Low LDL Not Enough

Patients whose heart disease worsens even after their high LDL levels are brought under control are said to be suffering from 'residual risk' - and new research shows that risk is strongly and perhaps synergistically linked with high triglyceride levels and low HDL cholesterol. Researchers at Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health reported in the American Journal of Cardiology that subjects with LDL levels considered low normal, but had clinically low HDL, had a 40% greater risk of heart disease. Subjects with high triglycerides had a 20% greater risk. The low LDL subjects who had both high triglycerides and low HDL cholesterol interacted synergistically to increase the cardiac risk ten-fold.

Bonnie - it is well known that statin therapy does not increase HDL or lower triglycerides. If you are at risk for heart disease and are taking a statin, make sure your HDL, triglycerides, and CRP are normal. If not, I cannot emphasize enough the importance of diet, lifestyle, and specifically targeted supplements to address them all.