What does history teach us about the controversy over cholesterol? Plus: we look at the zombie myth that soccer players are dying from the COVID-19 vaccine, and we dissect a new clinical trial of colonoscopies that reports disappointing results and compare it to Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney’s enthusiasm for the procedure itself!   Block 1: (1:50) Cholesterol: conflicting animal studies at the beginning of the 1900s   Block 2: (9:28) Cholesterol: observational studies of high-fat diets in humans, randomized trials on low-animal-fat diets, drug trials   Block 3: (27:19) Soccer players kicking the bucket? Not so much   Block 4: (37:47) Colonoscopies: screening recommendations, alternatives to colonoscopies, latest trial     * Theme music: “Fall of the Ocean Queen“ by Joseph Hackl. * Assistant researcher: Nicholas Koziris   To contribute to The Body of Evidence, go to our Patreon page at: http://www.patreon.com/thebodyofevidence/.   To make a one-time donation to our show, you can now use PayPal! https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=9QZET78JZWCZE   Patrons get a bonus show on Patreon called “Digressions”! Check it out!     References:   Anybody interested in an in-depth review of the history of cholesterol research can read the series of articles by Daniel Steinberg published in the Journal of Lipid Research   Steinberg, Daniel Thematic review series: the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. An interpretive history of the cholesterol controversy: part 1. J Lipid Res. 2004 Sep;45(9):1583-93. doi: 10.1194/jlr.R400003-JLR200. Steinberg D. Thematic review series: the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. An interpretive history of the cholesterol controversy: part 2: the early evidence linking hypercholesterolemia to coronary disease in humans. J Lipid Res. 2005 Feb;46(2):179-90. doi: 10.1194/jlr.R400012-JLR200.  Steinberg D. Thematic review series: the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis: an interpretive history of the cholesterol controversy, part 3: mechanistically defining the role of hyperlipidemia. J Lipid Res. 2005 Oct;46(10):2037-51. DOI: 10.1194/jlr.R500010-JLR200 Steinberg D. The pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. An interpretive history of the cholesterol controversy, part 4: the 1984 coronary primary prevention trial ends it--almost. J Lipid Res. 2006 Jan;47(1):1-14. doi: 10.1194/jlr.R500014-JLR200. Steinberg D. Thematic review series: the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. An interpretive history of the cholesterol controversy, part V: the discovery of the statins and the end of the controversy. J Lipid Res. 2006 Jul;47(7):1339-51. doi: 10.1194/jlr.R600009-JLR200.   Some specific references:   The Seven Countries study is a source of particular controversy: A review of the Seven Countries Study controversy http://www.epi.umn.edu/cvdepi/multimedia/critiques-of-the-seven-countries-study-and-ancel-keys/   And a paper written by several researchers trying to dispel some of the myths surrounding it https://academic.oup.com/eurheartj/article/38/42/3119/4600167?login=false     Cochrane review of statins to prevent dementia https://www.cochrane.org/CD003160/DEMENTIA_statins-prevention-dementia   The video of Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sXkIUZEWIo   The trial of colonoscopies: https://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMoa2208375   Vinay Prasad’s commentary: https://sensiblemed.substack.com/p/screening-colonoscopy-misses-the   New England Journal of Medicine accompanying editorial: https://www-nejm-org.proxy3.library.mcgill.ca/doi/pdf/10.1056%2FNEJMe2211595       Time machine:   1) Our episode on infertility: https://bodyofevidence.ca/062-infertility-and-rna-vaccines   2) Our interview on ivermectin: https://bodyofevidence.ca/interview-jack-lawrence-and-gid-m-k-on-ivermectin     Music Credits: Dramatic Trailer by Rafael Krux Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/5633-dramatic-t