Biotech Values

[DewDiligence]

The evidence against raising HDL as a means of lowering cardiovascular risk
just took another hit. (Using the Ian Fleming terminology in #msg-63656000,
we are now well beyond the point of declaring enemy action!)

http://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/2012/05/16/study-questions-whether-raising-good-cholesterol-reduces-heart-attack-risk/yyCUuBXGTXDTxdq8EYpJwJ/story.html

Raising levels of “good’’ cholesterol may not be so good for you after all… In the study in the medical journal The Lancet, a team led by researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital and the Broad Institute examined the health of more than 100,000 people, some of them with genetic variations that elevated their levels of HDL, and found that those variations did not protect against heart attacks.

…To test whether raising HDL is protective, the scientists in the new study looked at a gene variation that is present in about 2.6 percent of the population and raises HDL levels, with no effect on other cardiovascular risk factors. People with that gene should have a 13 percent decreased risk of heart attack, the researchers calculated. But when they compared them with people who did not have the gene, there was no difference in heart attack risk.

In a second study, researchers examined a panel of 14 genetic variations that raised HDL levels and found that inheriting those variations did not confer protection against heart attacks, either.

… Outside scientists said the new study does not definitely show that raising HDL always fails to protect against heart attacks. For example, there may be subtypes of HDL, some of which reduce and some of which promote cardiovascular risk.