Hyperlipidemia and anemia

Both of the above clinical conditions are diagnosed by blood tests.
In hyperlipidemia the lipids in the blood-usually the LDL fraction commonly called the bad cholesterol- is elevated while in iron deficient anemia its the hemoglobin which shows lower than normal values. Are these really diseases or are they just defense mechanisms used by the body in its attempt to restore homeostasis?
We know that it is not the cholesterol but rather the peroxidized cholesterol which damages the arterial wall in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. These lipids are peroxized by free radicals present either in the food we eat or in our body tissues.
The fundamental question which pathologists should be asking is why do the lipids have to do this job for other defence mechanisms of the body- in this case the glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dysmutase enzyme systems. Indeed we may be doing more harm to our patients by lowering their blood cholesterol. It seems to me that what our bodies are really telling us is :

" You have too many free radicals circulating in your blood and tissues and your specific enzyme defence mechanisms are overwhelmed so you now have to use an alternate neutralizing mechanism called anti-oxidant nutrient supplementation, specifically anti-oxidant vitamins- like C, E and beta carotene or minerals like selenium and zinc. Additionally I will have your liver produce more cholesterol which can be used as a donor of electrons to these hungry free radicals. Did you know that uric acid is another natural anti-oxidant nutrient which plays a similar role in the body. I suggest that you use drugs which lower blood cholesterol levels cautiously and only after careful assessment- since you may be interfering with one of your body's homeostatic mechanism"

What about iron deficiency anemia? As I mentioned in my blog for Parkinson's disease iron is an ideal source for electron donors for the voracious appetite of these free radicals. A person with anemia may be depleting his body's ability to supply the free radicals, or alternatively your body may be reasoning that if I keep the level of iron low in vital tissues like the brain that maybe there will be less tissue damage. So with anemia your body might be telling you:

"If I am sacrificing your body's store of this mineral to donate electrons to those hungry free radicals to make them stable molecules again, I wont have enough iron to form the hemoglobulin molecule of the red blood cell and you will become anemic. Don't you think you should find out why your has so many free radicals ? Maybe its not overproduction but rather that your pathway to neutralize these radicals with enzymes has become inefficient. Please use caution in giving me more iron as supplements you may only mask the problem.
Alternatively your body may be rationalizing as it does with in the case of temperature except in a negative way.
" Remember when elevated body temperature (pyrexia ) was considered a disease. Now we know it is one of the body's mechanism to achieve homeostasis whether it is locally for an area of infection like a wound or systemically where the core or body temperature can rise several degrees in an attempt to kill or stop the growth by an invading micro-organism"
It might be rewarding for us to listen to our body's more often. They are talking to us all the time if we only took time to listen.