• A Fish Story - Nutrition Science News, 4/01 - "daily consumption of very low daily doses of EPA/DHA (120 mg/180 mg, about one standard fish oil capsule) in an enriched milk led to a 19 percent decrease in blood triglycerides and a 19 percent increase in HDL cholesterol after six weeks ... It is unclear whether EPA is superior to DHA, although EPA has proven more potent in relaxing cow coronary arteries and producing the vasodilator gas, nitric oxide, in vitro"
• Niacin Reduces Triglycerides, Increases Good Cholesterol In Diabetics - Doctor's Guide, 3/20/01
• Effects of policosanol in older patients with type II hypercholesterolemia and high coronary risk - J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 2001 Mar;56(3):M186-92 - "while significantly (p é .01) increasing (p < .001) high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) by 14.6% and 29.1%, respectively ... No serious adverse experiences occurred in policosanol patients (p < .01), compared with seven adverse experiences (7.9%) reported by placebo patients"
• Niaspan (Niacin Extended Release Tablets) Safe And Effective For Diabetics - Doctor's Guide, 11/14/00
• Statin Plus Niacin Reduces Heart Attack Risk, Reverses Arterial Build-up - Doctor's Guide, 11/13/00
• Spent Yeast Improves Cholesterol Count - Nutrition Science News, 5/00
• Rimostil May Increase Bone Density While Raising Good Cholesterol - Doctor's Guide, 9/27/99 - "The second effect was on HDL cholesterol levels. Falling HDL levels after menopause is one of the main reasons that older women suffer heart disease and stroke. P-081 caused an average 28% rise in HDL levels, essentially restoring their HDL levels to pre-menopausal levels" - see Rimostil at iHerb (5% discount code "qc")
• Prolonged treatment with slow release nicotinic acid in patients with type II hyperlipidemia - Pol Arch Med Wewn. 1997 Nov;98(11):391-9
• Experts Urge Physicians and Patients To Look Beyond LDL Cholesterol - Doctor's Guide, 9/10/97
• Biological effects of hesperidin, a Citrus flavonoid. (note II): hypolipidemic activity on experimental hypercholesterolemia in rat - Farmaco. 1995 Sep;50(9):595-9 - "Hesperidin, the most important flavanone of Citrus sp., significantly increases HDL"
• A comparison of the efficacy and toxic effects of sustained- vs immediate-release niacin in hypercholesterolemic patients - JAMA. 1994 Mar 2;271(9):672-7 - "None of the patients taking IR niacin developed hepatotoxic effects, while 12 (52%) of the 23 patients taking SR niacin did"

General Information:

• HDL - American Academy of Family Physicians
• HDL - emedicine.com
• HDL - FamilyDoctor.org
• What is total cholesterol to HDL cholesterol ratio? What is a desirable ratio? - MedicineNet.com
• The Focus on HDL-C: Synergistic Effects With Aggressive Lipid Lowering - Medscape, 1/29/04 - "a 1-mg decrease in LDL reduces coronary heart disease (CHD) risk by 1%. Based on primarily epidemiological data and some clinical trial data, a 1-mg increase in HDL reduces CHD risk by approximately 3%"

Other Information:

• Erectile Dysfunction / Impotence - Prostate Health Guide - U. of Maryland Medicine - "Direct risk factors for erectile dysfunction may include the following: ... low levels of HDL (high-density lipoprotein)"
• Laboratory Investigations of Erectile Dysfunction - WebMD - "men with erectile dysfunction frequently have low levels of high-density lipoproteins, the good form of cholesterol."
