Word: hdl
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Once filled, the HDL particles must get their load of cholesterol back to the liver for excretion. Some researchers theorize that cholesterol collected in the HDL particle is transferred to a VLDL ferryboat circulating in the bloodstream; the VLDL then metamorphoses into an LDL, which is picked up by an LDL receptor in the liver. Others think HDL may in fact be a passive player -- a sort of biological signal light that indicates how efficiently excess cholesterol is being removed, without necessarily taking any direct role...
...HDL actually does have the ability to pull cholesterol out of artery walls, can high levels of HDL reverse the buildup of plaque? There are indications that this may be the case. Last year Dr. David Blankenhorn, director of atherosclerosis research at the University of Southern California, reported on a study in which 162 nonsmoking men who had undergone coronary- bypass surgery were put on a low-fat diet; 80 of them were also treated with niacin and colestipol. Among the drug-treated group, HDL levels increased 37%, while LDL decreased 43% and triglycerides went down 22%. Blankenhorn found evidence...
Those dramatic results were not achieved by increasing HDL alone, although Blankenhorn says there is strong evidence that "high HDL is good for you." His study showed that obstructed arteries benefited most from decreased LDL. Lower levels of triglycerides, he found, may also play an important role, a possibility that has emerged from other studies as well. At Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Dr. Antonio Gotto Jr. discovered that his heart-bypass patients "almost without exception" have lower levels of HDL and slightly higher levels of triglycerides than people without heart disease. One theory is that excess triglycerides somehow...
...remains to be seen whether HDL is a life-prolonging elixir or merely a bit player in a metabolic process whose intricate workings are not yet fully understood. The signs so far are encouraging, but the public does not have to wait for all the answers about HDL in order to do something about preventing heart disease. The LDL story, after all, is already clear: the lower the LDL, the lower the risk of heart disease. For most people in the Western world, basic changes in eating habits and life-style can drastically reduce or eliminate the threat of heart...
Although the overall objective is to decrease the amount of total cholesterol in the bloodstream, best results are achieved by lowering levels of LDL, the "bad" cholesterol, while maintaining or increasing levels of HDL, the "good" cholesterol. The basic approach: cut down on cholesterol and saturated fats in the diet, both of which raise LDL levels, and get regular aerobic exercise, which tends to raise HDL counts. Here...