Hi EvD - thanks for the kind words. I guess I have to 'fess up - I am a mechanical engineer by education but most of my employment has been closer to electrical engineering (cable TV and telecommunications). One of the most interesting things I found in my research was that there is a growing body of research and evidence showing that if the body has the proper nutrients to work with, our DNA can "wreck out" cholesterol that has been deposited in arteries and replace it with the collagens that are normally used to make repairs to arteries (arteries are made mostly of collagen fibers including the "inner walls" of the arteries). Dr. Linus Pauling (a 2 time Nobel prize winner) developed a vitamin regimen for reversing heart disease that can accomplish this reversal in many if not most cases. Some of his patients who followed this protocol had suffered from clogged arteries and heart problems. When they eventually died (many of old age) autopsies on them revealed that their arteries had been "cleared" of cholesterol and repaired with the collagens that were supposed to be used. If you're interested just google "linus pauling heart disease reversal" and you'll find several sites that have his protocol. Oregon State University also has the Linus Pauling Institute which has a very good website for "micronutrient" information (vitamins and minerals):
http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/
Another good website is the vitamin C foundation (a non-profit organization that promotes vitamin C based on the medical benefits). I think they carry a powdered form of Dr. Paulings protocol and the site also has loads of scientific and medical research on vitamin C. I would encourage anyone taking
statins (for lowering cholesterol) to check out the following link.
http://www.vitamincfoundation.org/statinalert/
If their information has any validity (and I believe it is valid information based on what I've read in other places as well) you may want to look at alternatives to these drugs if you are on them. More than 1 study has shown that vitamin C can lower cholesterol comparably to statins without any of the negative side effects of statins (like statins depleting CoQ10 - vitamin C is used in the natural production of CoQ10 in the body). Both sites have loads of good information on nutrients.