Word: ldl
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...plaques that remained and reduced their level of inflammation, making them less likely to burst. Though the study was too small to be definitive, it certainly stirred a lot of interest at the American Heart Association's meeting in November. After years of being preoccupied with lowering levels of LDL, the "bad" cholesterol, doctors and patients may soon be focusing on how to pump up vessel-cleansing...
...hydrogenated" oils)--also known as trans-fatty acids. Food manufacturers began using them in place of saturated fats in the 1980s. Trans fats extended the shelf life of certain products, and foodmakers thought they made edibles safer. Turns out trans fats, like saturated fats, raise bad cholesterol (LDL) and may lower good cholesterol (HDL). As if that weren't bad enough, they may also increase the risk of diabetes. Current labeling guidelines don't require manufacturers to state how many grams of trans fats are in a product, but the FDA has called for food labels to come clean. Look...
...have a professional and a personal interest in statins, the cholesterol-lowering drugs that so many people are taking these days. Whereas I don't have a history of heart disease, it runs in my family. Although I exercise regularly and watch what I eat, my LDL (or "bad") cholesterol level has always been a bit elevated (it hovers around 100, which is right at the limit recommended by the U.S. government). So I followed with particular interest the results of the first head-to-head comparison of two of the most popular statins: Lipitor (made by Pfizer) and Pravachol...
...should start taking Lipitor. But he thinks this study could change the way doctors look at cholesterol profiles like mine, because the findings suggest that the lower the bad cholesterol level the better. If further studies support this thesis, the government may be under pressure to reduce its recommended LDL level to below...
There's still a lot of work to be done. As Nissen points out, it's not yet clear whether Lipitor's protective benefits are due to its power to reduce LDL levels or to its ability to fight inflammation, a major cause of heart disease. And although it seems logical to assume that reducing fatty deposits will translate into fewer heart attacks and deaths, that hasn't been proved. The patients in this study will have to be watched a lot longer than 18 months to find out. Meanwhile, there are more statin studies in the works, including...