UK researchers also find that higher levels of LDL – normally known as bad cholesterol are associated with a lower risk of the eye problem
All is not well with the “good” cholesterol and the “bad” version is not altogether deplorable. That is the key takeaway from a study reported by Chinese and UK researchers who found that high density lioproteins (HDL) commonly known as “good” cholesterol are associated with a high risk of glaucoma.
Glaucoma is an eye disease that can cause loss of vision and even blindness because of damage to the optic nerve. Globally, it is one of the leading causes of blindness and the association with serum lipid levels has long been known. Low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol commonly known as “bad” cholesterol, on the other hand was associated with a lower risk. “Elevated HDL-C is associated with an increased risk of glaucoma, while elevated LDL-C, TC, and TG levels are associated with a lower risk of glaucoma. This study enhances our understanding of the association between lipid profile and glaucoma and warrants further investigation of lipid-focused treatments in glaucoma management,” the researchers wrote in the British Journal of Ophthalmology. They found this association to be significant in subjects who were 55 years old or older. They followed 4,00,229 participants from the UK Biobank over a period of more than 14 years.
In light of the findings, the researchers called for good and bad cholesterol definitions to be altered in the context of diseases other than cardiovascular. Jeremy Sivak of Krembil Research Institute at Toronto Western Hospital, told Medpage: “The role of these types of blood lipids in glaucoma is likely to be very different, and might be related to the regulation of fluid flow and pressure in the eye. One important take-away from this study is that these ‘good’ and ‘bad’ labels might need to be reassessed in the context of other diseases.”
They followed 4,00,229 participants from the UK Biobank over a period of more than 14 years
In the journal article, they also called for more studies to further explore gender and age linked variations. “The associations between serum lipids and glaucoma differed based on sex. Given that most contradictory studies were cross-sectional, the causal relationship between blood lipids and glaucoma deserves further exploration, and it is recommended that age- and sex-specific effects be taken into account when assessing the relationship between lipids and glaucoma,” they wrote.
