The headline is broadly defensible, but the qualifications matter. Effect sizes vary by population, the strongest claims rest on shorter trials, and credible voices push back on how it's typically framed.
So what does that mean? That means there's a collection of interrelated traits that are related to heart disease risk, including, as I mentioned, small LDL, low levels of HDL, particularly HDL cholesterol, and also high levels of these triglyceride-rich lipoproteins and their remnants. These partially broken down VLDL particles are called remnants. All of these things contribute to atherosclerosis risk.
Every Sunday: the week’s new conflicts and verdict changes — and nothing else.
Native comments, Twitter mentions, and Reddit threads about this claim — surfaced together so the conversation isn't fragmented across platforms.
Bookmarking — the dossier-vs-overview split is the right call. Most of the time I want overview; sometimes I want receipts.
Would love a "what would change this verdict" RSS feed. Sign me up if it exists.
However, HDL cholesterol as a marker for heart disease is not saying the same thing as HDL cholesterol is a cause or the factor that low HDL cholesterol actually causes heart disease, because low HDL cholesterol is also associated with an increased level of these small LDL particles. And that fact, that was an observation that I first made that led me to realize that these LDL particles that are small and dense may be associated with heart disease because they were associated with low HDL.