Cholesterol News and Research

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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.

Small molecule selectively blocks gene activity regulated by thyroid hormone

A small molecule developed at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital advances progress toward more tailored drugs in research that also offers insight into the biology of thyroid hormone.

22 Oct 2011

Health prevention strategies can help Canadians achieve optimal health

Health prevention strategies to help Canadians achieve their optimal health potential could add a decade or more of healthy years to the average lifespan and save the economy billions of dollars as a result of reduced cardiovascular disease, says noted cardiologist Dr. Clyde Yancy.

21 Oct 2011

Inhibition of miR-33a/b suppresses triglyceride levels, increases HDL-C cholesterol

Researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center today announce findings published in the October 20 issue of Nature that show for the first time the inhibition of both microRNA-33a and microRNA-33b (miR-33a/b) with chemically modified anti-miR oligonucleotides markedly suppress triglyceride levels and cause a sustained increase in high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) "good" cholesterol.

21 Oct 2011

Soy protein can help lower blood lipids in healthy individuals

A new study published online in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition shows that soy protein compared to dairy milk protein supplementation improves the lipid profile in healthy individuals.

21 Oct 2011

EMA, FDA endorse use of biomarkers in Alzheimer's drug trials

A news feature in Alzforum explains the impact of new guidelines for selecting volunteers in clinical trials of Alzheimer's drugs. The European Medicines Agency (EMA), the European counterpart to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has endorsed the use of biomarkers—substances in the body or measurements that serve as indicators of disease—to select patients to be included in drug trials.

20 Oct 2011

Mayo Clinic introduces heart health awareness campaign

Mayo Clinic today is launching a heart health awareness campaign featuring a parody of the 1982 hit song "867-5309/Jenny" at the third annual Social Media Summit, produced by Mayo Clinic in conjunction with Ragan Communications.

19 Oct 2011

Gut bacteria shown to affect statin efficacy in some people

The team led by a Duke University scientist has identified three bile acids produced by gut bacteria that were evident in people who responded well to a common cholesterol-lowering drug called simvastatin. The finding, published Oct. 13, 2011, in PLoS One, demonstrates how gut bacteria can cause inherent differences in the way people digest, metabolize and benefit from substances such as drugs.

17 Oct 2011

New research on link between APOL1 gene variants and kidney disease in African Americans

Compared to European Americans, African Americans are four to five times more likely to develop kidney failure. Also, family members of African Americans with kidney failure have an increased risk of developing kidney failure, which suggests that genetics may play a role in this skewed risk between races.

15 Oct 2011

MRI scans may become useful tools for assessing cholesterol drugs

MRI scanning could become a powerful new tool for assessing how well cholesterol drugs are working, according to Loyola University Health System cardiologist Binh An P. Phan, MD.

15 Oct 2011

Emory researcher provides overview on 'CVD and PCOS' in APS conference

Sarah Berga, MD, former Chair of the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics at the Emory University School of Medicine, is a researcher whose work focuses on understanding the impact of metabolic and psychological stresses on the reproductive system and as a cause of infertility, as well as on PCOS. She will provide an overview of her team's work in a presentation entitled, "CVD and PCOS." Her remarks are part of the Physiology of Cardiovascular Disease: Gender Disparities conference, October 12 at the University of Mississippi in Jackson.

15 Oct 2011

Researchers identify gut bacteria bile acids linked to effectiveness of statin drugs in lowering cholesterol

Statins can be effective at lowering cholesterol, but they have a perplexing tendency to work for some people and not others. Gut bacteria may be the reason.

14 Oct 2011

Million Hearts initiative strikes at leading killer of Americans

The number of Americans who report they have coronary heart disease – which includes heart attack and angina (chest pain) – continues to decline but rates vary widely from state to state and by race and ethnicity, according to a new report published today in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

14 Oct 2011

Medical panels continue to wrestle with conflict-of-interest issues

Financial conflicts abound on medical panels that set practice guidelines. ... Researchers found conflicts of interest were prevalent among experts who served on 14 U.S. and Canadian panels that came up with guidelines for the treatment of diabetes and high cholesterol between 2000 and 2010. All told, 52 percent (or 150 of 288 people) had financial conflicts of interest.

14 Oct 2011

Reducing medicine to economics makes mockery of doctor-patient bond

Physicians who once only grappled with learning the language of medicine must now also cope with a health care world that has turned hospitals into factories and reduced clinical encounters to economic transactions, two Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center physicians lament.

14 Oct 2011

Patients with episodic gallbladder pain may benefit from cholecystectomy

According to a new study in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, better understanding of a patient's abdominal pain could help physicians know which patients will benefit most from surgical removal of the gallbladder.

14 Oct 2011

Raw fruits and veggies may offset genetic risk for heart disease: Study

In a new study a team of researchers looked at the genotypes of 27,243 people from two separate studies to see if they had a certain gene variant. Earlier studies including a 2010 meta-analysis in the Journal of the American Medical Assn. found that the 9p21 gene is associated with a higher risk of heart attack and cardiovascular disease.

13 Oct 2011

ESC to deliver educational programme on cardiovascular disease in Beijing

At over 40%, the mortality rate due to cardiovascular disease (CVD) in China is amongst the highest in the world- and has been rightly described as an epidemic. Its population faces a catalogue of CVD risk factor statistics that expose high levels of obesity, diabetes, cholesterol and blood pressure, and a smoking habit within males that is proving stubborn to address.

13 Oct 2011

Idera announces new data on novel gene-silencing oligonucleotide technology

Idera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today presented new data on its novel gene-silencing oligonucleotide (GSO) technology at the Cell Symposium on Regulatory RNAs in Chicago, IL.

12 Oct 2011

ASHG to honor U of U geneticist with William Allan Award

As a teenager just moved to Iowa from war-ravaged Germany in 1951, John M. Opitz, M.D., wanted to study developmental biology, but his "very Prussian" mother insisted he go to medical school instead.

12 Oct 2011

DARA BioSciences' KRN5500 reduces neuropathic pain in patients with cancer

DARA BioSciences, Inc. today announced the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, an internationally respected, peer-reviewed journal, has published results of a Phase II safety and efficacy study of KRN5500 for the treatment of neuropathic pain in patients with cancer.

11 Oct 2011