Epidemiology
Men tend to have noticeably lower HDL levels, with smaller size and lower cholesterol content, than women. Men also have an increased incidence of atherosclerotic heart disease. Alcohol consumption tends to raise HDL levels, and moderate alcohol consumption is associated with lower cardiovascular and all-cause mortality. Recent study confirm the fact that HDL has a buffering role in balancing the effects of hypercoagulable state in type 2 diabetics and decreases high risk of cardiovascular complications in these patients. Also, the results obtained in this study revealed that there was negative significant correlation between HDL and Activated Partial Thromboplastin Time (APTT).
Epidemiological studies have shown that high concentrations of HDL (over 60 mg/dL) have protective value against cardiovascular diseases such as ischemic stroke and myocardial infarction. Low concentrations of HDL (below 40 mg/dL for men, below 50 mg/dL for women) increase the risk for atherosclerotic diseases.
Data from the landmark Framingham Heart Study showed that, for a given level of LDL, the risk of heart disease increases 10-fold as the HDL varies from high to low. On the converse, however, for a fixed level of HDL, the risk increases 3-fold as LDL varies from low to high.
Even people with very low LDL levels are exposed to increased risk if their HDL levels are not high enough.
Read more about this topic: High-density Lipoprotein