Edgar Degas paintings

Edgar Degas paintings
Emile Munier paintings
blood pressure, diabetes or smoking. Half the participants got a daily dose of a statin, while the others got a placebo.Patients who entered the study with low blood levels of HDL -- below 45 milligrams per deciliter -- and then took the statin were one-third less likely to have a heart attack or die of heart disease in the following 3.2 years, compared to those who did not receive the statin. In contrast, patients who entered the study with high blood levels of HDL did not seem to receive any benefit from the statin.The researchers also found no relation between initial patient blood levels of "bad" LDL cholesterol and statin-related declines in heart risk over the course of the study.More studies are needed to determine whether statins' effect on inflammation is responsible for their close relationship with HDL, the researchers said. According to Packard, learning the exact reason for the reduction in risk could help patients.