Heart Disease In The News

The "right" blood fats protect from heart disease
February 16, 2001

Investigators have shown that men with high levels of HDL cholesterol (the "good" cholesterol) and low triglyceride levels have a low risk of coronary artery disease, even if they have significant risk factors for heart disease.

In a study published in the current Archives of Internal Medicine, Danish researchers followed 3000 men for 8 years after measuring blood lipids and tabulating the presence of other risk factors such as smoking, diabetes, and physical activity. Even when these other factors were present, men with elevated HDL levels had a low risk of coronary artery disease.

This study lends support to previous studies suggesting that aggressive measures to lower LDL cholesterol and raise HDL cholesterol are warranted.

Investigators were quick to point out that, while elevated HDL cholesterol levels seems to mitigate the risk of heart disease among smokers, those smokers remain at very high risk for other health problems such as cancer.

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