As we know, the fats circulating in the blood are linked to the risk of cardiovascular disease. This “fat” takes many forms, including bad cholesterol (LDL), good cholesterol (HDL), and triglycerides. It is on the particular role of triglycerides that American researchers have looked, upsetting through their work years of medical certainty.
In fact, for years people who care about their heart health have ensured that their heart rate good cholesterol (HDL) remains high and their bad cholesterol (LDL) levels remain at their lowest. However, Dr. Sekar Kathiresan, director of the preventive cardiology service at Massachusetts General Hospital (United States) and his team have discovered that it is too high a level of triglycerides which is the important factor in cardiovascular diseases, and not too low a level of good cholesterol (HDL).
From massive genetic research conducted on the DNA of more than 4,000 people showed that people with a mutation in the gene called “APOC3” had lower triglyceride levels. And that these same people reduced their risk of coronary heart disease by 40% compared to people who do not carry a mutant gene.
“This discovery could make it possible to imagine new treatments which will reduce the level of triglycerides in order to prevent the risk of infarction or stroke” declared Dr. Kathiresan.
For this research, doctors have taken advantage of the revolution in human genome sequencing technology. They thus discovered that approximately one in 150 people carries a mutation in the APOC3 gene, which inhibits the circulation of triglycerides in the blood.
