more right wing than mine but that's okay. We can differ. The book still is a must read.

How sad that in today's doctor's surgery one is unlikely to find a genuine effort to heal the patient. Or to prevent disease through suggestions of how to live and what to eat in order to ensure good health. No, Medicine has become the Sickness Industry, married to that loose woman called Big Pharma and the couple are united in greed.
The cholesterol hypothesis has been a very profitable Milchkuh for decades now. From the days of Ancel Keys and his very selective reporting cum scare-mongering, through the invention of medication to combat the evil thing called cholesterol, to the culmination of frantic and self-altruistic efforts to market the lifesavers called statins, this has been a nice ride for those who are clever enough to achieve perpetual wealth transfer from patient to doctor. Dr. Kendrick points out how the game is played, it's not only the genuine sick but everyone is requested to listen to the Church of Medicine and submit to its ministrations.

What made it difficult for me to put the book down is the wonderful sense of humour that fills the pages. It seems that each new thought comes with its own subtle bonus, a smile and perhaps a nudge-nudge, wink-wink.
Perhaps it is his background, and judging from this book, Scotland sure breeds them.

The cholesterol game has long been recognised as a fiasco by many. It is time the dance was over and books like this are clear signals to those who would continue the deception and who need to lay off the histrionics and come down to earth, back to honesty and compassion in Medicine. As Skrabanek puts it, let's put the word "humane" back in the equation.

It's a wonderful book and those who do not get a chance to read it will be missing a great experience and may not be equipped to stand up when the statin merchant comes calling. The book will inform and educate all those with a modicum of intelligence and it does this in a painless, easy-going way. Being reasonably priced, it is affordable for the masses. And that's who it was written for. Buy it and find a special place for it in your home.

Excellent book, shows how heart disease really happens and it is written by a practicing GP (doctor) who therefore has real-life experience with the principles out lined in this often amusing book.