Showing posts with label cholestrol. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cholestrol. Show all posts
Thursday, January 13, 2011
New Measure Trumps High-Density Lipoprotein (HDL) Levels in Protecting Against Heart Disease
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Scientists Identify Novel Role for Lipids in Pneumonia
Pneumonia is a serious lung disease and a leading cause of death in all age groups. Bacteria are the most common cause in adults, but respiratory viruses and fungal infections can also trigger the disease. Pneumonia arises when the airways become inflamed and filled with fluid in response to an infection. Symptoms include coughing, fever, chills and trouble breathing.
Bacterial pneumonia is usually treated with antibiotics. With the emergence of drug-resistant bacteria, scientists have been seeking new therapies that target underlying disease mechanisms rather than targeting the microbes. To date, few non-antibiotic therapies have been found to improve the outcomes of patients with severe pneumonia.
To learn more about at how bacterial pneumonia harms the lungs at the molecular level, a research team led by Dr. Rama Mallampalli at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine took a closer look at the fluid that naturally bathes the airways and tiny air sacs. The study was supported primarily by NIH’s National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
As reported in the October 2010 issue of Nature Medicine, the researchers analyzed lung fluid from humans and mice with pneumonia. They discovered abnormally high levels of a fatty molecule, or lipid, called cardiolipin. Cardiolipin is typically found in the outer membranes of mitochondria and bacteria, but it’s also known to be a minor component of healthy lung fluid.
When the scientists administered cardiolipin to mice, the animals’ lung function declined and the resulting tissue damage appeared similar to human pneumonia. Additional experiments confirmed that elevated cardiolipin appears to harm lung tissue.
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Friday, July 2, 2010
Low Vitamin D Linked To The Metabolic Syndrome In Elderly People
from Medical News Today
A new study adds to the mounting evidence that older adults commonly have low vitamin D levels and that vitamin D inadequacy may be a risk factor for the metabolic syndrome, a condition that affects one in four adults. The results were presented at The Endocrine Society's 92nd Annual Meeting in San Diego.
"Because the metabolic syndrome increases the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease, an adequate vitamin D level in the body might be important in the prevention of these diseases," said study co-author Marelise Eekhoff, MD, PhD, of VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam.
The researchers found a 48 percent prevalence of vitamin D deficiency. The study consisted of a representative sample of the older Dutch population: nearly 1,300 white men and women ages 65 and older.
Nearly 37 percent of the total sample had the metabolic syndrome, a clustering of high blood pressure, abdominal obesity, abnormal cholesterol profile and high blood sugar.
Subjects with blood levels of vitamin D (serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D) lower than 50 nanomoles per liter, considered vitamin D insufficiency, were likelier to have the metabolic syndrome than those whose vitamin D levels exceeded 50. That increased risk especially stemmed from the presence of two risk factors for the metabolic syndrome: low HDL, or "good" cholesterol, and a large waistline.
There was no difference in risk between men and women, the authors noted.
The study included subjects who were participating in the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam. Although the data were from 1995 and 1996, Eekhoff said they expect that vitamin D inadequacy remains prevalent among whites in the Netherlands.
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A new study adds to the mounting evidence that older adults commonly have low vitamin D levels and that vitamin D inadequacy may be a risk factor for the metabolic syndrome, a condition that affects one in four adults. The results were presented at The Endocrine Society's 92nd Annual Meeting in San Diego.
"Because the metabolic syndrome increases the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease, an adequate vitamin D level in the body might be important in the prevention of these diseases," said study co-author Marelise Eekhoff, MD, PhD, of VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam.
The researchers found a 48 percent prevalence of vitamin D deficiency. The study consisted of a representative sample of the older Dutch population: nearly 1,300 white men and women ages 65 and older.
Nearly 37 percent of the total sample had the metabolic syndrome, a clustering of high blood pressure, abdominal obesity, abnormal cholesterol profile and high blood sugar.
Subjects with blood levels of vitamin D (serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D) lower than 50 nanomoles per liter, considered vitamin D insufficiency, were likelier to have the metabolic syndrome than those whose vitamin D levels exceeded 50. That increased risk especially stemmed from the presence of two risk factors for the metabolic syndrome: low HDL, or "good" cholesterol, and a large waistline.
There was no difference in risk between men and women, the authors noted.
The study included subjects who were participating in the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam. Although the data were from 1995 and 1996, Eekhoff said they expect that vitamin D inadequacy remains prevalent among whites in the Netherlands.
Continue Reading
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Potential Exists to Modify Some AMD Risk from MedPage Today
By Charles Bankhead, Staff Writer, MedPage TodayEarly manifestations of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) may involve modifiable risk factors, including smoking and HDL cholesterol, data from a prospective cohort study suggest.
Eleven or more pack-years of smoking increased the risk of early AMD by two-thirds, and every 5 mg/dL increase in HDL lowered the risk by almost 10%.
Early AMD occurs infrequently before age 55 but increases with age thereafter, suggesting a possible window for intervention against modifiable risk factors, according to an article published in the June issue of Archives of Ophthalmology.
Medical News: Potential Exists to Modify Some AMD Risk - in Ophthalmology, Ophthalmology from MedPage Today
Higher HDL Might Lower Cancer Risk
Image via WikipediaBreak out the niacin! Higher HDL cholesterol levels appear independently linked to lower cancer risk, a meta-analysis found.
The analysis of two dozen randomized, controlled lipid intervention trials found that each 10-mg/dl higher increment of HDL cholesterol was associated with a relative 36% lower risk of incident cancer (95% confidence interval 24% to 47%, P<0.001), according to Richard H. Karas, MD, PhD, of Tufts Medical Center in Boston, and colleagues.
This relationship persisted even after adjusting for baseline LDL cholesterol, age, body mass index (BMI), diabetes, sex, and smoking status, Karas and colleagues reported in the June 22 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
Epidemiologic studies have suggested higher risk of incident cancer with lower total cholesterol levels, and a meta-analysis of statin trials by Kara's group showed the same is true for LDL cholesterol levels.
The researchers were quick to note that these association studies cannot prove cause and effect, although HDL may have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties that could potentially fight cancer.
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