'Good' cholesterol may lower cancer risk, study finds

[one...two...tree 2,762]

High-density lipoprotein cholesterol, otherwise known as the "good" cholesterol, is known to help protect against heart disease. The bad cholesterol, LDL, raises the risk. Now there's another reason to aim high with HDL cholesterol. A study suggests that people with higher rates have less cancer. Researchers at Tufts University analyzed data from 24 studies that tested medications to alter cholesterol. The participants' medical records were examined for cancer incidence. The total number of participants was more than 145,000 with more than 8,000 cases of cancer reported.

But people who had higher levels of HDL (typically considered more than 40 mg/dL for men and more than 50 mg/dL for women) had a two- to three-fold lower risk of heart disease and a 36% lower risk of cancer for every 10 mg/dL higher level of HDL. This was found even when the researchers controlled for other factors that affect cancer, such as age, body mass index, diabetes, sex and smoking status.

The study does not prove that having higher HDL reduces cancer risk. It's not clear how HDL may protect against cancer, said the lead author of the study, Dr. Richard Karas. It could be HDL helps rid the body of harmful antioxidants that can damage cells and cause cancer. Or, HDL may boost the immune system to fight cancer or help quell inflammation in the body that can trigger abnormal cell growth.

Many people focus on their bad cholesterol, but it's important to remember that HDL matters too.

"Patients need to be informed and understand what each cholesterol number means for their overall health and risk of disease," Karas said in a news release.

The study was published Monday in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

-- Shari Roan

http://latimesblogs....hdl-cancer.html

[Heracles 417]

This just collaborates with the thread about research into the Greek [Mediterranean] diet and its health benefits.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/259040-greece-in-diet-is-a-healthy-mix/page__p__3973571__fromsearch__1entry3973571

Edited June 15, 2010 by Booyah!

[SupportGeek 21]

Ive also been reading that just saying LDL is "bad" is a simplification.

LDL can actually be broken up into 2 groups "Large Buoyant" which is also actually good for you, and "small dense" which is the stuff you DONT want at all. so when getting cholesterol checked, its best to know which of these in the LDL is actually high, because if its not the small dense type, you are still ok.

[TBoneTX 45,394]

Ive also been reading that just saying LDL is "bad" is a simplification.

LDL can actually be broken up into 2 groups "Large Buoyant" which is also actually good for you, and "small dense" which is the stuff you DONT want at all. so when getting cholesterol checked, its best to know which of these in the LDL is actually high, because if its not the small dense type, you are still ok.

An interesting article on this very subject will be published in the Texas Heart Institute Journal, August 2010.

[SupportGeek 21]

An interesting article on this very subject will be published in the Texas Heart Institute Journal, August 2010.

Will there be a way to view it online? or will I need to be a member of something to see it? Im pretty interested in it since there seem to have been some game changing discoveries recently that indicate overall cholesterol and is no indicator of heart disease risk at all.

[TBoneTX 45,394]

Will there be a way to view it online? or will I need to be a member of something to see it? Im pretty interested in it since there seem to have been some game changing discoveries recently that indicate overall cholesterol and is no indicator of heart disease risk at all.

1. The website http://www.texasheart.org/journal is free to view, without memberships. Some articles in the current issue (whatever issue that happens to be at the time) will be full-text online; other articles will be available later, in full, for free.

2. You can use this -- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query/static/citmatch.html -- to search for words and phrases of interest, and at least get the Abstracts of papers that have been published in zillions of journals. For example, in the "title" blank, you might type "small dense LDL" or "small, dense low-density lipoprotein" and see what published papers come up, then click on them and read the Abstracts. Some entire articles may also be available in free full text somewhere, but most journals view these things as a profit center and will either try to charge you to purchase the article or charge you for a sign-up membership.

3. Regarding the specific article above, I'll send you a PM.