Tag: Cholesterol

Some brain regions are more vulnerable to Alzheimer’s disease than others. A new study suggests that this might be due to how they uptake cholesterol [1]. Why do some parts of the brain succumb earlier? Despite decades of research and vast amounts of funding, scientists still have limited understanding of how Alzheimer’s disease develops and...

A new observational study suggests that lower LDL cholesterol levels are not necessarily better. Instead, the ratio of triglycerides to HDL may be more important [1]. Putting common wisdom to the test LDL cholesterol is largely considered harmful, but lower levels might not be beneficial according to a new study by researchers from the University...

A vast new study connects plant-based diets with various health benefits, including in cardiovascular diseases and cancer [1]. What exactly is healthy eating? Diet is one of the most powerful anti-aging interventions available today, but nutrition is also an extremely hard topic to analyze. Food we ingest contains tens of thousands of nutrients, and numerous...

In a randomized controlled trial, eight weeks of healthy vegan eating, but not of healthy omnivorous eating, led to weight loss and significant improvements in LDL cholesterol and insulin levels in a middle-aged twin study [1]. A tale of two diets Most of our knowledge about the health effects of various diets comes from epidemiological...

A new study suggests that increases in LDL cholesterol and systolic blood pressure elevate the risk of atherosclerosis progression more in younger than in older people. The good news is that this can be reversed [1]. Creeping atherosclerosis Atherosclerosis is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease [2], the primary cause of death in the...

Analyzing data from three clinical trials, scientists have shown that excessive inflammation is a much stronger predictor of cardiovascular and all-cause mortality in patients on statins than excessive LDL cholesterol levels. These findings can upend the current standard of care for such patients [1]. The two types of risk Statins, drugs that lower the levels...