RSS Feeds
Cholesterol and Violence: Is There A Connection?
The Editors welcome submissions for possible publication in the Letters section. Authors of letters should:
•Include no more than 300 words of text, three authors, and five references
•Type with double-spacing
•Send three copies of the letter, an authors' form signed by all authors, and a cover letter describing any conflicts of interest related to the contents of the letter.
Letters commenting on an Annals article will be considered if they are received within 6 weeks of the time the article was published. Only some of the letters received can be published. Published letters are edited and may be shortened; tables and figures are included only selectively. Authors will be notified that the letter has been received. If the letter is selected for publication, the author will be notified about 3 weeks before the publication date. Unpublished letters cannot be returned.
Annals welcomes electronically submitted letters.
TO THE EDITOR:
Before breakfast, as I was reading Dr. Golomb's intriguing article [1], I realized which connection between cholesterol and violence actually exists. I was quite angry about the article's conclusions.
The connection between low cholesterol and aggressive behavior may be a connection between hunger and aggressive behavior. In some instances, low cholesterol levels may be a surrogate marker for being chronically underfed. From an evolutionary standpoint, it makes sense. In times of low food supply, primitive humans were hungry, probably had low cholesterol levels, and were aggressive enough to hunt food for survival.
Did you ever watch children in school scurry, push, and shove to the cafeteria to be first in line to eat lunch? Did you ever go shopping for food when hungry and your aggressive tactics resulted in purchasing a huge order? Did anyone ever tell you not to talk to him or bother him until he has had his coffee? What about the “man” of the house coming home for dinner after a hard day's work? He's not so pleasant at first, but after dinner, he's a different person. It's obvious that it is not necessarily low cholesterol levels that lead to aggressive tendencies in these situations.
Several recent trials with statin drugs [2-4] have reported that when blood cholesterol levels were decreased to a much greater extent than in earlier trials [5], violence did not increase. This finding may be explained by the diets of the study participants. In my experience, patients taking statin drugs are less strict with their diets because their cholesterol levels are lowered with these powerful agents, regardless of diet. Therefore, pharmacologically lowering cholesterol levels does not lead to aggressive behavior.
After eating breakfast, I was no longer angry and was able to put the article in proper perspective. It's not good to be hungry.
Mark R. Goldstein, MD
Crozer-Keystone HealthPlex; Springfield, PA 19064
The Editors welcome submissions for possible publication in the Letters section. Authors of letters should:
•Include no more than 300 words of text, three authors, and five references
•Type with double-spacing
•Send three copies of the letter, an authors' form signed by all authors, and a cover letter describing any conflicts of interest related to the contents of the letter.
Letters commenting on an Annals article will be considered if they are received within 6 weeks of the time the article was published. Only some of the letters received can be published. Published letters are edited and may be shortened; tables and figures are included only selectively. Authors will be notified that the letter has been received. If the letter is selected for publication, the author will be notified about 3 weeks before the publication date. Unpublished letters cannot be returned.
Annals welcomes electronically submitted letters.
- Copyright ©2004 by the American College of Physicians
