{"product_id":"paul-d-thompson-cholesterol-prevention-10","title":"Preventing high cholesterol 10","description":"\u003ch1\u003eExercise and Cholesterol: What Studies of Runners Show About LDL and Triglycerides\u003c\/h1\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eJump To Section\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"#prevention-and-genes\"\u003ePreventing high cholesterol\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"#runners-who-stopped\"\u003eRunners who stopped running\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"#triglycerides\"\u003eExercise and triglycerides\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"#marathon-study\"\u003eTriglycerides after a marathon\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"#training-for-old-age\"\u003eTraining for old age\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"#full-transcript\"\u003eFull Transcript\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"prevention-and-genes\"\u003ePreventing high cholesterol\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePreventing high cholesterol, says cardiologist Dr. Paul D. Thompson, MD, is a matter of picking the right parents. Asked by Dr. Anton Titov, MD, whether exercise helps, his short answer is: only a very little bit.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHe had NIH funding for 11 years to study how distance runners metabolize cholesterol. Athletes, he says, have very high levels of HDL, the \"good\" cholesterol, but their LDL, which he calls the \"ugly\" cholesterol, is only a little bit lower.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"runners-who-stopped\"\u003eRunners who stopped running\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA study from the 1990s is his main example. He took 12 friends who, like him, were running 10 miles a day, fed everybody all their meals from a metabolic kitchen, and paid the runners 10 dollars a day to stop running. Within two days of stopping, their LDL cholesterol went up about 8%.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTheir plasma volume, the amount of fluid in the bloodstream, also went down, by 6 to 8%. His group therefore thinks the lower LDL in endurance athletes is due to dilution. He compares exercise training, which expands the fluid in the bloodstream, to filling up a car radiator before a long drive on a hot day.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"triglycerides\"\u003eExercise and triglycerides\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTriglycerides are where exercise has a big effect, he says, along with the \"good\" HDL level. He describes a study from 1964 in men with triglyceride levels of 500. After a three-mile run, levels were about 350 the next day, and after further runs they fell to around 280, going down day by day.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHis explanation is that exercise burns calories, including fat in and around the muscle. The body wants to replace that fat, so it takes triglycerides, which he describes as just fat, out of the blood.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"marathon-study\"\u003eTriglycerides after a marathon\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA second study by his group followed 12 men, including Dr. Thompson and friends, who ran the Newport Marathon, a race of 26.2 miles, or 42 kilometers. Triglycerides were 90 the day before and on the morning of the Sunday race, 33 on Monday morning, 60 on Tuesday morning, and back to 90 on Wednesday morning.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"training-for-old-age\"\u003eTraining for old age\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eExercise alone is not the answer to high cholesterol levels, in Dr. Thompson's view, although it helps a little. He sees it as more useful for keeping fit and in shape, and he tells people to train for old age, because muscle mass is lost with aging.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt 79, he says, he hardly ever misses a day at the gym, and he was there at 7 o'clock on the morning of the interview to preserve what muscle mass he can. He calls exercise a very important part of health for many reasons, but not a strong tool for lowering cholesterol.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"full-transcript\"\u003eFull Transcript\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDr. Anton Titov, MD:\u003c\/strong\u003e How can I prevent high cholesterol in the first place, and does exercise help?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDr. Paul D. Thompson, MD:\u003c\/strong\u003e So preventing high cholesterol level is picking the right parents. Now, does exercise help? Only a very little bit.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDr. Paul D. Thompson, MD:\u003c\/strong\u003e So I had funding from the NIH for 11 years to study how distance runners metabolize cholesterol. Athletes have very high levels of the good cholesterol, HDL cholesterol. Their ugly cholesterol level is only a little bit lower.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDr. Paul D. Thompson, MD:\u003c\/strong\u003e It is not a lot lower. So I did a study way back in the 1990s where I took 12 of my friends who were running, and myself, who were running 10 miles a day. We fed everybody all their meals.