• Therapeutic Approaches to Raising Plasma HDL-cholesterol Levels - Medscape, 12/21/04
• Low levels of HDL cholesterol linked to breast cancer risk - US News, 12/1/04 - "Women with high HDL levels were 25 percent less likely to get postmenopausal breast cancer than women with low HDL cholesterol. The difference was even bigger for women who were overweight"
• Two-Pronged Cholesterol Approach Works - HealthDay, 11/11/04 - "Niacin is the most effective treatment to treat low HDL ... Overall, combining niacin with a statin slowed disease progression 68 percent more than a statin alone. The combination treatment also resulted in a 60 percent reduction in heart attacks, deaths, strokes, and other coronary events"
• Effectiveness of simvastatin therapy in raising HDL-C in patients with type 2 diabetes and low HDL-C - Curr Med Res Opin. 2004 Jul;20(7):1087-94 - "Both simvastatin 80 and 40 mg significantly increased total HDL-C from baseline (mean increases of 8%"
• Benefit of 'Good' Cholesterol in Arteries Limited by Enzyme Linked to Heart Attack Risk - Doctor's Guide, 8/17/04 - "HDL becomes dysfunctional, Dr. Hazen said, when myeloperoxidase (MPO), an enzyme present in white blood cells, inhibits the HDL's ability to keep LDL, or "bad" cholesterol, from building up in artery walls"
• Overweight? Good Cholesterol May Fight Cancer - WebMD, 8/3/04 - "overweight, postmenopausal women with high levels of good HDL cholesterol have 67% less breast cancer than similar women with low HDL levels"
• Non-HDL Cholesterol and Apolipoprotein B Predict Cardiovascular Disease Events Among Men With Type 2 Diabetes - Diabetes Care. 2004 Aug;27(8):1991-7 - "Non-HDL cholesterol and apoB are more potent predictors of CVD incidence among diabetic men than LDL cholesterol. Statistically, the ratio of total to HDL cholesterol is the best predictor of CVD in this cohort of diabetic men"
• Specific Plasma Lipids Appear Associated with Vascular Dementia but Not With Alzheimer Disease - Doctor's Guide, 5/19/04 - "Lower levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and higher levels of non-HDL-C and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) are associated with an increased risk of vascular dementia"
• Cholesteryl Ester Transfer Protein Raises Serum High-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Levels as Monotherapy and Combined with a Statin - Doctor's Guide, 4/12/04
• Drug Raises 'Good' HDL Cholesterol Levels - WebMD, 4/7/04 - "researchers examined the effects of a CETP inhibitor (torcetrapib) in 19 people with low HDL levels (below 40 mg per deciliter). Nine of the participants were also treated with a statin ... After four weeks of treatment with the drug, researchers found HDL cholesterol levels increased by 61% among those treated with the CETP inhibitor and statin and by 46% among those treated with the CETP inhibitor alone"
• HDL sometimes inflames immune system and increases heart risk - HealthDay, 11/24/03 - "sometimes HDL cholesterol suddenly triggers an inflammatory attack by the immune system that damages arteries and increases the risk of heart attack or stroke ... risk can be reduced by statin treatment, but many of these patients are not given statins because their HDL level seems protective"
• Is synthetic `good' cholesterol the harbinger of improved heart therapy? - US News, 11/17/03 - "The huge breakthroughs in treating lipids over the next one to two decades will be those that target HDLs"
• Manmade Cholesterol Reverses Clogged Arteries - HealthDay, 11/5/03 - "In this case, the patients got an intravenous infusion of synthetic high-density lipoprotein (HDL, or the "good" cholesterol) ... This is the first convincing demonstration that targeting HDL, good cholesterol, can benefit patients with heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States ... those who got the therapy saw their arteries clear by 4 percent. "That may not sound great, but actually it is,""
• Potential Heart Disease Breakthrough - WebMD, 11/4/03 - "It's called ApoA-I Milano ... a genetically engineered version of this "good" HDL cholesterol protein has been tested in a small human trial ... The findings exceed even the most optimistic expectations ... In five weeks, patients treated with ApoAI Milano had about a 4% decrease in plaque volume. That's 10 times greater reduction than ever seen before"
• Carbohydrate-Rich Diet Associated with Lower High-Density Lipoprotein Levels - Doctor's Guide, 10/6/03 - "The researchers defined glycaemic index as the measure of blood glucose after consumption of carbohydrate-containing foods, ranging in values from 1 to 100. Glycaemic load was defined as the carbohydrate content of a food multiplied by the glycaemic index and servings per week ... Results showed an inverse relationship between high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol level and both the glycaemic index and glycaemic load"
• Rosuvastatin Improves Plasma Lipid Ratios - Doctor's Guide, 10/1/03 - "Rosuvastatin significantly more effective than atorvastatin, simvastatin, and pravastatin in improving the ratios of total cholesterol to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol" - See Crestor (rosuvastatin) at drugstore.com.
