Scientists Rethinking HDL

[zip2play]

A thought provoking article from the New York Times front page yesterday: the gist is that some scientists are questioning the extent of protection previously thought to flow from high HDL levels and are now beginning to think that LDL is by far the most important element in cholesterol control.
Thought Provoking!

Isn't the back-and-forth nature of "Truth" amazing. I'm reminded of Pontious Pilate's oft quoted: "What is truth?"

[CobaltBlue]

It's probably a bit of both, and more of a problem in some cases and not in others? I know for a fact that my LDL was never astronomical (always <130 mg/dL when tested) and that it my HDL was low (<30 mg/dL) and TG high (>400 mg/dL). Somewhere in the equation involving these and other variables, I have CHD and a MI at age 35.

I guess we have to just follow all the rules and leads for now...and do the best we can to minimize all of these variables (risk factors).

[ARIZONA73]

Sounds like more propaganda from the pharmaceutical fat cats, whose greed knows no bounds. As I see it, this is just another one of their ploys designed to lure more and more people onto these drugs. Is there no end to their unrelenting greed and chicanery?

[vipergg22]

Originally Posted by ARIZONA73

Sounds like more propaganda from the pharmaceutical fat cats, whose greed knows no bounds. As I see it, this is just another one of their ploys designed to lure more and more people onto these drugs. Is there no end to their unrelenting greed and chicanery?

Agreed just like they are saying 140/90 is now too high for bp . Can you say
profits ???? And all the studies are funded by who else , the drug companies .

[zip2play]

Ubie,

Interesting personal observation and I'm right in there with you. My first HDL reading (8ish years ago) was 29 and the worst part of my lipid picture. It caused me to demand statin therapy and enhance it with proven dietary HDL raisers. But it was too late to stem the already well entrenched artery clogging that had gone before.

But, in one of my rare defenses of the pharmaceutical pushers, there really could be as much money made by HDL enhancers. In fact the profits could be enormous if inducement could be made to take separate drugs for HDL enhancement and LDL dimininshment...so it doesn't seem to be a clear case of the sciece by profit which seems so common these days.
(Of course, my trust of Gina Kolata's articles is always an iffy thing!)

I will STILL do all I can to keep my LDL at 96 and my HDL at 58 (pass the cod liver oil), but I found the article thought provoking. Hanging on to last decade's science has never yielded much in the way of returns for me!