Free Republic

Older people who have higher levels of triglycerides, a type of fat, may have a lower risk of dementia and a slower cognitive decline over time compared to people who have lower levels, according to new research. Researchers used health care data to identify 18,294 people in one cohort with an average age of 75 who did not have a prior diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease or dementia. Participants were followed for an average of six years. Researchers looked at participants' measurements of total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL and HDL each year of the study. Then they divided the participants into four...

"Bad" cholesterol isn't the only culprit linked with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, according to a trio of recent studies showing that a different kind of cholesterol is also a strong risk factor for people worldwide. Remnant cholesterol (RC) was confirmed as a strong risk factor for coronary heart disease, heart attacks and stroke, the largest of the studies showed. RC is produced from the metabolism of triglycerides. Using data from almost one million participants—the findings are the first to show, on a large scale, a causal link between high RC and risk of cardiovascular illness. "This tells us...

A real-world, retrospective analysis by the Family Heart Foundation, a leading non-profit research and advocacy organization, found that high-risk Americans who do not maintain levels of LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) recommended in the 2018 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association cholesterol treatment guidelines, had a 44% higher rate of cardiovascular events compared to those who did achieve and maintained recommended LDL-C levels. The study findings were based on data from the Family Heart Database of more than 300 million Americans. "This real-world evaluation shows how important it is for people at high risk for cardiovascular events to get the care they need...

People with relatively high levels of lipids in their blood are less likely to develop allergic conditions such as eczema and asthma. These lipids cause genes that play a key role in allergic reactions to be less active. "We already knew that lipids in our blood, such as triglycerides and cholesterol, can influence the behavior of immune cells," says Professor Bas Heijmans. "We have now shown that these lipids dampen the activity of genes that play a key role in allergies." As a result, allergic reactions are less likely to occur. The researchers began by mapping which genes are active...

The virus that causes COVID-19 undertakes a massive takeover of the body's fat-processing system, creating cellular storehouses of fat that empower the virus to hijack the body's molecular machinery and cause disease. After scientists discovered the important role of fat for SARS-CoV-2, they used weight-loss drugs and other fat-targeting compounds to try to stop the virus in cell culture. Cut off from its fatty fuel, the virus stopped replicating within 48 hours. The team embarked on the study based on observations that people with a high body-mass index and conditions like cardiovascular disease and diabetes are more sensitive to the...

People who suffer from ischaemic strokes with no previously diagnosed risk factors have been found to have underlying conditions in the majority of cases, a new study presented today has shown. Overall, the study identified 67.7% of stroke patients with previously undiagnosed major risk factors (UMRF) were found to have one major risk factor. The most common detected vascular risk factor was dyslipidaemia, an imbalance of blood fats such as high cholesterol or raised levels of triglycerides (61.4% of patients). The second most common risk factor was high blood pressure (23.7% of patients), and one in 10 (10.2% of patients)...

Replacing saturated fat with healthy fats is the main dietary step people take to improve cholesterol and triglyceride levels. But according to a study published in February in the Journal of the American Heart Association, avoiding soda may also have a positive effect. Researchers from Tufts and Boston universities wanted to explore how people’s intakes of different beverages might affect dyslipidemia, an unhealthy imbalance of cholesterol and triglycerides in the blood that increases the risk of heart disease. They looked at just over 12 years’ worth of data from about 6,000 adult participants in the Framingham Heart Study, a long-term,...

Omega-3 Fatty Acid Supplementation Not Associated With Lower Risk of Major Cardiovascular Disease Events In a study that included nearly 70,000 patients, supplementation with omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids was not associated with a lower risk of all-cause death, cardiac death, sudden death, heart attack, or stroke, according to an analysis of previous studies published in the Sept. 12 issue of JAMA. "Treatment with marine-derived omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) for the prevention of major cardiovascular adverse outcomes has been supported by a number of randomized clinical trials (RCTs) and refuted by others. Although their mechanism of action is not clear,...

WASHINGTON — A rare genetic abnormality found in people in an insular Amish community protects them from heart disease, a discovery that could lead to new drugs to prevent heart ailments, U.S. researchers said on Thursday. About 5 percent of Old Order Amish people in Pennsylvania's Lancaster County have only one working copy rather than the normal two of a gene that makes a protein that slows the breakdown of triglycerides, a type of fat that circulates in the blood, the researchers wrote in the journal Science. "People who have the mutation all have low triglycerides," said Toni Pollin of...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. chief executive Daryl Brewster has resigned amid a sputtering turnaround effort. The Winston-Salem-based company said Monday that Brewster left his position for personal reasons but will stay with the company until the end of January.

Type 2 diabetics may get a health boost from a dash of cinnamon Los Angeles Times A little bit of cinnamon might spice up your health. The aromatic bark can lower blood sugar, triglycerides and cholesterol levels, as well as improve insulin functioning, particularly in Type 2 diabetics, researchers have found. Richard Anderson, lead scientist at the Human Nutrition Research Center in Beltsville, Md., calls its medicinal properties the most significant nutritional discovery in 25 years. "I don't know of anything else," he said, other than drugs, "that can change glucose, triglycerides and cholesterol levels nearly so much." The most...

Embarrassment, Health Issues Prompted Dieting Many people have struggled to drop a few pounds, but what happens when you need to lose several hundred pounds? Several years ago, Steve and Melissa Horstman of Boone County, Ky., decided that they didn't want to live with their weight problems anymore, and they used the emotional pain over being overweight to reach their goals. Melissa and Steve met on the Internet several years ago and soon learned of their common bond: obesity. "When you weigh 150 pounds over, you don't go out and socialize," Melissa said. The couple met, dated and married, but...

CHICAGO - Multitudes swear by the high-fat, low-carbohydrate Atkins diet, and now a carefully controlled study backs them up: Low-carb may actually take off more weight than low-fat and may be surprisingly better for cholesterol, too. For years, the Atkins formula of sparing carbohydrates and loading up on taboo fatty foods has been blasphemy to many in the health establishment, who view it as a formula for cardiovascular ruin. But now, some of the same researchers who long scoffed at the diet are putting it to the test, and they say the results astonish them. Rather than making cholesterol...