• Doctors Ignore Diabetes Guidelines - WebMD, 8/18/03 - "Do you have diabetes? There's a one-in-three chance that if you do, you don't know ... Testing should be considered at a younger age -- and done more frequently -- in certain people: ... Anyone with high blood pressure (140/90 or higher) ... Anyone with an HDL "good" cholesterol of 35 or under and/or triglyceride levels of 250 or more ... Anyone with a fasting blood sugar level of 100 to 125"
• Low High-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol a Risk Factor for Stroke in Elderly Patients - Doctor's Guide, 7/22/03
• Cholesterol Ratio More Indicative Than LDL - Physician's Weekly, 7/21/03 - "the ratio of LDL and HDL cholesterol may be better for identifying the risk of heart disease compared to relying solely on the individual levels of each kind of cholesterol. The study found that the ratio of LDL to HDL cholesterol and the ratio of total cholesterol to HDL cholesterol can better predict the risk of heart disease rather than measuring LDL levels alone. LDL/HDL ratios may more effective at identifying high-risk individuals and tracking their progress on cholesterol-lowering drugs. The researchers noted that despite newer recommendations incorporating HDL into risk assessment, LDL continues to be the major target of cholesterol-lowering therapy ... Certain low-fat diets that reduce both LDL and HDL levels may be less beneficial than diets that boost HDL cholesterol levels. Losing weight, quitting smoking, and exercising more often can increase HDL cholesterol"
• Lower cholesterol for healthy kidneys - USA Today, 7/20/03 - "men who had low levels of HDL or "good cholesterol" and elevated "bad" or LDL cholesterol were twice as likely to have evidence of kidney malfunction"
• High-Density vs Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol as the Risk Factor for Coronary Artery Disease and Stroke in Old Age - Arch Intern Med. 2003;163:1549-1554 - "low HDL cholesterol level was associated with a 2.0-fold higher risk of fatal cardiovascular disease ... The mortality risk of coronary artery disease was 2.0 ... and for stroke it was 2.6"
• Estrogens as Antioxidants – Reducing Heart Disease in Younger Postmenopausal Women - Doctor's Guide, 7/4/03 - "If LDL becomes oxidised its ability to cause heart disease increases. If HDL becomes oxidised its ability to protect against heart disease is lessened ... estrogens can act as antioxidants, which neutralise free radicals, and hence protect HDL from oxidation. In addition, high levels of HDL are able to protect LDL from oxidation, and this ability is strongly enhanced when estrogens are present ... Although recent randomised control trials have shown that HRT in older women may not reduce the incidence of coronary heart disease, Dr. Bhavnani believes that this is not the whole story"
• A Healthy Heart - Newsweek, 6/16/03 - "If small LDL is the kind of cholesterol you definitely don’t want to have, then HDL2B is the kind you definitely do want to have, and the more the better. HDL2B is a superefficient type of HDL, the good cholesterol that helps clear partially blocked arteries. HDL2B, the strongest possible protection against heart disease, is measured as a percentage of total HDL, and Superko likes his patients to be above 35 percent (for postmenopausal women, above 45 percent)" - See below.  Many are recommending HDL be a lot higher than that. - Ben
• Hormone Replacement Normalises Cholesterol in African-American Women - Doctor's Guide, 5/18/03 - "randomised to daily combination HRT consisting of 0.625 of conjugated oestrogen and 2.5 mg of medroxyprogesterone ... Overall, the women had an 8% increase in total HDL cholesterol ... They found an 8% reduction in the ratio of LDL to HDL ... LDL composition measurements were not changed"
• Erectile Dysfunction Linked to Heart Disease - HealthDay, 5/2/03 - "cardiovascular risk factors such as diabetes, smoking, high blood pressure and low HDL cholesterol were more common among those who had erectile dysfunction" - The best thing I've found to increase HDL is inositol hexanicotinate.
