Scottish doctor, writer, speaker, and outspoken cholesterol sceptic Malcolm Kendrick is back on the podcast this week. He continues to challenge the widespread use of statin medications, despite being targeted personally and professionally by those opposing his message. Since we last talked he has authored a new book, A Statin Nation: Damaging Millions in a Brave New Post-health World, elucidating his position against mainstream medicine’s rampant cholesterol-lowering tactics.  On this podcast, Dr. Kendrick describes in detail exactly what he believes drives the process of cardiovascular disease, informed from 35 years of research on the subject.  He explains specifically why cholesterol has been misunderstood, and how medicine got it wrong. We discuss corruption in medical research and the money supporting the status quo, and Dr. Kendrick shares some of the best ways to avoid heart disease (which have little to do with diet!). Here’s the outline of this interview with Malcolm Kendrick: [00:00:07] Our first podcast with Malcolm Kendrick: Why Cholesterol Levels Have No Effect on Cardiovascular Disease (And Things to Think about Instead). [00:00:30] Book: A Statin Nation: Damaging Millions in a Brave New Post-health World, by Dr. Malcolm Kendrick. His previous two books: Doctoring Data and The Cholesterol Con. [00:02:00] Causes vs processes. [00:03:40] History behind his journey and questioning authority. [00:07:30] Articles written by Elspeth Smith. [00:09:00] Karl Rokitansky’s paper discussing an alternative way of looking at CVD: A manual of pathological anatomy, Vol. 4. Day GE, trans. London: Sydenham Society, 1852:261; in print here. [00:09:06] Rudolf Virchow, researcher who pointed to cholesterol in artery walls. [00:10:55] Researcher Nikolai N. Anichkov: fed rabbits a high-cholesterol diet and cholesterol appeared in their arteries (sort of). [00:12:07] Ancel Keys; blaming saturated fat. [00:14:11] France - highest saturated fat consumption, lowest rate of CVD. Georgia - lowest sat fat consumption, highest rate of CVD.  See graph, here. [00:15:16] International Network of Cholesterol Skeptics (THINCS). Study: Ravnskov, Uffe, et al. "Lack of an association or an inverse association between low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol and mortality in the elderly: a systematic review." BMJ open 6.6 (2016): e010401. [00:16:50] Pleiotropic effects of statins. [00:17:29] Movie: 12 Angry Men (1957). [00:20:30] Robert Ross - response to injury hypothesis; Study: Ross, Russell, John Glomset, and Laurence Harker. "Response to injury and atherogenesis." The American journal of pathology 86.3 (1977): 675. [00:20:40] TV show: Stranger Things. [00:22:31] Infectious disease hypothesis. [00:22:52] Analogy of rust in the paint of a car; Sickle Cell Disease as an example. [00:27:12] 14-year old boy with Sickle Cell and atherosclerosis; Study: Elsharawy, M. A., and K. M. Moghazy. "Peripheral arterial lesions in patient with sickle cell disease." EJVES Extra 14.2 (2007): 15-18. [00:28:57] Endothelial progenitor cells, produced in the bone marrow, discovered in 1997. [00:29:31] Pig study of endothelial turnover: Caplan, Bernard A., and Colin J. Schwartz. "Increased endothelial cell turnover in areas of in vivo Evans Blue uptake in the pig aorta." Atherosclerosis 17.3 (1973): 401-417. [00:31:48] Vitamin C's role in maintaining collagen and blood vessels. [00:33:08] Lp(a) molecules - patching cracks in the artery walls. [00:33:42] Depriving guinea pigs of vitamin C caused atherosclerosis; Study: Willis, G. C. "The reversibility of atherosclerosis." Canadian Medical Association Journal 77.2 (1957): 106. [00:34:24] Linus Pauling - said CVD was caused by chronic low-level vitamin C deficiency. [00:35:53] What else damages endothelial cells? Many things, including smoking, air pollution, high blood sugar, Kawasaki disease, sepsis/infection. [00:41:19] Glycocalyx; Nitric oxide. [00:43:30] Health benefits of sun exposure. [00:44:26] Biomechanical st