?Good? cholesterol linked to age-related macular degeneration

The finding was made as part of a larger study, which utilised a new research method to analyse massive banks of genetic information and investigate modifiable health risk factors related to common diseases.The new technique, pioneered by Professor Jian Yang and his team from the University of Queensland, integrates genetic data from multiple large-scale studies and provides a more comprehensive overview than previously possible.“Identifying new risk factors provides an avenue to look at diseases from a different angle,” Yang said.{{quote-a:r-w:400-I:2-Q: Our figures clearly show that (of the seven risk factors) only HDL has an effect on AMD. -WHO:Professor Jian Yang, University of Queensland}}“For example, we identified a highly significant risk effect of HDL-cholesterol on age-related macular degeneration. Discoveries like this could have significant implications for medical research, the pharmaceutical industry and public health policy.”The study, published in Nature Communications, looked at seven known health risk factors – such as body mass index (BMI) and cholesterol levels – and their association with more than 30 common diseases, in genetic data from more than 400,000 people.“We can integrate a lot of seingly separate data sets. For example, combining a study of type 2 diabetes with another independent study for body mass index, and make it very powerful,” Yang explained.“Some of these associations – such as the link between BMI and type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease – have already been confirmed in randomised controlled trials, which validates our methods. Others identified in this study provide candidates for prioritisation in future trials, and fundamental knowledge to understand the biology of the diseases.”One of those candidates is the relationship between ‘good’ HDL-cholesterol – found in pistachio nuts and avocados, and often cited as being protective against heart disease – and AMD.“These are complicated interactions or correlations between all the factors. But, we used another additional new method to record adjustments in order to discover the net effect of LDL or HDL on a disease,” Yang told Insight.“Even after that adjustment, the HDL effect on AMD doesn’t go away. Our figures clearly show that (of the seven risk factors) only HDL has an effect on AMD.”Another surprising finding was that while ‘bad’ LDL-cholesterol was confirmed as being a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, it was also somewhat protective against Type 2 diabetes. According to Yang, such a finding could make the prescription of LDL inhibiting medication complicated.“If you look at LDL’s (negative) effect on heart disease, you can see it is slightly higher than it’s protection against type 2 diabetes. So it’s kind of an interesting trade off,” Yang said.“Therefore I think it would be person specific. For people with a very high risk of type 2 diabetes it’s probably not a very good idea to have this kind of medication to lower the LDL level down.”Studies involving additional risk factors, such as smoking, alcohol intake and caffeine consumption are already underway, the findings of which could be released within six months.More reading: Full study.