Good cholesterol, it turns out, is not as good as it was believed to be. A recent study of a new drug that boosts HDL, Abbott Laboratories Niaspan, revealed that more HDL is not better, and raising the level of HDL does nothing to stop heart attacks or strokes. The Washington Post reports that the failed study marks the latest setback in the quest to harness good cholesterol to fight the bad kind. The Post reminds readers that doubts about the HDL-boosting hypothesis began to emerge, when the HDL-raising drug fenofibrate failed in 2005 to cut heart attacks and strokes among diabetics. Another study the next year found that a different HDL-raising drug, torcetrapib, increased the risk.
Health, fitness and lifestyle tips for people over 50 who still like to play hard
Sunday, June 1, 2025
I think that the conclusion as posed above is probably not as definitive as it should be.
I would pose another conclusion: that raising HDL with drugs does not affect the risk of heart attack.
I have not seen anything about the effects of excercise-induced increases in HDL.
As with all health and fitness, it is like a fish out of water. Flip flopping back and forth. It’s kind of ironic, the educated disproving the educated.
It would be nice to have a link to the original source for additional information. HDL (or any lipid particle for that matter) particle size may have been particularly relevant in these studies. Previous statin studies have shown some outcome differences associated with changes in ApoAII which may be more predictive of potential benefit of an intervention. I still have to concur with above, diet and exercise (in particular the later) can’t be replaced with a pill. It is very difficult to treat poor life decisions after the fact.