• Two lipid-lowering meds are better than one, study finds - HealthDay, 4/11/03 - "Researchers combined low-dose simvastatin, which targets low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (bad cholesterol), with the drug fenofibrate, which increases high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (good cholesterol) ... volunteers had a 52 percent reduction in triglycerides, a 23 percent increase in HDL and a 28 percent decrease n LDL" - Ask your doctor if replacing the fenofibrate with inositol hexanicotinate (no-flush niacin) might do the same thing. - Ben
• Drug Combo Improves Cholesterol Levels - WebMD, 4/11/03
• Raising "Good" Cholesterol With Bezafibrate Slows Atherosclerosis - Doctor's Guide, 4/7/03
• Raising 'Good' Cholesterol Levels Saves Heart - WebMD, 4/4/03
• Raising HDL-C Levels Slows CAD Progression and Reduces Mortality - Medscape, 4/3/04 - "Results of two studies of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C)-targeted therapies indicate that attacking heart disease by increasing HDL-C levels appears to slow progression of atherosclerosis and reduce mortality ... Although the protective effect of HDL-C is well known, "most researchers ignore this fact," said Henrietta Reicher-Reiss, MD, from Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer, Israel. It is a costly oversight since "about half of heart attack victims have normal [low-density liprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels]," ... drugs designed to target HDL-C have a number of adverse effects. Niacin, for example, causes flushing, and fibrates are associated with gastrointestinal side effects. That side-effect profile might be a factor against this approach. Statins, on the other hand, tend to be very well tolerated"
• Exercise Training, Without Weight Loss, Increases Insulin Sensitivity and Postheparin Plasma Lipase Activity in Previously Sedentary Adults - Medscape, 3/19/03 - "Exercise, without weight loss, increases SI [insulin sensitivity] and PHPL activity in previously sedentary adults, without changing K2 or fasting lipid levels. Furthermore, increased LPL is associated with a decreased total:HDL ratio, and an increased LPL:HL ratio is associated with a decreased waist circumference. Therefore, even modest amounts of exercise in the absence of weight loss positively affect markers of glucose and fat metabolism in previously sedentary, middle-aged adults" - I threw this out because I didn't know that "decreased total:HDL ratio ... is associated with a decreased waist circumference".  This might be a long shot but that sounds like increasing insulin sensitivity via such methods as metformin and increasing HDL via supplements such as inositol hexanicotinate-no-flush niacin might decrease pot bellies. - Ben
• HDL Cholesterol Level Linked To Longevity, Cognitive Function - Clinical Psychiatry News, 2/03 - "A group of centenarians maintained significantly higher than normal HDL cholesterol levels, and within the group the parameter was strongly correlated with cognitive function ... The centenarians' offspring were also significantly healthier than their spouses: They were half as likely to have diabetes or heart attacks and had significantly lower blood pressure. No strokes occurred among the offspring ... The presence of HDL might explain the health and longevity in these families. The serum concentration of HDL typically declines with age by a mean of 5 mg/dL every 8 years ... Had the decline followed the normal pattern, the centenarians' HDL would have been about 20 mg/dL. But the actual mean value in the group was 55 mg/dL"
