When your doctor orders a lipid panel during your routine blood tests, he is looking at your total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol and LDL cholesterol. HDL cholesterol is often called ‘good’ cholesterol and LDL ‘bad.’ This comes from their likelihood to contribute to your risk factors for heart disease. Those with more HDLs and less LDLs are at lower risk for heart disease.
Researchers from Sweden are testing the anti-inflammatory effect of HDL cholesterol on cells that line blood vessels. Atherosclerosis (plaque build-up in the arteries) is strongly recognized as an inflammatory condition. A major biological function of HDL cholesterol is to reduce this inflammation.
The researchers found that the protective effect of HDL cholesterol was higher for healthy adults than those that had already experienced a cardiovascular event. The greater the ability of HDL to suppress inflammation the less likely the person would have a cardiovascular event in the next 10 years. Women received more anti-inflammatory protection from HDL cholesterol than men.
The researchers feel that in the future it may be more important to measure HDL anti-inflammatory function and this could replace our current measurement of HDL levels.
