For years, we've been told that raising our levels of HDL (the good cholesterol), would help protect us from heart disease. But a study published in May by The Lancet, has many people questioning that assumption. The study found that genetically high levels of HDL (high density lipoprotein) offered no extra protection against heart disease. In fact, it concluded there was no difference in heart attack risk between people with genetically higher levels of HDL and those with somewhat lower levels of HDL. So does HDL matter? It still does, according to cardiologist K. Lance Gould, MD, a professor of internal medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) Medical School and director of the Weatherhead PET Center for Preventing and Reversing Atherosclerosis. He says some patients with genetically high levels of HDL still develop heart disease, as was found in the study. The opposite is also true, as patients with genetically low HDL levels may never develop heart disease.
Clear as mud, right? For the basics of what HDL is and what it does, check out my latest HealthLeader article on the subject.