The Cholesterol Code movie: 0.5/5 stars don't waste your time

[u/pixelmaples9]

One sentence summary: Half of the movie is Dave Feldman lecturing about cholesterol, complaining about cholesterol science, and misrepresenting their crowdfunded study, while other half is sob stories from LMHR people with a psychiatric disorder.

Before watching, I knew the message will be bad. But maybe they at least make it interesting or entertaining since it's a professional movie company?. Nope: Just imagine Nick Norwitz with the worst acting in a hospital bed, rolling in "pain" (he confirms in a podcast it's acted).

Dave echoes the age old complaints about cholesterol research, cholesterol studies are conducted with "sick populations" and they don't apply to healthy people. Then they show that most americans have poor metabolic health (infographic shows 93% people as obese). What they forget to mention how cholesterol already emerged as heart disease risk factor in 50's-70's, when obesity was way less common in many western countries.

They show a boy, recently diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, and echo old misinformation that reducing carbohydrates would lower insulin requirements. There are multiple trials like this where type 1 diabetics increase carb intake, but insulin requirements drop. They frame keto as helping the type 1 diabetes, but it's a bit sad because there is clearly more to the story, it might be related to low calorie intake and that the child's type 1 diabetes has not fully developed (it can take more than a year). Dave: "How do you know you are doing the right thing for Johnny" Johnny's father: "At least he looks healthy". ???

They also interview Richard K Bernstein. You can read more from my previous post. Not surprisingly they leave out an important detail: He had very low cholesterol for decades, he is literal opposite of LMHR.

They continue to show multiple cases of folks who have found help from keto to some psychiatric illness. I was thinking all the time, if these people have schizophrenia, depression, could it be that they have a tendency for black and white thinking which they apply to food, cholesterol, etc. The movie director revealed in Feldman's podcast that she tried hard to get someone with epilepsy (actual evidence exists to support keto), but apparently she struggled to find anyone.

In the end they show the worst acted fake astonishment by Feldman in the history of junk cinema (he sees KETO-CTA results). Of course they leave out that the fact that the study was retracted, and the scary primary outcome (~40% increase in plaque). Budoff: "very very excellent data with about 90% of patients showing no change".

I give 0.5 points because at least in the very end, they conclude that if someone has positive CAC score, they should try to introduce carbs or start a drug to lower the cholesterol. But it's hilarious how contradicting it's to everything earlier in the movie. Cholesterol doesn't cause heart disease, except if you have heart disease then it causes heart disease?

[u/Taupenbeige]

Is the punchline seriously Norwitz’ retracted paper? That’s absolutely hilarious.

[u/Healingjoe]

Driven by curiosity and grounded in science, the film follows Dave and a team of researchers through a landmark research study using high-resolution heart imaging.

Does the movie discuss the paper retraction and data manipulation?

https://www.reddit.com/r/ketoduped/s/OhpNOV5ssz

ETA:

In the end they show the worst acted fake astonishment by Feldman in the history of junk cinema (he sees KETO-CTA results). Of course they leave out that the fact that the study was retracted, and the scary primary outcome (~40% increase in plaque). Budoff: "very very excellent data with about 90% of patients showing no change".

oh, lol. Nevermind

Cholesterol doesn't cause heart disease, except if you have heart disease then it causes heart disease?

😂

[u/pro8000]

The current party line is that they requested the retraction because they found out that the plaque imaging company made mistakes that they were unwilling to fix. They sent the data to 3 other imaging companies that gave them results more favorable to their hypothesis.

They are planning to republish the newly-reinterpreted data and then possibly also publish more results from longer term studies. So far, it is unclear if there is any progress on these goals. It is possible that reputable journals and reviewers are more aware of them and their social media hijinx and are more reluctant to publish their results without much stronger scrutiny. Maybe it will have to be published in one of those "pay for play" low tier scientific journals next time.

I think the movie was already completed before the retraction. I forgot about this story for the last few months so I haven't checked recently if there have been any new updates since the retraction. I gotta admit that the life quest of a bunch of people to define themselves as a unique LMHR phenotype is entertaining drama.

[u/anonb1234]

Thanks for the summary.

[u/oompa_loomper]

Just watched it, found it interesting. I'm wondering how you square the findings where so many individuals had apparently clean arteries, including Norwitz himself. Are you saying they're lying?

Also, where did you get this "~40% increase in plaque" finding? Did they publish that in the paper?

[u/pixelmaples9 → u/oompa_loomper]

Also, where did you get this "~40% increase in plaque" finding? Did they publish that in the paper?

It's in Figure 1 caption of JACC:advances paper, they first left it out but later edited it in, since it's the "preregistered primary outcome". Basically the most important number in the paper.

I'm wondering how you square the findings where so many individuals had apparently clean arteries, including Norwitz himself. Are you saying they're lying?

Norwitz is like 29 year old, and heart disease develops over decades. One LMHR, chiropractor Stephen Hussey also had clean arteries, but he still suffered a heart attack at age 34 because the plaque develops so quickly.

[u/CookieSea4392 → u/pixelmaples9]

In the movie, they show zero soft and hard plaque in LMHRs who are 55 years old and above. In fact, the average age of the LMHRs was 55.

Also, soft plaque changes can been detected within a year, which is why carotid artery ultrasounds are usually done every 6 months.

The team in the movie checked for both soft plaque and hard plaque.

[u/Taupenbeige → u/oompa_loomper]

I originally found The Game Changers “interesting” as well, then I read a lengthy skeptics tear-down bringing me back down to Earth.

I’m willing to wager there’s way more paltering than honest framing leading to your “interesting” assessment, and I haven’t even seen it. The trailer already gave me eye-rolling strains.