Wed, Mar-27-13, 12:27
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Experimenter
Posts: 25,866
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Plan: DDF
Stats: 202/185.4/179
BF:
Progress: 72%
Location: San Diego, CA
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Commonly Used Cholesterol Calculation Underestimates the Heart Disease Danger for...
Commonly Used Cholesterol Calculation Underestimates the Heart Disease Danger for Many
This is about how the calculation goes wrong at the low end of LDL, not really about how it fails those of us with very low triglycerides.
Quote:
Mar. 26, 2013 — In what promises to be an eye-opener for many doctors and patients who routinely depend on cholesterol testing, a study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine found that the standard formula used for decades to calculate low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels is often inaccurate. Of most concern, the researchers say, is their finding that the widely used formula underestimates LDL where accuracy matters most -- in the range considered desirable for high-risk patients.
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Quote:
As an alternative to Friedewald, Martin and his colleagues suggest that a more accurate way to assess risk for patients is to look at non-HDL, which is acquired by subtracting HDL from total cholesterol.
That non-HDL number, which includes LDL and other plaque-causing cholesterol particles called VLDL (very low density lipoprotein), would typically be about 30 points higher than when LDL cholesterol is calculated under the Friedewald method, and it could vary. But Martin says it would provide a better way to assess whether patients need to modify their medications or make more substantial lifestyle changes. "Most specialists in our field agree at this point that all of those non-HDL components are important," he says.
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