• Unhealthy Trans Fats Not Labeled on Foods - WebMD, 2/10/03 - "[Trans fats] are there and they are not labeled ... Saturated fats are the only fats given special treatment on a product's label. Yet trans fats are just as bad. They may even be worse ... Trans fat increases 'bad' LDL cholesterol -- in some studies more than saturated fat ... It also has a tendency to reduce 'good' HDL cholesterol, which saturated fat doesn't do ... Trans fat also increases blood levels of two other bad actors. One is the kind of fat called triglycerides. The other is a particle called lipoprotein(a), which promotes clogged arteries ... Any amount of trans fat is bad"
• Exchange, Not Reduction, of Fats Improve Cholesterol Levels - Doctor's Guide, 1/15/03 - [Abstract]
• Statin-Niacin Combination Counters Dyslipidaemic Cardiovascular Risk - Doctor's Guide, 12/20/02 - "Combined statin-niacin is a safe, tolerated therapy that lowers low density lipoprotein cholesterol and raises high density lipoprotein cholesterol ... At niacin doses of at least 1000 (mean 1480) mg/day added to a constant statin regimen in 29 patients, high density lipoprotein cholesterol rose significantly (by 20 percent)"
• Big gut, other factors can kill you - USA Today, 12/3/02 - "People with this syndrome have at least three of the following risk factors: high blood sugar; a waist circumference of greater than 40 inches for men or 35 inches for women; lower-than-average HDL cholesterol (the so-called good cholesterol); high triglycerides and high blood pressure ... men who had the syndrome at the study's start had a two to three times greater chance of dying of a heart attack or a stroke during the study than men who did not have this collection of risk factors ... People getting a checkup should ask their family doctor to look for metabolic syndrome"
• Atkins diet good for cholesterol - USA Today, 11/18/02 - "After six months, the people on the Atkins diet had lost an average of 31 pounds, compared with 20 pounds on the AHA diet, and more people stuck with the Atkins regimen ... Total cholesterol fell slightly in both groups. However, those on the Atkins diet had an 11% increase in HDL, the good cholesterol, and a 49% drop in triglycerides. On the AHA diet, HDL was unchanged, and triglycerides dropped 22%. High triglycerides may raise the risk of heart disease" - That may be true but what about a diet devoid of anti-oxidants making you old before your time.  Plus, how much of that extra 11 pounds was water loss? - Ben
• Among Treated Hypertensive Patients, Low HDL Predicts Ventricular Remodeling - Doctor's Guide, 9/26/02 - "While low HDL cholesterol levels are well known to be a major risk factor for coronary heart disease, it is unclear whether it plays a role in hypertensive heart disease ... The findings suggest that low HDL-C may play an adverse role not only in coronary heart disease but also in hypertensive heart disease"
• Simvastatin Increases HDL and Apo-A1 Better Than Atorvastatin - Doctor's Guide, 9/13/02
• Paediatric Non-High-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Data Available - Doctor's Guide, 9/9/02 - "They define non-HDL cholesterol as total cholesterol minus HDL cholesterol ... non-HDL cholesterol is a better screening tool than low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol for assessing CAD risk in adults because it includes all classes of atherogenic lipoproteins" - I feel that inositol hexanicotinate gives the best results without the niacin flush.
