Good cholesterol does not protect against heart attack

Doubts about the effect of „good“ cholesterol

05/18/2012

„good“ Cholesterol has been associated with a reduced risk of heart disease and vascular disease. But the current study of a research team around Dr. med. Sekar Kathiresan of Harvard Medical School, Boston, has come to the conclusion that so-called HDL cholesterol does not necessarily lead to a reduced risk of heart attack.

In their research, researchers evaluated numerous previous studies to test for a possible link between high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (HDL) and the risk of heart attack. Also, the influence of „bad“ LDL cholesterol (LDL = Low Density Lipoprotein) was analyzed. The data obtained contradict the previous one „Concept of increasing the HDL cholesterol level with a reduction in the risk of myocardial infarction“ (Heart attacks), write. Sekar Kathiresan and colleagues in the trade magazine „The Lancet“.

No reduced heart attack risk from HDL cholesterol
The results of the US researchers fundamentally question the previous assumption that HDL cholesterol has a positive effect on heart attacks. Dr. Kathiresan and colleagues reviewed data from close to 150,000 patients from numerous previous studies regarding the relationship between HDL cholesterol and heart attack risk. Even patients with genetically determined significantly increased levels of „good“ Cholesterol was therefore not subject to a reduced risk of myocardial infarction. Theoretically, according to the researchers, according to the researchers, a 13-percent lower risk of heart attack was expected, but in fact no correlation could be found with the probability of a heart attack. In which „bad“ Cholesterol, however, has confirmed the previous assumption. LDL cholesterol therefore increases the risk of arterial blockage, cardiovascular diseases as well as heart attacks.

Doubts about the effect of HDL-increasing drugs
By the researchers in the article „HDL cholesterol and the risk of myocardial infarction: A Mendelian randomized study“
The results presented also raise doubts about the current use of HDL-increasing drugs for the prevention of heart attacks, especially since the preparations are sometimes associated with considerable side effects. If HDL cholesterol really does not affect the risk of heart attack, patients could confidently refrain from taking medicines in the future. (Fp)

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Picture: Rita Thielen