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDr. Paul D. Thompson, MD:\u003c\/strong\u003e I had a metabolic kitchen where we could feed them. And we paid the runners 10 bucks a day to stop running their 10 miles a day. And a very interesting thing happened.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDr. Paul D. Thompson, MD:\u003c\/strong\u003e Within two days, so you stop, day one, day two. Within two days of stopping running, their ugly cholesterol level, their LDL cholesterol level, went up about 8%. It went up 8%.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDr. Paul D. Thompson, MD:\u003c\/strong\u003e But here is the interesting thing. Their plasma volume, how much fluid they had in their bloodstream, went down 6 to 8%. So we think that the lower ugly cholesterol level in endurance athletes is due to dilution.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDr. Paul D. Thompson, MD:\u003c\/strong\u003e When you exercise train, you expand the amount of fluid in your body. Your body does that naturally. It is almost like filling up the radiator to drive the car on a hot day.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDr. Paul D. Thompson, MD:\u003c\/strong\u003e Now, we never worry about the radiator anymore, but when I was a kid, the radiator could overheat and you could get stuck. So you filled up the radiator before you went for a long drive. The body, when you exercise, expands the amount of fluid in the bloodstream.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDr. Paul D. Thompson, MD:\u003c\/strong\u003e We think that that expansion of fluid lowers the ugly cholesterol level. Now I will tell you where exercise has a big effect. Exercise has a big effect on not the ugly level.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDr. Paul D. Thompson, MD:\u003c\/strong\u003e It does have a big effect on the good level, but it has a big effect as well on the bad level, the triglyceride level. There is a study done way back in 1964 where they took a bunch of men whose triglyceride levels were high. They were 500.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDr. Paul D. Thompson, MD:\u003c\/strong\u003e They had them run three miles. The next day, their triglyceride levels were about 350. They had them run several miles.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDr. Paul D. Thompson, MD:\u003c\/strong\u003e The next day, their triglyceride levels were down to 280 or something. They had them run the three miles. They were down.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDr. Paul D. Thompson, MD:\u003c\/strong\u003e So day by day. Now, how does that happen? When you exercise, you burn calories.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDr. Paul D. Thompson, MD:\u003c\/strong\u003e And some of those calories that you burn are fat from the muscle and from around the muscle. And so the body wants to replace the fat that was burned around and in the muscle. So it takes triglycerides out of the blood.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDr. Paul D. Thompson, MD:\u003c\/strong\u003e Triglycerides are just fat. They are just fat floating around in those bad particle levels. So we did another study where we took 12 men, myself and a bunch of my friends, who were running the Newport Marathon.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDr. Paul D. Thompson, MD:\u003c\/strong\u003e Now, a marathon is 26.2 miles, or 42 kilometers. The day before the race, and on the morning of the race, the triglyceride level was 90. The morning after the race, the race was on Sunday, so Monday morning, the triglyceride levels were 33.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDr. Paul D. Thompson, MD:\u003c\/strong\u003e On Tuesday morning, they were 60, and on Wednesday morning, they were back to 90. So when you exercise, you deplete triglycerides, you use them up for energy, and you have to replace them, so the body takes triglycerides out of the blood to replace what is lost. But otherwise, exercise is not the way to cure cholesterol levels.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDr. Paul D. Thompson, MD:\u003c\/strong\u003e It helps. It is good to exercise. Exercise, quite frankly, is better for just keeping yourself fit and in shape.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDr. Paul D. Thompson, MD:\u003c\/strong\u003e I tell people that you want to train for old age. You want to train to live a long period of time. One of the things that happens when you get older is you lose muscle mass.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDr. Paul D. Thompson, MD:\u003c\/strong\u003e I am 79. I know you lose muscle mass. I was at the gym this morning at 7 o'clock, because I hardly ever miss a day going to the gym to get some exercise to preserve what muscle mass I can.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDr. Paul D. Thompson, MD:\u003c\/strong\u003e But exercise is a very important part of health for many reasons, but for lowering cholesterol level, it helps a little bit, but not so much.\u003c\/p\u003e\n","brand":"Diagnostic Detectives Network","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48388583653532,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0599\/5449\/5644\/files\/2225151065-4d7eb50cfbb6e0ba54fada4018b02c34e831081a03513a02139e8d94ecd6c3b9-d_1920x1080_f7fbc569-e857-456b-a0cc-7ad751a18068.jpg?v=1794435379","url":"https:\/\/diagnosticdetectives.com\/de\/products\/paul-d-thompson-cholesterol-prevention-10","provider":"DiagnosticDetectives.Com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}