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Other cholesterols worrying cardiologists

Category: Heart Health and Cholesterol

Cardiologists and other heart experts are worrying that the lack of attention paid to the two other major components of blood cholesterol, HDL and triglycerides, are threatening to undermine the reduction of the threat of heart attacks and other serious cardiovascular problems achieved with statins over the last 20 years.

The Wall Street Journal reports that while statins have helped lower LDL levels, HDL levels have been lowering and triglycerides rising over the same time frame. Both of those are components of the metabolic syndrome which increases risk of various cardiovascular problems.

The AHA recommends that HDL not go below 40 if you are male and 50 if you are female. Triglycerdies should not exceed 150.

"The good news is that [HDL and triglycerides] are exceedingly responsive to lifestyle changes," the editor of cardiosmart.org, the American College of Cardiology's patient-education web site, told the Journal, but a recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association reported Americans are eating worse and exercising less than they were 20 years ago.

Various studies have shown that triglycerides help predict the risk of heart disease in cases of borderline LDL levels.