HDL Is The New Frontier For Beating Heart Disease

[Guest guest]

HDL Is The New Frontier For Beating Heart Disease

23 Jan 2007

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=61321 & nfid=nl+

 

 

Most people fixate on the wrong number in the cholesterol equation for

reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). It actually may be more

important

to know if your good HDL cholesterol is too low (<40 for men, <50 for women)

than if your bad LDL cholesterol is too high. This is the current opinion from

the field of lipidology, and corroborated by the Framingham coronary

prediction algorithm.

 

The reason LDL has attracted so much attention is because there are more

effective drug options for lowering LDL than for raising HDL. Statins are

usually

the drugs of choice for reducing LDL levels, but are generally not effective

in raising HDL more than 6 percent, or higher with some statins, but only in

very high doses. And they may create unwanted side effects -- like muscle and

joint pains, and depleting CoQ10 from the body, which can actually increase the

risk of CVD. Perfectly low LDL levels do not guarantee immunity from strokes

and heart attacks.

 

" Raising HDL is definitely the new frontier in the battle to eliminate the

risk of cardiovascular disease, " said cardiologist Dennis Goodman, MD, FACC,

FACP, FCCP, a member of the physician team at Scripps Center for Integrative

Medicine. " It's no coincidence that Pfizer invested nearly $1 billion to develop

Torcetrapib for raising HDL, which unfortunately had disappointing results that

terminated the project. "

 

Dr. Goodman's study, presented at the 4th Annual Natural Supplements

Conference: An Evidence-Based Update (January 19-21) at the Hilton La Jolla

Torrey

Pines, followed the progress of 50 patients (29 females, 21 males) with at least

one risk factor for coronary artery disease in addition to abnormal lipids.

The patients were administered a novel cardio-friendly nutriceutical formula

that raised HDL by an average of 20 percent, with greater increases for those

with HDL <40. HDL2, considered the best type of HDL, increased by 28 percent,

and

total cholesterol to HDL ratio decreased by 11 percent, while high

sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) decreased by 27 percent and by 34 percent

for

those with elevated hsCRP at baseline. Patients had an average decrease in

triglycerides of 33 percent, and a drop in homocysteine levels by 12 percent.

 

The HDL Booster dietary supplement used in the study (two capsules twice

daily) consisted of: vitamins C, E, B6, B12, niacin (low dose, 40 mg/day), and

folic acid; minerals magnesium and selenium; and supplements coenzyme Q10,

policosanol, L-carnitine, L-arginine, N-acetylcysteine, alpha lipoic acid,

tocotrienols, soy isoflavones, taurine, and the herbal extracts of hawthorn

(Crategus

oxyacantha) berry, garlic (Allium sativum), grape (Vitis vinifera) seed

extract, and grape (Vitis vinifera) skin extract.

 

" We're excited by the implications of this study but more research must be

done. We plan to embark on a randomized, controlled trial in the next few

months, " said Dr. Goodman. " Unlike niacin preparations, today's most widely

prescribed drugs for raising HDL, HDL Booster has negligible untoward side

effects,

and therefore compliance will be much higher. " Approximately 25-30 percent of

patients stop taking pharmaceutical niacin because of uncomfortable flushing.

 

" For every 1 point (mg/dl) increase in HDL, there is a 2 percent decrease in

cardiovascular risk (including heart attacks and strokes) for men and 3

percent for women, " explained Goodman. " Therefore, it is important to focus on

both

lowering LDL and raising HDL cholesterol (in addition to other risk factors

like high blood pressure, smoking, diabetes, obesity, etc.) to achieve the

lowest possible cardiac risk. And if you can do it naturally through proper

diet,

exercise and supplementation, it's definitely the best way to go. " For more

information, visit http://www.dennisgoodmanmd.com/ .