A shocking study of the connection of cholesterol with glaucoma is published in the famous scientific medical journal. HDL, which we call “good” cholesterol, increased the risk of this eye disease. And “bad” cholesterol – lowering.
You cannot ignore these scientific data. After all, glaucoma is a leading cause of blindness in the world. According to forecasts, by 2040, about 112 million people will be affected by it. But already now people who are blinded because of this disease are millions.
Counted – smiled
An article on the connection of cholesterol and glaucoma is published in one of the magazines of the famous BMJ publishing house – British Journal of Ophthalmology (British Ophthalmological Journal).
A large international group of scientists analyzed the data “BIOBANK BIOBANK” (UK BIOBANK). There is a concentrated colossal medical information about his Majesty, which scientists from different countries are actively studying.
This study analyzed the data of more than 400 thousand people who were observed for more than 14 years. During this time, they developed 6868 cases of glaucoma. And here are the results:
- In men with high “good” cholesterol (HDL), the risk of glaucoma has been higher by 5 %;
- With increased “poor” cholesterol (LDL) in women, the risk decreased by 4 %;
- with high cholesterol in women, the risk was less by 3 %;
- With high triglycerides (lipids), the risk was 4 % lower in men.
Data of more detailed analysis
When they compared the data of people with the highest and lowest “good” cholesterol, the first in the first risk of glaucoma was already higher by 10 %. That is, the protective effect was twice as strong. The same picture, but with a reverse sign was for “bad” cholesterol: who was maximum, and the protection against glaucoma was maximum – its risk decreased by 8 %. And for triglycerides, the difference was even more striking: with their maximum quantity, the risk of the disease decreased by 14 %.
It is important that all these data belonged to people over 55 years old. Glaucoma is age -related disease. But when it developed earlier, cholesterol did not affect its risk in any way. This can probably be explained by poor heredity – in close relatives of people with glaucoma, the disease develops more often.
There were some other features in a more detailed analysis. For example, triglycerides were associated only with the so-called open-angle glaucoma, and the rest of the indicators influenced the risk of both an open and closing form of the disease.
The time for the changes has rushed
All this pushes scientists to revise the role of “good” cholesterol. For about 70 years he was considered useful, but now he began to accumulate and negativity in his regard. For example, other recent studies have shown that high levels of LDP are associated with adverse outcomes for cardiovascular and infectious diseases, as well as with age-related macular degeneration (another age-related disease leading to blindness).
How can all this be explained? Scientists suspect the genes of this. Some of them regulating reactions with lipids and cholesterol are also associated with the development of glaucoma.
“These results challenge the existing paradigms about“ good ”and“ bad ”cholesterol regarding the health of the eyes,” the authors of the article write. “This can encourage reassessment of lipid control strategies in patients with a risk of glaucoma.” And of course, on the basis of the data obtained, it is important to develop different ways of preventing glaucoma for men and women. In simple words, this means that it is necessary to be more balanced in the prescription of drugs that reduce cholesterol and lipids in the blood.
Source: aif.ru