tough news for good cholesterin : A Danishstudypublished inEuropean Heart Journalfinds that people with extremely gamy high - tightness lipoprotein ( HDL , often called “ practiced ” cholesterol ) levels look a higher , not lower , hazard of demise .
Cholesterolas a substance is neither good nor spoilt , but an crucial part of our body chemistry . Like most thing , in moderation , it ’s o.k. ; the health risks plant in once our levels get out of whack . scientist and doctors have long understood cholesterin as a sort of Angel Falls - on - one - shoulder , devil - on - the - other situation , in which downhearted - density lipoprotein ( LDL ) is harmful and HDL is helpful . HDL mediates LDL ’s minus effects , which mean that having more HDL is good .
Or at least that ’s what we imagine .
Researchers pull wellness selective information on 116,000 people from the Copenhagen City Heart Study and the Copenhagen General Population Study , then cross - checked it against decease reports from the Danish Civil Registration System . They followed study subjects for six geezerhood , during which more than 10,500 people died .
What they found storm them . Extremely high levels of HDL were associated with importantly greater risks of death than normal levels—68 percent higher for women and a staggering 106 pct for men . humans with very gamey HDL ( one step down from " passing mellow " ) were 36 percent more likely to die .
" These results radically convert the way we realise ' good ' cholesterol . Doctors like myself have been used to compliment patients who had a very high level of HDL in their blood . But we should no longer do so , as this study prove a dramatically higher death rate rate , " co - author Børge Nordestgaard of the University of Copenhagensaidin a statement .
Before we get too worried , it ’s worth noting that these extremely mellow HDL degree were incredibly rarified , affecting only 0.4 percentage of male participant and 0.3 percent of woman . The researchers say these the great unwashed were also more likely to share unusual inherited variants . It ’s possible that these genes and not the cholesterol are responsible for for their higher mortality rate rates .
Some elements of our melodic theme about cholesterin still held lawful . mass with super low HDL storey also faced an increased fatality rate risk .
The safest tier seemed to be right in the midsection , at 1.9 mmol / L for men and 2.4 mmol / L for women .
More inquiry is need , as this study focused exclusively on white Danish people and only await at correlation , not causing .
Still , Nordestgaard said , " It appears that we need to off the focus from HDL as an authoritative wellness indicant in enquiry , at hospitals and at the ecumenical practician . These are the smallest lipoproteins in the blood , and perhaps we ought to test some of the gravid ones instead . "
