“Good” Cholesterol Isn’t So Good for Predicting Heart Disease

For decades, physicians have considered that the level of “good cholesterol” served to indicate the risk of heart disease among adults of different racial and ethnic groups, but a study published this week questions that assumption.

The analysis, supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) of the United States, is published in the Journal of the American College of Cadiology Although low levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL), known as “good cholesterol”indicate a higher risk of heart attack or heart-related deaths among adult whites, the same is not true for adult African-Americans.

Also, the researchers found no relationship between high HDL levels and a reduction in cardiovascular risk for either of the two groups.

“The aim of the study was to understand this long-established link that describes HDL as beneficial cholesterol, and whether this holds true for all ethnic groups.”said Nathalie Pamir, lead author of the research.

“It is commonly accepted that low HDL cholesterol levels are detrimental, regardless of raceadded Pamir, a professor at the Knoght Cardiovascular Institute at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland. “Our study tested those assumptions.”

The previous studies that supported the perception about good cholesterol levels and heart health were conducted in the 1970s and the majority of the participants were white adults.

Pamir and his colleagues reviewed information about 23,901 adults collected over 10- to 11-year periods, including African-American and white participants with similar characteristics such as age, cholesterol levels, underlying risks for heart disease, such as diabetes. , high blood pressure and smoking.

In the period covered by the analysis, 664 African Americans and 951 whites experienced a heart attack or died from a heart attack.

Adults who had increased levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and triglycerides had slightly increased risks of heart disease, consistent with previous research.

But the study was the first to find that lower HDL levels only predicted increased risk of heart disease for white adults.

Sean Coady, of the Division of Cardiovascular Sciences at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, noted that “the HDL cholesterol has always been an enigmatic risk factor for cardiovascular disease”.

“The conclusions of this study suggest that further investigation into the epidemiology of lipid metabolism is warranted, especially in terms of how race may modify or mediate these relationships.Cody added.

Source: EFE