New article describes how the quality of HDL cholesterol is as important as its type

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Public release date: 1-Dec-2008

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-12/foas-rlt112008.php

Contact: Cody Mooneyhan

cmooneyhan@...

Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology

Researchers learn that some 'good cholesterol' isn't good enough

New article in the FASEB Journal describes how the quality of HDL

cholesterol is as important as its type

If you think your levels of " good cholesterol " are good enough, a new

study published in the December 2008 issue of The FASEB Journal suggests

that you may want to think again. In the report, researchers from the

University of Chicago challenge the conventional wisdom that simply

having high levels of good cholesterol (HDL) and low levels of bad

cholesterol (LDL) is necessary for good heath. Instead, they show that

the good cholesterol has varying degrees of quality and that poor

quality HDL is actually bad for you.

" For many years, HDL has been viewed as good cholesterol and has

generated a false perception that the more HDL in the blood, the

better, " said Angelo Scanu, M.D., a pioneer in blood lipid chemistry

from University of Chicago and first author of the study. " It is now

apparent that subjects with high HDL are not necessarily protected from

heart problems and should ask their doctor to find out whether their HDL

is good or bad. "

The researchers came to this conclusion after reviewing published

research on this subject. In their review, they found that the HDL from

people with chronic diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, kidney

disease, and diabetes is different from the HDL in healthy individuals,

even when blood levels of HDL are comparable. They observed that normal,

" good, " HDL reduces inflammation, while the dysfunctional, " bad, " HDL

does not.

" This is yet one more line of research that explains why some people can

have perfect cholesterol levels, but still develop cardiovascular

disease, " said Gerald Weissmann, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB

Journal. " Just as the discovery of good and bad cholesterol rewrote the

book on cholesterol management, the realization that some of the 'good

cholesterol' is actually bad will do the same. "

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According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,

approximately 17 percent of all American adults have high total

cholesterol, putting them at risk for heart disease. Cholesterol is a

waxy, fat-like substance used by the body to maintain the proper

function of cell membranes and is encapsulated within two types of

proteins as it travels in the body—low density lipoproteins (LDL) and

high density lipoproteins (HDL). High levels of LDL or total cholesterol

are an indicator of increased risk for heart disease. High blood

cholesterol elicits no physical symptoms, making medical screenings

necessary for detection.

The FASEB Journal (http://www.fasebj.org) is published by the Federation

of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) and is the most

cited biology journal worldwide according to the Institute for

Scientific Information. FASEB comprises 21 nonprofit societies with more

than 80,000 members, making it the largest coalition of biomedical

research associations in the United States. FASEB advances biological

science through collaborative advocacy for research policies that

promote scientific progress and education and lead to improvements in

human health.

--

ne Holden, MS, RD

" Ask the Parkinson Dietitian " http://www.parkinson.org/

" Eat well, stay well with Parkinson's disease "

" Parkinson's disease: Guidelines for Medical Nutrition Therapy "

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