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19/7/2020 CholesterolLast Thursday, I was invited to give a zoom lecture on cholesterol with my church fellowship. Attendees were all adults, mostly 50s and above. I took the reference to the talk from my department lipid CPG. After that, we had a lively Q&A session. I sensed there was significant anxiety about how much attention a person should pay in managing cholesterol and the role it plays in cardiovascular disease. I think the concern is due to the exposure cholesterol gets from media, regular health screenings and promotion of cholesterol lowering drugs and food by healthcare professionals. To put the cholesterol issue back in perspective, I sent out this message to the fellowship group below. Remember that cholesterol is mainly related to heart disease and stroke. Heart disease and stroke have many other causes like age, hypertension, diabetes and smoking. Age, diabetes and smoking can be more dangerous than high cholesterol. I have a regular patient who had a stroke and also a smoker. I told him that probability shows that if he stopped smoking, the chances of having another stroke is lower than forgetting his cholesterol medicines. Age is a risk factor for cancer and heart disease and pneumonia. In fact, for the very old, it is the most important determining factor of death. For example, a car salesman is recommending you to buy a 20-year-old car. The car is accident free, the ex-owner is a careful driver, and the vehicle has undergone regular servicing. Of course, you would instead buy a 5 year old car. A 100 year old man who is fit still has a higher chance of dying than an obese teenager who is smoking. So take care of your health because your body is God's gift to you. But don't be overly worried. Jesus is not a fitness instructor and our bible a fitness manual. I have attached my department lipid CPG 
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