Those of us concerned about our cholesterol have new and intriguing food for thought.

A new study shows that statins, usually the drugs of choice for reducing LDL "bad" cholesterol, may help keep your arteries unclogged by also raising HDL "good" cholesterol, even by a small bit.

"The surprise was the HDL increases, although small, were providing a substantial amount of the benefit, nearly as much as was being produced by the LDL reduction," said Dr. Stephen Nicholls, head cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio,  who headed the study. "What it means is that a little bit of HDL can go a long way."

However, researchers couldn't prove whether the changes in "good" cholesterol would translate into fewer heart attacks and strokes. But Nicholls said the findings could lead to the development of drugs that would produce much larger increases in "good" cholesterol, which then would reduce heart attacks and strokes substantially.

Peering into arteries

The curiosity among cardiologists over the effect of statins on HDL "good" cholesterol was a major reason for the study, which appears in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association. 

Nicholls and his team studied the arteries of nearly 1,500 statin patients who had heart disease. A fourth of the patients also smoked cigarettes, two-thirds had high blood pressure and less than a fifth had diabetes - all risk factors for heart problems.

Using sophisticated imaging technology, the doctors measured the amount of plaque in the arteries of the patients and the effect of statins on the fatty buildup. According to the results, patients who enjoyed higher "good" cholesterol levels and very low "bad" cholesterol levels showed evidence of the most plaque removal.

In fact, just a 7.5 percent raise in "good" cholesterol flushed the plaque out of the arteries. The project lowered LDL "bad" cholesterol by about 24 percent.

'Holy grail' 

Researchers thought until now that the big bang from statins came from the lowering of "bad" cholesterol, which the medicine can cut by at least 60 percent.

"It's almost been the holy grail to treat LDL in patients, and most take statins for that," said Dr. Gregory Dehmer, an internal medicine specialist at Texas A&M Health Science Center in College Station. "Many clinicians stop with LDL and don't continue to aggressively attack HDL. This points up the need to aggressively address HDL and to not give up the cause."

Statins include Crestor and Lipitor, the world's best selling drug with $12.8 billion in revenue. They block an enzyme the body needs to produce  "bad" cholesterol and improve your liver's ability to remove it from the blood.

Plaque buildup in the arteries, called "atherosclerosis," can block the flow of blood to the heart, resulting in deadly or disabling heart attacks and strokes. 

Keeping 'bad' cholesterol away

HDL wins accolades by carrying dangerous forms of cholesterol from your arteries to the liver, where your body excretes it. This process keeps the "bad" cholesterol from hanging around in the arteries to eventually clog them. For the past several years, doctors have wondered whether medical science paid too much attention to treating and lowering LDL "bad" cholesterol and not enough time to finding ways to raise HDL "good" cholesterol.

Their hopes were dashed earlier this year after Pfizer Inc., the giant pharmaceutical company, abruptly stopped testing torcetrapib, a drug that would have raised HDL "good" cholesterol. Pfizer halted the project after discovering the drug increased heart problems and death rates in the people being tested.

In early studies, torcetrapib boosted "good" cholesterol by 50 percent or more, significantly more than statin drugs.

This article includes information from HealthDay.

Nubella News, a division of Marketing Technology Solutions, Inc., offers content intended for informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. We encourage our readers to seek prompt medical care for health issues and consult their physicians before starting a new diet, fitness regimen, or medical treatment.