Proper Levels of 'Good' Cholesterol As Important As Lowering the 'Bad'

Dr. Stephen Devine is on a mission to raise levels of HDL, or the "good" cholesterol.

Devine, a Gundersen Lutheran cardiologist who specializes in non-invasive ways to prevent heart disease, said low levels of HDL can lead to diabetes and heart disease. He and Dr. Brendan Doyle, a Mayo Clinic cardiologist who works at Franciscan Skemp, are seeing more patients with below-normal levels of HDL, which are putting them at greater risk for heart disease.

Some of these same patients have a good side of their cholesterol profile -- normal or below-normal levels of total cholesterol and LDL, the "bad" cholesterol -- but lose some protective effects on their heart and vessels with low HDL.

Devine said one-third of American males and 39 percent of American women have below-normal HDL levels.

"When we look at the lipid profile, low HDL stands out," Devine said. "We have put an emphasis on HDL. It's too important to overlook it."

Obesity, increased triglycerides, high blood pressure and high blood sugars often go hand-in-hand with low HDL levels, he said.

"These patients have pre-diabetes, and they don't know it," Devine said. "I tell them frankly that they don't want diabetes and what can go with it -- blindness, kidney damage and leg amputation.

"My job is to prevent them going from pre-diabetes to diabetes," he said.

Devine recently saw a 22-year-old with chest pain who had pre-diabetes and didn't know it.