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.
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

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]
Researchers identify clue to explain the reversible memory loss caused by statins

Researchers identify clue to explain the reversible memory loss caused by statins

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and physicians continue to document that some patients experience fuzzy thinking and memory loss while taking statins, a class of global top-selling cholesterol-lowering drugs. [More]
Thijn Brummelkamp wins 2013 EMBO Gold Medal for genetic analysis of human disease

Thijn Brummelkamp wins 2013 EMBO Gold Medal for genetic analysis of human disease

EMBO today announced Thijn Brummelkamp of the Netherlands Cancer Institute in Amsterdam as the winner of the 2013 EMBO Gold Medal. The award acknowledges his outstanding work to accelerate the genetic analysis of human disease. [More]
Review for clinicians on optimal utilization of aspirin to treat, prevent heart attacks published

Review for clinicians on optimal utilization of aspirin to treat, prevent heart attacks published

Charles H. Hennekens, M.D., Dr.P.H., the first Sir Richard Doll professor and senior academic advisor to the dean in the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine at Florida Atlantic University published a review for clinicians on the optimal utilization of aspirin to treat and prevent heart attacks. [More]
Researchers find that whole walnuts and their oil components can improve heart health

Researchers find that whole walnuts and their oil components can improve heart health

Consumption of whole walnuts or their extracted oil can reduce cardiovascular risk through a mechanism other than simply lowering cholesterol, according to a team of Penn State, Tufts University and University of Pennsylvania researchers. [More]

Scientists reexamine gene strongly linked to Alzheimer's disease

Scientists' picture of how a gene strongly linked to Alzheimer's disease harms the brain may have to be revised, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found. People with harmful forms of the APOE gene have up to 12 times the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease compared with those who have other variations of the gene. [More]
Viewpoints: Assessing the Oregon Medicaid experiment; health insurance hysteria; in Florida, 'toxic politics' beats out common sense

Viewpoints: Assessing the Oregon Medicaid experiment; health insurance hysteria; in Florida, 'toxic politics' beats out common sense

The people who got Medicaid used more health care, and seem to have done so smartly -; they got preventive care, they got their diabetes diagnosed and began managing it. [More]

PCEC releases statement on AUA's new prostate cancer clinical practice guidelines

The Prostate Conditions Education Council, a national organization committed to men's health and a leader in prostate cancer early detection, released the following statement in response to new clinical practice guideline released today by the American Urological Association. [More]

Two grants to fund weight management, nutrition initiatives for New Ulm project

UnitedHealth Group and the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation, in conjunction with Allina Health and the community of New Ulm, Minn., recently announced two grants from the company totaling more than $1 million. [More]

New FDA-approved method for detecting diabetic neuropathy

Details of a new method to detect diabetic neuropathy in patients in less than five minutes using their sweat glands was presented today at the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists 22nd Annual Scientific and Clinical Congress in Phoenix, Arizona by Aaron I. Vinik, M.D., Ph.D., F.C.P., M.A.C.P., F.A.C.E., Professor of Medicine and Director of Research and the Neuroendocrine Unit at Eastern Virginia Medical School. [More]
Merck's LIPTRUZET tablets get FDA approval for treatment of elevated LDL cholesterol

Merck's LIPTRUZET tablets get FDA approval for treatment of elevated LDL cholesterol

Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved LIPTRUZET (ezetimibe and atorvastatin) tablets for the treatment of elevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in patients with primary or mixed hyperlipidemia as adjunctive therapy to diet when diet alone is not enough. [More]
FDA approves sNDA for SUSTIVA for treatment of HIV-1 infected pediatric patients

FDA approves sNDA for SUSTIVA for treatment of HIV-1 infected pediatric patients

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a supplemental new drug application for SUSTIVA (efavirenz), including dosing recommendations for HIV-1 infected pediatric patients three months to three years old and weighing at least 3.5 kg. [More]

Case report reveals that sugar substitutes may adversely affect endocrine health

It's a known fact that drinking too many sugary drinks can lead to obesity and diabetes, but sugar substitutes may adversely affect your endocrine health, according to a case report presented at the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists 22nd Annual Scientific and Clinical Congress. [More]

Oregon study offers insights into reach of health law's Medicaid expansion

The landmark study, which was appears in The New England Journal of Medicine, analyzed data from the Oregon Health Study, which compared low-income people in that state who had access to Medicaid with a similar population that did not. The findings offer insights into how Medicaid coverage affects overall health and health costs. [More]
Men who take statins are less likely to die from prostate cancer, study finds

Men who take statins are less likely to die from prostate cancer, study finds

Men with prostate cancer who take cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins are significantly less likely to die from their cancer than men who don't take such medication, according to study led by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. [More]
LAP-BAND-weight loss procedure safe and effective for obese people

LAP-BAND-weight loss procedure safe and effective for obese people

The LAP-BAND- weight loss procedure is safe and effective in an expanded group of patients, not just in people who are morbidly obese. This conclusion is reported in a new study published in the scientific journal Obesity. The findings indicate that the procedure may help to intervene before obesity becomes life threatening to patients. [More]
Neuraxial anesthesia improves outcomes in patients undergoing hip or knee replacement

Neuraxial anesthesia improves outcomes in patients undergoing hip or knee replacement

A highly underutilized anesthesia technique called neuraxial anesthesia, also known as spinal or epidural anesthesia, improves outcomes in patients undergoing hip or knee replacement, according to a new study by researchers at Hospital for Special Surgery. [More]