"Americans’ cholesterol levels falling, review finds; Even those not on medication seeing decline" by Deborah Kotz |
Globe Staff, October 16, 2012
Despite Americans’ growing girth and an increase in obesity-related
diseases, cholesterol levels among adults in the United States have
taken a turn downward, even in those who aren’t taking
cholesterol-lowering medications such as statins, according to an
analysis of national health surveys released Tuesday....
Related: Breakfast Burp
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The study authors suspect that a sharp increase in statin use over
the past two decades accounts for some of the improvement in cholesterol
levels, but while the survey analysis wasn’t designed to pinpoint reasons for the trend, study coauthor Dr. Brian Kit, a medical epidemiologist at the National Center for Health Statistics, and his colleagues speculated that a nationwide decline in smoking and consumption of trans fats — once prevalent in margarine and baked goods — may have contributed to some improvements because smoking and trans fats have a negative impact on cholesterol levels....
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