A surprising new genetic study shows that some people with naturally high levels of HDL cholesterol—the supposedly good kind of cholesterol—are at increased risk of a heart attack. Doctors are now further questioning the use of drugs to boost HDL levels while looking to new therapies to reduce heart risk.
Many new studies are complicating our understanding of the role cholesterol plays in heart disease. And last month, a group of researchers published the results of a study showing that what you thought you knew about "bad" cholesterol is probably wrong — or at least far too simplistic.
For years we've been told to reduce our consumption of saturated fats as a sure-fire way to prevent heart disease. But a recent analysis of 45 studies and 27 trials involving over 600,000 participants is forcing a rethink of this long held — and apparently erroneous — assumption.
Dear Lifehacker,
I don't know much about cholesterol, other than it's in foods and I don't want high levels of it in my body. But what is it, exactly? What does it do and why do I need to care about it?
Cholesterol is bad and lowering cholesterol is good. Well, at least this is what we’ve been led to believe for nearly four decades. But it’s a misconception — a big, fat stinking lie. Here’s what we’re learning about cholesterol — and what it really means to your health.
Over the past few decades, scientists have suggested that high levels of HDL—which has come to be known as "good cholesterol"—can reduce the risk of heart attack. New evidence, however, suggests that might not be the case after all.
Scientists have developed a test that detects whether the large, misshapen, mutant cells that indicate you're due for an acute myocardial infarction are circulating through your bloodstream. That's right: There's a heart attack test. And it works.
By tweaking an enzyme in mice, researchers expected to get rodents with low cholesterol, but fatty livers. Instead they found a switch which might be a weight loss miracle.
