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A stack of punch cards from a landmark study published in 1966, andthe legwork to track down the study's participants years later, hasyielded the longest analysis of the effects of lipoproteins on coronary heart disease . The study, published in a recent issue of the journal Atherosclerosis, tracked almost 1,900 people over a 29-year period, which is nearlythree times longer than other studies that examine the link betweendifferent sizes of high-density lipoprotein particles and heart disease . It found that an increase in larger high-density lipoproteinparticles decreased a subject's risk of heart disease. The researchalso underscores the value of looking to the past to advancescience. "Often we think only of designing new studies with the latesttechnologies, but there are treasures buried in our past," saysstudy author Paul Williams of the U.S. Department of Energy'sLawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Lipoproteins are fat molecules that carry cholesterol in the blood. Cholesterol is divided into high-densitylipoprotein, the so-called good cholesterol, and low-densitylipoprotein, the bad cholesterol. That's common knowledge today. But it was a groundbreaking andcontroversial notion in the 1950s, when Berkeley Lab's John Gofmanused an analytic ultracentrifuge at Berkeley Lab to separate andmeasure the different lipoproteins. He was the first to proposethat high-density and low-density lipoprotein particles play a rolein heart disease. His research was met with skepticism, however, so Gofman began aprospective study of lipoproteins in a group of 1,905 employees atLawrence Livermore National Laboratory between 1954 and 1956. Afterten years, there were 38 new cases of heart disease. In 1966, hereported that men who developed heart disease had lower levels ofthe HDL2 (the larger high-density lipoprotein particles) and HDL3(the smaller high-density lipoprotein particles). It would take several more years for Gofman's work to gain currencyin the scientific community. Gofman left lipoprotein research inthe 1960s to pioneer the study of the biological effects of lowdoses of radiation. He died in 2007. His Livermore cohort study collected dust until 1988, when Williamsdiscovered the study's punch cards at the University of California,Berkeley's Donner Hall. Realizing he had found an epidemiologicalgoldmine, Williams verified the cards' authenticity by examininglogbooks. He also found an old punch card machine to extract theirdata. Then, with the help of students and research assistants, helocated and contacted 97 percent of the people in Gofman's studyover the next nine years. "Often, all we had to go on was an address on a street that nolonger existed," says Williams, a staff scientist in Berkeley Lab'sLife Sciences Division. "Women had changed their names, employeeshad left or retired and moved, and many had died. However, bytelephoning neighbors and coworkers, we were able to track down allbut a few." Medical records were obtained and reviewed by a physician, DanielFeldman, who is the study's co-author. Their 29-year follow-up uncovered 363 cases of coronary heartdisease. They found that both HDL2 and HDL3 lowered heart diseaserisk, and that a one-milligram per milliliter increase in HDL2produced a significantly larger reduction in coronary heart diseaserisk than a one-milligram per milliliter increase in HDL3. Theirfollow-up also buttressed Gofman's insights from 1966. "Gofman's original conclusion that ischemic heart disease isinversely related to both HDL2 and HDL3 was upheld in the currentanalyses," says Williams, who hopes to complete the 55-yearfollow-up of this cohort. Notes: The research was funded with grants from the American HeartAssociation and the National Institutes of Health's NationalInstitute on Aging. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory is a U.S. Department ofEnergy (DOE) national laboratory managed by the University ofCalifornia for the DOE Office of Science. Berkeley Lab providessolutions to the world's most urgent scientific challengesincluding sustainable energy, climate change, human health, and abetter understanding of matter and force in the universe. It is aworld leader in improving our lives through team science, advancedcomputing, and innovative technology. Additional information: Williams' study, "Prospective study of coronary heart disease vs.HDL2, HDL3, and other lipoproteins in Gofman's Livermore Cohort,"was published online Oct. 23, 2010, in the journal Atherosclerosis. Gofman's 1966 study,"Ischemic heart disease, atherosclerosis andlongevity" was published in the journal Circulation , 1966;34:679-697 A UC Berkeley article on Gofman, with a picture of him with thecentrifuge, can be read here . Source: Dan Krotz DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Additional References Citations. We are high quality suppliers, our products such as Diode Laser Hair Removal Manufacturer , Skin Rejuvenation Machine for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits IPL Laser Machines.
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