The New York Times says: Doubt Cast on the ‘Good’ in ‘Good Cholesterol’

The name alone sounds so encouraging: HDL, the “good cholesterol.” The more of it in your blood, the lower your risk of heart disease. So bringing up HDL levels has got to be good for health.

Or so the theory went.
Now, a new study that makes use of powerful databases of genetic information has found that raising HDL levels may not make any difference to heart disease risk. People who inherit genes that give them naturally higher HDL levels throughout life have no less heart disease than those who inherit genes that give them slightly lower levels. If HDL were protective, those with genes causing higher levels should have had less heart disease.

I’ve long had my suspicions about how good HDL is. I recall once going into a bar and seeing some HDL there talking to a known prostitute. I was like, “What are you doing?” and the HDL was like, “Beat it! You’re not my dad!” Then it gave the prostitute a big sloppy french kiss. On another occasion I went into my friend’s garage to get some cold beers and there were a couple HDLs hanging out. I smelled pot and said, “Have you guys been smoking something?” and they were like, “What… cough… cough… no man. I think that’s just the barbeque… or something. We’re just hanging… cough!”

So I think you can see why I remain suspicious about “good” cholesterol.