|
Low blood
levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol -- the
so-called "good" cholesterol -- increase the risk
of dementia in the elderly, according to researchers at Leiden
University Medical Center in the Netherlands.
Previous
research has shown that people with low HDL cholesterol are
at an increased risk of developing heart disease and stroke.
This also places them at a higher risk of dementia due to
hardening of the arteries.
New findings
show that the dementia risk is present in patients with low
HDL cholesterol even if the patients have no symptoms of heart
disease or stroke, according to the study published in the
Annals of Neurology.
Researchers
measured the total cholesterol, triglycerides, low-density
lipoprotein cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol
of 561 people who were age 85.
Participants
with the lowest levels of HDL cholesterol were more than twice
as likely to develop dementia as those with the highest levels.
Patients with heart disease or stroke with the lowest levels
of HDL cholesterol were nearly four times as likely to develop
dementia as those with the highest levels, according to the
study.
Researchers
speculate that some of these patients may have had an undetected
stroke in the absence of documented cardiovascular disease.
Also, HDL may ward off dementia by preventing the formation
of plaques linked with dementia or reduce brain inflammation.
Source:
Medical Week staff,
week of June 23, 2002
|
HOME PAGE