• Reconstituted High-Density Lipoprotein May Benefit Patients At Risk Of Atherosclerosis - Doctor's Guide, 4/5/02
• Arterial Walls Thicker In Patients With Low Levels of High-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol - Doctor's Guide, 2/20/02 - "A low plasma concentration of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol is associated with significant pre-intrusive atherosclerosis. However, an above average level of HDL cholesterol does not lead to a further reduction of arterial wall thickening"
• Unexplained Link Between High Density Lipoproteins And Bone Density In Postmenopausal Women - Doctor's Guide, 12/20/01
• Combination Therapy Reduces Heart Attack, Stroke - Intelihealth, 11/29/01 - "Studies have shown that statins such as simvastatin lower LDL. Niacin, a B vitamin, increases HDL. Each has been shown to reduce heart attacks and other events by 30 percent to 40 percent. The new study concludes that using the two medicines together, in effect, doubles this positive effect ... Patients treated only with a combination of vitamins known as antioxidants did better than the placebo group but worse than the group that received only simvastatin and niacin" - Note:  In the article, Dr. Brown recommends not taking antioxidants. What a bunch of crap and it goes to show that there is still a bias against alternative medicine. His argument is that it decreases the rise in HDL cholesterol while taking niacin. No one takes more antioxidants that me and I raised my HDL from 34 to 67.  Add hesperidin if you have to. Plus, it makes no sense to replace one disease with old skin, old body organs, cancer and other diseases such as Alzheimer's, cataracts, etc.  It scares me that some doctors have that kind of logic.  Either that or he is totally ignorant in areas outside his specific area of expertise. - Ben
• Ratio of Total to LDL Cholesterol Is Best Predictor Of Coronary Heart Disease - Doctor's Guide, 11/2/01 - "The total cholesterol/ HDL-C ratio was the most powerful lipoprotein predictor of future coronary heart disease ... Using a total cholesterol/HDL-C cholesterol ratio of 5.0 as the cut-off point was associated with significantly better specificity and accuracy and similar (though lower) sensitivity than an LDL-C level of 130 mg/dl (3.4 mmol/l)"
• Testosterone Decreases Good Cholesterol But Does Not Influence Other Atherogenic Markers - Doctor's Guide, 6/21/01
• More Good News About the 'Good' Cholesterol, High Levels of HDL Cholesterol Protect Against Stroke, Too - WebMD, 6/6/01 - "High levels of that "good" HDL cholesterol have been known to protect against heart disease. Now a new study shows that high HDL levels also protect people from suffering a stroke"
• New Cholesterol Guidelines Expected to Triple Number of Americans Taking Cholesterol-Lowering Drugs - Doctor's Guide, 5/15/01
• Drug [Lopid®/gemfibrozil] Lowers Heart Disease by Increasing Good Cholesterol, and More - WebMD, 3/27/01
• Yo-Yo Dieters Show Lower Levels Of Good Cholesterol, Could Pose Heart Disease Risk - Doctor's Guide, 11/1/00
• Niaspan (Niacin Extended Release) Superior To Gemfibrozil in Raising "Good" Cholesterol - Doctor's Guide, 5/15/00
• Zocor (Simvastatin) Increases HDL And apo A-I More Than Lipitor (Atorvastatin) - Doctor's Guide, 3/15/00
• Gemfibrozil-Niacin Combination Greatly Increases Good Cholesterol - Doctor's Guide, 3/10/00
• Niaspan (Niacin Extended-Release) Raises HDL Twice As Much as Gemfibrozil - Doctor's Guide, 3/14/00
• Bad Cholesterol Not The Best Predictor Of Risk For Major Coronary Events - Doctor's Guide, 2/17/00
• Gemfibrozil Prevents Heart Disease And Stroke In Patients With Low HDL - Doctor's Guide, 8/5/99
• Zocor and Lipitor May Have Different Effects on Lipids, Including HDL - Doctor's Guide, 3/9/99
• Extremely low cholesterol may lead to strokes, study finds - CNN, 2/5/99 - "The study calculated that the perfect cholesterol level -- at least, for preventing strokes -- is about 200 . . "
• Good Cholesterol (HDL) May Help In Bypass Surgery - Doctor's Guide, 11/8/99
• Raising HDL Cholesterol Reduces Incidence Of Coronary Events - Doctor's Guide, 11/12/98
• Study Shows Significant Difference Between Two Statins In Raising HDL - Doctor's Guide, 8/25/98
• Researchers Say Good Cholesterol Can Turn Bad - Doctor's Guide, 11/10/97
• Japanese Children Have More Of The Best Cholesterol Than U.S. Youngsters - Doctor's Guide, 11/4/97
• Living With Second-Hand Smoke Can Lower Levels Of Good Cholesterol - Doctor's Guide, 9/4/97
• Changes in Cholesterol Ratios -Not Levels- is a Better Measure of CHD Risk - Doctor's Guide, 10/31/95

Related Searches:

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