|
You've probably heard the cholesterol story lots of times by now: there's the good form (HDL, or high-density lipoprotein cholesterol), and the bad form (LDL, or low-density lipoprotein cholesterol). Most of the attention has been on LDL because it's easier to lower than HDL is to raise. But you get the same preventive benefits whether you lower LDL or raise HDL, and if you can do both, you double your money. You've probably heard the cholesterol story lots of times by now: how there's the good form — HDL, or high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, which tends to keep cholesterol away from the arteries; and the bad form — low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, which deposits the stuff in our arterial walls. Most of the attention, though, has been on LDL — because that's easier to lower than HDL is to raise. The new statin drugs lower LDL, as do low-fat diets. But the fact is that you get the same preventive benefits whether you lower LDL or raise HDL, and if you can do both, you double your money so to speak. The things that raise HDL are exercise, weight loss, vitamin B3 (niacin), and probably alcohol. Some people have believed that antioxidants do it as well. To test the idea that a double whammy of lowering LDL and raising HDL is worth doing, US researchers did a three-year trial in people who were at high risk of heart disease and had high LDL levels and low HDLs. They were put in one of four groups and either given a statin drug in combination with niacin, a cocktail of antioxidants like vitamin C, vitamin E and beta-carotene by themselves, the statin, niacin, and antioxidants, or just placebo. The results showed that the combination of the statin and the niacin got the most benefit. In fact there was evidence that arterial blockages opened up on this treatment. Antioxidants by themselves actually seemed to work against HDL, and when taken with the statin and niacin, reduced their benefits. So if you have low HDL levels as well as high LDL, this combination of a statin plus niacin may be worth trying. The only problem is that niacin can cause flushing, which may take some getting used to. And with antioxidant supplements, it's unfortunately another nail in their coffin when it comes to heart disease prevention — although antioxidants may still be of benefit in whole foods like red vegetables.
|
