Cholesterol News and Research RSS Feed - Cholesterol News and Research

Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance made in the liver, and found in the blood and in all cells of the body. Cholesterol is important for good health and is needed for making cell walls, tissues, hormones, vitamin D, and bile acid. Cholesterol also comes from eating foods taken from animals such as egg yolks, meat, and whole-milk dairy products. Too much cholesterol in the blood may build up in blood vessel walls, block blood flow to tissues and organs, and increase the risk of developing heart disease and stroke.
Viewpoints: Slowing health costs; What causes genetic testing to be so expensive; Iowa governor offers Medicaid supports a 'glimmer of hope'

Viewpoints: Slowing health costs; What causes genetic testing to be so expensive; Iowa governor offers Medicaid supports a 'glimmer of hope'

We have done it. We have decreased the increase in the cost of healthcare. ... Is this decline the desperately needed bend in the healthcare cost curve or just the impact of the depressed economy? ... A slower growth of healthcare cost would mean less burden on the individual family, freeing that family to invest in and live a higher quality of life. [More]
Ongoing clinical study to evaluate benefits of high-dose simvastatin for patients with SAH

Ongoing clinical study to evaluate benefits of high-dose simvastatin for patients with SAH

Can treatment with high doses of a cholesterol-lowering statin drug improve outcomes for patients with stroke caused by rupture and bleeding of brain aneurysms? An ongoing clinical trial will soon find out, according to an article in the May issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. [More]
Research: Frequency of candy consumption is not associated with adverse health risks

Research: Frequency of candy consumption is not associated with adverse health risks

At a time when the spotlight is focused on obesity more than ever, new research suggests that frequency of candy consumption is not associated with weight or certain adverse health risks. [More]

Age not matter for stroke victims who receive after-stroke intervention strategies

Age has little to do with how patients should be treated after suffering a stroke, according to new research from the University of Georgia. [More]
Study reveals that heart disease risk factor management differs among outpatient practices

Study reveals that heart disease risk factor management differs among outpatient practices

Control of heart disease risk factors varies widely among outpatient practices, according to a study presented at the American Heart Association's Quality of Care and Outcomes Research Scientific Sessions 2013. [More]
FDA approves Mylan's ANDA for Fenofibrate Tablets

FDA approves Mylan's ANDA for Fenofibrate Tablets

Mylan Inc. today announced that its subsidiary Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc. has shipped Fenofibrate Tablets, 48 mg and 145 mg. [More]
Spanish researchers link job-related stress to dyslipidemia

Spanish researchers link job-related stress to dyslipidemia

Spanish researchers have studied how job stress affects cardiovascular health. The results, published in the 'Scandinavian Journal of Public Health', link this situation to dyslipidemia, a disorder that alters the levels of lipids and lipoproteins in the blood. [More]
Simvastatin hinders positive effects of exercise for obese adults, say researchers

Simvastatin hinders positive effects of exercise for obese adults, say researchers

Statins, the most widely prescribed drugs worldwide, are often suggested to lower cholesterol and prevent heart disease in individuals with obesity, diabetes and metabolic syndrome, which is a combination of medical disorders including excess body fat and/or high levels of blood pressure, blood sugar and/or cholesterol. [More]
Scientists identify 4 genes in baboons that influence levels of bad cholesterol

Scientists identify 4 genes in baboons that influence levels of bad cholesterol

Scientists at the Texas Biomedical Research Institute in San Antonio have identified four genes in baboons that influence levels of "bad" cholesterol. This discovery could lead to the development of new drugs to reduce the risk of heart disease. [More]
LDL cholesterol less useful in assessing kidney disease patients' cardiovascular health

LDL cholesterol less useful in assessing kidney disease patients' cardiovascular health

LDL cholesterol is not a useful marker of heart disease risk in patients with kidney disease, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. [More]
UFC releases first ever in-home fitness and nutrition program

UFC releases first ever in-home fitness and nutrition program

The secrets of the Ultimate Fighting Championship's elite athletes are finally revealed in UFC FIT - the UFC's first ever in-home fitness and nutrition program. [More]

Statistics reveal that about 79 million adult Americans walk around with prediabetes

Diabetes is one of the most misunderstood medical conditions. "It's not just about sugar. It's about your heart," says Nancy Ryan, RD, BC-ADM, a registered dietitian, board-certified in advanced diabetes management at Greenwich Hospital in Greenwich, Connecticut. [More]
Breathing motor vehicle emissions triggers change in HDL cholesterol

Breathing motor vehicle emissions triggers change in HDL cholesterol

Academic researchers have found that breathing motor vehicle emissions triggers a change in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, altering its cardiovascular protective qualities so that it actually contributes to clogged arteries. [More]
Regular marijuana use is associated with favorable indices related to diabetic control, say investigators

Regular marijuana use is associated with favorable indices related to diabetic control, say investigators

Regular marijuana use is associated with favorable indices related to diabetic control, say investigators. They found that current marijuana users had significantly lower fasting insulin and were less likely to be insulin resistant, even after excluding patients with a diagnosis of diabetes mellitus. Their findings are reported in the current issue of The American Journal of Medicine. [More]

Exercise is good for us - no matter what our age

The red double-decker buses that are symbolic of the city of London have an altogether different significance if you study heart disease. Sixty years ago, these iconic buses helped a Scottish medical doctor named Jerry Morris discover the link between physical activity and heart attacks. [More]
Viewpoints: Angelina Jolie on her decision to have a double mastectomy; Justice Ginsburg's 'blind spot' on abortion

Viewpoints: Angelina Jolie on her decision to have a double mastectomy; Justice Ginsburg's 'blind spot' on abortion

My doctors estimated that I had an 87 percent risk of breast cancer and a 50 percent risk of ovarian cancer, although the risk is different in the case of each woman. Only a fraction of breast cancers result from an inherited gene mutation. Those with a defect in BRCA1 have a 65 percent risk of getting it, on average. Once I knew that this was my reality, I decided to be proactive and to minimize the risk as much I could. I made a decision to have a preventive double mastectomy. I started with the breasts, as my risk of breast cancer is higher than my risk of ovarian cancer, and the surgery is more complex (Angelina Jolie, 5/14). [More]
LDL cholesterol blood level declines found to have abruptly ended in 2008

LDL cholesterol blood level declines found to have abruptly ended in 2008

Decades of declines in LDL cholesterol blood levels, a key marker of death risk from heart disease, abruptly ended in 2008, and may have stalled since, according to a multi-year, national study published in PLOS ONE. [More]
Renaissance in drug development for rare diseases

Renaissance in drug development for rare diseases

Once famously described as "orphan diseases, too small to be noticed, too small to be funded" in the Hollywood drama Lorenzo's Oil, rare diseases are getting unprecedented attention today among drug manufacturers, who are ramping up research efforts and marketing new medicines that promise fuller lives for children and other patients with these heartbreaking conditions. [More]

Study suggests that a blood protein contributes to early development of atherosclerosis

It's on Saturday that the Journal of the American Heart Association published the conclusive results from a study directed by Dr. Éric Thorin of the Montreal Heart Institute (MHI), which suggests for the first time that a blood protein contributes to the early development of atherosclerosis. [More]

Research letter examines nutritional profile of meals from sit-down restaurants

A research letter by Mary R. L'Abbe, Ph.D., of the University of Toronto, Canada, and colleagues examined the nutritional profile of breakfast, lunch, and dinner meals from sit-down restaurants. [More]