Tuesday June 5 5:33 PM ET

High 'Good' Cholesterol Level Lowers Stroke Risk

By Will Boggs, MD

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Higher levels of HDL (''good'') cholesterol may mean a lower risk of stroke among the elderly, researchers have found.

While high levels of both HDL and the ``bad'' cholesterol LDL have been linked to heart disease, the effects of cholesterol on stroke risk have been less clear. Now new findings published in the June 6th issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association (news - web sites) add to growing evidence that cholesterol counts when it comes to stroke risk.

``Stroke is a huge public health problem and we have few acute therapies,'' Dr. Ralph L. Sacco of Columbia University in New York City told Reuters Health. ``More emphasis needs to be placed on prevention.''

To flesh out whether controlling cholesterol levels might help prevent strokes, Sacco and his colleagues compared levels of HDL, LDL and triglycerides in more than 500 patients who had experienced strokes with those in about 900 healthy individuals of similar age and race.

Only high HDL levels emerged as a predictor of lower stroke risk, particularly in individuals aged 75 or older, the report indicates.

A rise of just 5 milligrams per deciliter in HDL brought a 19% drop in the risk of stroke, the researchers report. And for older individuals, the risk reduction was more than 50%.

Moreover, higher HDL was associated with lower stroke risk across age, gender and race barriers. Increased levels were even linked to fewer strokes among individuals with high blood pressure, heart disease, and diabetes.

``The protective effect of elevated HDL could have an impact on reducing the burden of stroke,'' Sacco said. ``Physical activity, healthy diet, and moderate alcohol consumption, as well as medicines, are some of the ways that HDL can be increased,'' he explained.

``People need to know what is protective,'' Sacco added. ''Reinforcing what is protective for stroke risk rather than always emphasizing what is deleterious may be a better prevention message.''

SOURCE: The Journal of the American Medical Association 2001;285:2729-

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