Ultra-bad Cholesterol Discovered
“Ultra-bad” cholesterol is now a new type of cholesterol, according to research published in the May 26 issue of Diabetes.
For quite some time, there were two main types of cholesterol that were considered to be most important. These are HDL and LDL (as depicted cartoonishly below). Now, for those that are elderly or who have diabetes, they have found a “stickier” form of cholesterol, that is more adherent to arterial walls. For now, this has been dubbed “ultra-bad” cholesterol, or to be more scientific, this is LDL that is glycated by a compound named methylglyoxal (MG). MG is a glycating agent that is increased in diabetes.
It is well known that diabetes is a risk factor for development of chronic heart disease, but it was not well known why it is such a big risk factor. This research study definitely sheds some light on the matter, and will be very useful in developing future treatments.
