据12月28日《健康日报》消息，一项新的研究表明，低密度脂蛋白（LDL）胆固醇较低的人比LDL较高的人更容易患帕金森病。
低水平LDL胆固醇一直被认为是心血管健康良好的标志。但是根据发表在12月15日《运动失调杂志》上的一篇文章报告，北卡罗来纳州大学（UNC）教堂山分校的研究人员通过对124名帕金森病患者和112名对照者的研究，发现LDL水平低的人（低于114毫克/分升）比LDL水平高的人（高于138毫克/分升）帕金森病发病率高3.5倍。而且帕金森病患者病患者比没患此病的人更少服用降胆固醇药。
UNC医院运动失调诊所医学顾问、UNC医学院神经病学副教授，本研究的作者Xuemei Huang博士说，这些发现并不鼓励人们改变饮食习惯，或者改变他汀类和其他降胆固醇药物的使用以试图预防帕金森病。
Huang提醒说，这些只是小样本研究的初步结果，为更进一步了解LDL水平与帕金森病的关系，还需要做更大样本的前瞻性研究。她在接受记者采访时说：“帕金森病充满着矛盾。我们已经知道多年吸烟可降低帕金森发病风险。已经有40多项研究证明了这一事实。但我们并不建议人们吸烟，因为它会带来其他严重的健康威胁。”
Huang还说未来研究需要着眼的两个问题：“一是是否低胆固醇预示帕金森的发病。二是，在此过程中他汀类药物的作用是什么？换句话说，服用降胆固醇药物是否能防止帕金森发病？我们需要解决这些问题。”
Cholesterol's Role in Parkinson's Remains Elusive
Study finds a paradox as subjects with low levels of 'bad' LDL more likely to have disease
HealthDay
By Robert Preidt
Thursday, December 28, 2006
THURSDAY, Dec. 28 (HealthDay News) -- People with low levels of "bad" low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol are more likely to have Parkinson's disease than people with high LDL levels, a new study says.
Low levels of LDL cholesterol are considered be an indicator of good cardiovascular health.
Conducted by researchers at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill, the study of 124 Parkinson's disease patients and 112 people without the disease found that people with lower LDL levels (less than 114 milligrams per deciliter) had a 3.5-fold higher occurrence of Parkinson's than people with higher LDL levels (more than 138 milligrams per deciliter).
Parkinson's patients were also less likely to take cholesterol-lowering drugs than people without the disease, said the study, which was published online Dec. 15 in the journal Movement Disorders.
These findings should not prompt people to change their eating habits or their use of statins and other cholesterol-lowering drugs in an attempt to prevent Parkinson's disease, said study author Dr. Xuemei Huang, medical director of the Movement Disorder Clinic at UNC Hospitals and an assistant professor of neurology in the UNC School of Medicine.
Huang cautioned that these are preliminary results from a small study and that larger, prospective studies are needed to learn more about the association between LDL levels and Parkinson's disease.
"Parkinson's disease is full of paradoxes. We've known for years that smoking reduces the risk of developing Parkinson's. More than 40 studies have documented that fact. But we don't advise people to smoke because of the other more serious health risks," Huang said in a prepared statement.
Two questions need to be looked at in future studies.
"One is whether lower cholesterol predates the onset of Parkinson's. Number two, what is the role of statins in that? In other words, does taking cholesterol-lowering drugs somehow protect against Parkinson's? We need to address these questions," Huang said.
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_43204.html
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