Cholesterol Animations, Lipoprotein Animations, Statins Animations

Apolipoprotein(a): A Natural Regulator Of Inflammation
In a study to be published in the January 09 issue of Experimental Biology and Medicine, Hoover-Plow and co-workers in seeking to define a role of apo(a) in leukocyte recruitment have identified a novel activity of apo(a) apolipoprotein that may function as a natural and cell specific suppressor of the inflammatory response in vivo. In addition, a mechanism for this novel function of apo(a) was also identified: its selective regulation of cytokine production.

Abbott Receives FDA Approval For TRILIPIX™, First And Only Fibrate Indicated For Use In Combination With A Statin For Cholesterol Management
Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Abbott's TRILIPIX™ (fenofibric acid) delayed-release capsules for use along with diet to help lower triglycerides and LDL cholesterol, and to raise HDL cholesterol in patients with lipid problems. TRILIPIX is the first and only fibrate to be approved for use in combination with a statin. In certain patients, treatment guidelines recommend the combination of a fibrate with a statin to further improve lipid levels.

Key To Atherosclerosis Development Is Prostaglandin Receptor
Atherosclerosis - a disease that includes the buildup of fatty, cholesterol-laden lumps of cells inside the artery wall - is the underlying cause of heart attacks and strokes. A team of Vanderbilt University Medical Center investigators has now demonstrated that a receptor for prostaglandin-E2 plays a key role in the development of atherosclerosis.

New Gene Variants Present Opportunities In Nutrigenomics
A new study uncovers 11 gene variants associated with three blood lipids measured to determine cardiovascular disease risk: low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and triglycerides. The discovery opens up new opportunities for nutrigenomics researchers looking for links between diet and genetics that will optimize health and lower chronic disease risk.

Study Finds Statins Do Not Interfere With Rituximab Treatment For Lymphomas
Statins, drugs widely prescribed to lower cholesterol, do not interfere with a commonly used medication to treat lymphomas, according to a Mayo Clinic study presented at the 50th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (http://www.hematology.org/meetings/2008/) in San Francisco. In fact, statins may slow the progression of certain types of lymphoma.

Population Cohort Study Finds Six Genetic Variants Associated With 'bad' Cholesterol
A new study presages a real aim of genetics: to look at whole populations to in order determine the significance of individual genetic variants for individual health. The research team, whose work is published in Nature Genetics, find six novel genetic variants that are associated with lipid levels, a common indicator of heart or artery disease. The power of 'genetic microscopes' has increased because the methods are in place to study many thousands of DNA samples.

Managing Cholesterol And Glucose Levels Aided By Discovery Of New Genes
Scientists have identified 12 new genes that are somewhat strange bedfellows: Some link gallstones and blood cholesterol levels, others link melatonin and sleep patterns to small increases in glucose levels and larger jumps in the risk of diabetes. While these associations are surprising, all the genes are potential new drug targets and some of them could help explain conditions that have been a mystery.

Mediterranean Diet And Nuts May Help Manage Heart Risks
A Spanish study of over 1,000 older adults comparing low fat versus two types of Mediterranean diet found that a Mediterranean diet enriched with nuts could be helpful in managing metabolic syndrome, a collection of risk factors for heart disease such as belly fat, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and high blood sugar.

Cigna Reduces Copayments For Lipitor By As Much As 50%
Officials for health insurer Cigna on Wednesday announced that the company has reduced copayments for the cholesterol medication Lipitor by as much as 50% to an average of $15 to make the treatment more affordable during the current economic recession, Bloomberg/Denver Post reports.

Yeast Studies Offer Clues To Controlling Cholesterol Rise
Having discovered how a lowly, single-celled fungus regulates its version of cholesterol, Johns Hopkins researchers are gaining new insight about the target and action of cholesterol-lowering drugs taken daily by millions of people to stave off heart attacks and strokes. Their work appears in the December issue of Cell Metabolism. In humans, statin drugs inhibit an enzyme, HMG-CoA reductase, to lower blood cholesterol.

Researchers Learn That Some 'Good Cholesterol' Isn't Good Enough
If you think your levels of "good cholesterol" are good enough, a new study published in the December 2008 issue of The FASEB Journal suggests that you may want to think again. In the report, researchers from the University of Chicago challenge the conventional wisdom that simply having high levels of good cholesterol (HDL) and low levels of bad cholesterol (LDL) is necessary for good heath.

Dramatic JUPITER Findings Fail To Sway Prescribing Behavior, Poll Shows
JUPITER, a clinical trial suggesting rosuvastatin may lower the cardiovascular risk of healthy patients with elevated CRP, should not prompt universal statin use in older adults, according to a national poll directed at health professionals. Some 1,212 participants took part in the online poll conducted by medical news site MedPage Today LLC (http://www.MedPageToday.com).

Scientific Breakthrough In The Control Of Bad Cholesterol
A study performed by the team of Dr. Nabil G. Seidah, Director of the Biochemical Neuroendocrinology Research Unit at the IRCM, shows for the very first time that the degradation by PCSK9 of the LDLR receptor, which is responsible for removing the bad cholesterol (LDL-cholesterol) from the bloodstream, may be inhibited by a third protein, annexin A2. This major discovery co-authored by Gaétan Mayer, a postdoctoral fellow, Steve Poirier, a doctoral student, and Dr.

Key Elements Of Best Medical Treatment In Carotid Stenosis Patients Revealed - Encouraging Correlation Of Lowering LDL With Decreased Stroke Risk
Carotid artery disease is one of many atherosclerotic manifestations and it is associated with increased risk of stroke, myocardial infarction and death. Carotid surgery has been shown to reduce the risk of stroke both in symptomatic and asymptomatic patients although the benefit is by far larger in symptomatic patients with recent symptoms. But, as Dr.

Peripheral Fat Breakdown Undermined By Bad Cholesterol
The so called bad cholesterol (LDL) inhibits the breakdown of fat in cells of peripheral deposits, according to a study from the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet. The discovery reveals a novel function of LDL as a regulator of fat turnover besides its well-established detrimental effects in promoting atherosclerosis. The study, which is a collaboration of two research groups at Karolinska Institutet, is published in the open-access journal PLoS ONE.