Recent studies question the benefits of the good
cholesterol (H.D.L.) on heart disease


April 10, 2004
ASHInfo News

Results from a recent study published in
the Journal of the American Medical
Association give doubt to the protective
benefit of high level of High Density
Lipoproteins (H.D.L) on heart disease.  
In this study, H.D.L. levels were shown to
play no role in plaque growth. Only the
Low Density Lipoprotein (L.D.L.) levels
mattered.

When L.D.L. levels dropped, plaque growth slowed. That means,
concludes Dr. Nissen – author of the study, that the benefit of lowering
L.D.L. is the same whether H.D.L. levels are high or low.

H.D.L. is also known as the good cholesterol.  For years, according to
the good cholesterol hypothesis, biochemists believe that H.D.L. acts
to remove the bad cholesterol (L.D.L.) from the blood stream.  The
hypothesis was based on the results of the Framingham Heart Study
and similar studies.  In the Framingham Heart Study, thousands of
patients were monitored for development of heart disease.  The study
found that when two persons with the same levels of the bad
cholesterol L.D.L. but different levels of the good cholesterol, H.D.L,
the one with more H.D.L. was less likely to have heart disease.

But now, with the emergence of results from recent studies like the
one mentioned above, scientists start to question the true benefit of
H.D.L.  On the other hand, these new studies seem to suggest that
the lower the L.D.L level, the more protective benefits patients will
experience from heart disease.  Until further data and new treatment
guideline become available, many physicians think that treating L.D.L.
with cholesterol-lowering statins, even when H.D.L. is high, is within
reasonable practice.

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