werner@aecom.UUCP (Craig Werner) (04/21/85)
> . The claim is made that dogs do not suffer any ill > effects from eating lots of cholesterol. Can anyone confirm, refute, or > explain this phenomenon? Actually there is still some dispute whether eating lots of cholesterol causes measurably ill effects in people. Although the following are undisputed: 1. The lower one's Serum cholesterol the lower one's chance of having a heart attack. 2. Diet low in Cholesterol lowers serum cholesterol - but not a lot. The trouble is that the slight lowering in serum cholesterol due to diet doesn`t cause a significant drop in heart disease. The body makes 80-90% of its own cholesterol, and more or less, the more you eat, the less you make, and vice-versa. The more or less is the caveat. The system isn't 100% efficient, which is why diet has that small effect in the first place. Certain drugs (like Cholestyramine, which significantly lower Cholesterol - 40-50% drop), do have significant effect but these act on total body cholesterol. Dogs, therefore, if the source is to be believed (and I have no reason to doubt it) might have a better regulatory system than man, and adjust their own production more keenly, so diet would have even less effect. -- Craig Werner !philabs!aecom!werner What do you expect? Watermelons are out of season!