Does a high serum cholesterol level increase survival time in ALS?
A French research team that published its findings March 25 in Neurology has found that elevated levels of lipids (fatlike substances) in the blood, known to be risk factors for cardiovascular disease, actually may be a good thing in ALS. High lipids more common in ALS group than non-ALS control group First, Vincent Meininger at the Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris, and colleagues, looked at lipid levels in 369 people with and 286 people without ALS. They measured serum triglycerides, the most common form of fat in the bloodstream; cholesterol, a fatlike substance known to build up in arteries but also necessary for building cell membranes; lowdensity lipoproteins (LDL), which carry cholesterol from the liver to the rest of the body and are sometimes called “bad cholesterol”; and high-density lipoproteins (HDL), which carry cholesterol from the body’s tissues to the liver (for elimination) and are sometimes called “good cholesterol.” The researchers found elevated total serum choles
