While HDL Cholesterol ( HDL-C) is thought of as the "good cholesterol", this information comes from observations of large groups of patients. As the HDL goes up for a group, the risk of heart disease goes down. Indeed HDL does have many qualities that are considered protective to the heart and arteries. It helps transport cholesterol out of the artery wall, back to the liver for disposal. It acts as an anti-oxidant and has anti-inflammatory qualities. It may also be involved in preventing infections. While all this is good, it does not seem to be obvious what HDL does for a particular individual, as many of these "good " functions cannot yet be measured. For this reason, we do not try to raise HDL with medications. There has been no study showing raising HDL independently from lowering LDL has any postitive impact. For this reason, patients with low HDL cholesterol should have LDL and non-HDL cholesterol levels targeted to goals as per our current national guidelines.
While HDL Cholesterol ( HDL-C) is thought of as the "good
cholesterol", this information comes from observations of large
groups of patients. As the HDL goes up for a group, the risk of
heart disease goes down. Indeed HDL does have many qualities...
More
Dr. Michael Roizen answered:More and more evidence is showing that reducing arterial clogs is correlated with raising your amount of HDL "good" cholesterol to thwart the clot-triggering process. By raising your HDL, you increase the amount of healthy cholesterol that's available to clear away the lousy cholesterol.
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Dr. James Underberg of National Lipid Association answered:While HDL Cholesterol ( HDL-C) is thought of as the "good cholesterol", this information comes from observations of large groups of patients. As the HDL goes up for a group, the risk of heart disease goes down. Indeed HDL does have many qualities that are considered protective to the heart and arteries. It helps transport cholesterol out of the artery wall, back to the liver for disposal. It acts as an anti-oxidant and has anti-inflammatory qualities. It may also be involved in preventing infections. While all this is good, it does not seem to be obvious what HDL does for a particular individual, as many of these "good " functions cannot yet be measured. For this reason, we do not try to raise HDL with medications. There has been no study showing raising HDL independently from lowering LDL has any postitive impact. For this reason, patients with low HDL cholesterol should have LDL and non-HDL cholesterol levels targeted to goals as per our current national guidelines.While HDL Cholesterol ( HDL-C) is thought of as the "good cholesterol", this information comes from observations of large groups of patients. As the HDL goes up for a group, the risk of heart disease goes down. Indeed HDL does have many qualities... More
