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Older people who have higher levels of triglycerides, a type of fat, may have a lower risk of dementia and a slower cognitive decline over time compared to people who have lower levels, according to new research. Researchers used health care data to identify 18,294 people in one cohort with an average age of 75 who did not have a prior diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease or dementia. Participants were followed for an average of six years. Researchers looked at participants' measurements of total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL and HDL each year of the study. Then they divided the participants into four...

Whole body cryostimulation is a useful "add-on" treatment for obesity, research suggests. Levels of cholesterol and other blood fats improved twice as much in individuals, compared with individuals given a sham treatment. Those who had whole body cryostimulation (WBC) also experienced a greater reduction in waist circumference and in blood sugar levels. 29 participants (12 men and 17 women, BMI >30 kg/m2) were non-randomly allocated either to a group receiving 10 2-min WBC sessions at minus 110°C in a cryochamber over two weeks (WBC) or a control group receiving the same intervention at non-cryostimulating temperatures of minus 55°C (SHAM). Triglycerides,...

Blood levels of HDL, the famously "good" kind of cholesterol, may not make a big difference to heart health after all -- particularly for Black people, a large new study suggests. The study, of nearly 24,000 U.S. adults, found that low HDL levels were tied to a somewhat higher risk of heart attack among White people. That was not the case for Black adults, however. Meanwhile, high HDL levels -- traditionally lauded as heart-healthy -- made no difference in heart risks for Black or White adults. Experts said the findings call for a reevaluation of how HDL is used to...

Eggs don't always get the best reputation. In fact, the first thing that may come to mind when you hear the word "eggs" is cholesterol. So, it may come as a surprise to some to see the term "fat-blasting" associated with eating eggs regularly. But first, let's clear up the cholesterol confusion. Each egg contains about 185 milligrams of cholesterol, however, you'll notice the most recent USDA dietary guidelines don't specify how much cholesterol you should limit yourself to each day (they got rid of that guideline in the 2015-2020 edition). Many experts agree the focus should instead be on...

The U.S. government is poised to withdraw longstanding warnings about cholesterol in your diet The nation's top nutrition advisory panel has decided to drop its caution about eating cholesterol-laden food, a move that could undo almost 40 years of government warnings about its consumption. [...] The current U.S. guidelines call for restricting cholesterol intake to 300 milligrams daily. American adult men on average ingest about 340 milligrams of cholesterol a day, according to federal figures. That recommended figure of 300 milligrams, Eckel said, is "just one of those things that gets carried forward and carried forward even though the evidence...

Scientists at the University of Warwick have discovered that 'good' cholesterol is turned 'bad' by a sugar-derived substance. The substance, methylglyoxal - MG, was found to damage 'good' HDL cholesterol, which removes excess levels of bad cholesterol from the body. Low levels of HDL, High Density Lipoprotein, are closely linked to heart disease, with increased levels of MG being common in the elderly and those with diabetes or kidney problems. Supported by funding from the British Heart Foundation (BHF) and published in Nutrition and Diabetes, the researchers discovered that MG destabilises HDL and causes it to lose the properties which...

Despite plenty of evidence that people with low levels of "good" cholesterol are more prone to heart attacks, a large new study suggests that the lacking lipid is not to blame. The analysis of data on nearly 70,000 people in Denmark affirmed the link between low levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL), the so-called "good" cholesterol, and raised heart attack risk in the general population. But in people with a gene mutation that lowers HDL, heart attack risk was not found to be higher at all. "Association itself doesn't mean causality," said lead author Dr. Ruth Frikke-Schmidt, a consultant in the...

Scientists package HDL with gene-silencing siRNA to target tumors, spare normal tissueHOUSTON - High-density lipoprotein's hauls excess cholesterol to the liver for disposal, but new research suggests "good cholesterol" can also act as a special delivery vehicle of destruction for cancer. Synthetic HDL nanoparticles loaded with small interfering RNA to silence cancer-promoting genes selectively shrunk or destroyed ovarian cancer tumors in mice, a research team led by scientists from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and the University of North Texas Health Science Center reports in the April edition of Neoplasia. "RNA interference has great therapeutic potential but...

Low Levels Of Good Cholesterol Linked To Memory Loss, Dementia Risk ScienceDaily (July 1, 2008) — Low levels of high-density lipoproteins (HDL) -- the "good" cholesterol -- in middle age may increase the risk of memory loss and lead to dementia later in life, researchers reported in Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology: Journal of the American Heart Association. Observing 3,673 participants (26.8 percent women) from the Whitehall II study, researchers found that falling levels of HDL cholesterol were predictors of declining memory by age 60. Whitehall II, which began in 1985, is long-term health examination of more than 10,000 British...

Reversing a strategy that had drawn criticism from doctors, Pfizer says that it will apply for approval to sell a promising new heart treatment as a standalone pill — rather than only in combination with Lipitor, Pfizer’s best-selling cholesterol treatment. The new drug, torcetrapib, is still being tested in clinical trials and is at least 18 months from federal approval. But cardiologists say it has the potential to become a significant new treatment for heart disease. Clinical trials show that torcetrapib substantially raises the levels of so-called good cholesterol, a novel approach to preventing heart attacks and strokes. Wall Street...

In 1980, a man from a small town called Limone Sul Garda in northern Italy went to a doctor for some problem, not heart related. Testing of his blood showed very high levels of triglycerides, and very low levels of HDL, the good form of cholesterol. By all rights, the man should have either been dead from, or in imminent danger of a heart attack. But his arteries were clear. Analysis of his blood showed he had a very special form of Lipoprotein, a type of HDL. And further work with this particular type of Lipoprotein revealed astounding results. In...

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A relatively high amount of fat in the diet may be a boon to a healthy person's cholesterol levels, a small study suggests. On the other hand, limiting fat intake too much could have the opposite effect. Researchers at the State University of New York at Buffalo found that when 11 healthy but sedentary adults followed a very low-fat diet (19 percent of calories from fat) for three weeks, they saw a drop in their HDL cholesterol -- the "good" cholesterol believed to protect against heart disease. In contrast, three weeks on a diet that...

<p>The future of heart disease treatment is coming into focus with a growing emphasis on potent drug cocktails that fight obesity, help smokers quit, ease inflammation and restore a healthy blood-cholesterol balance.</p> <p>The shift may arrive in time for many aging baby boomers, doctors say, with several promising drugs undergoing pivotal tests in humans.</p>

An experimental drug can sharply increase levels of H.D.L., the good cholesterol, potentially offering an entirely new way to help prevent heart attacks, researchers have found. In a preliminary study, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and Tufts University found that the drug doubled H.D.L., or high density lipoprotein, in people with worrisomely low levels of the cholesterol. The drug, called torcetrapib, also reduced low density lipoprotein, or L.D.L., the bad cholesterol. Until now, doctors have concentrated largely on lowering bad cholesterol by giving patients statin drugs, which are used by millions of Americans and reduce heart attacks by about...

For years, doctors have been saying that to prevent heart disease, patients should pay attention to both the so-called bad cholesterol, or L.D.L., and the good cholesterol, or H.D.L. The good, they said, can counteract the bad. But now, some scientists say, new and continuing studies have called into question whether high levels of the good cholesterol are always good and, when they are beneficial, how much. While some heart experts are not ready to change their treatment advice, others have concluded that H.D.L. should play at most a minor role in deciding whether to prescribe cholesterol-lowering drugs. In the...