WHAT’S BAD FOR YOUR TICKER MAY BE GOOD FOR YOUR BEAN, ACCORDING TO SCIENTISTS AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY

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WHAT’S BAD FOR YOUR TICKER MAY BE GOOD FOR YOUR BEAN, ACCORDING TO SCIENTISTS AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY
22 March 2005 - Boston University

The team looked at 18 years of data from the long-running Framingham Heart Study and found an association between naturally high levels of blood cholesterol and better mental functioning. The results were recently published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine.

The research team, led by BU Department of Mathematics and Statistics Research Assistant Professor Penelope Elias (now at University of Maine at Orono) and including Merrill Elias, research professor of epidemiology in BU’s Mathematics and Statistics Department, found a link between naturally occurring high cholesterol and modestly better mental function in areas such as visual organization, memory, attention, and concentration. Unlike previous studies, the current research isolated blood cholesterol from other well-known risk factors.

Along with high blood pressure, diabetes, and hypertension, high cholesterol has long been known as a risk factor for heart disease and stroke. However, the results of the new study showed that the higher the natural level of cholesterol, the better participants did on tests of mental ability. High cholesterol was defined as > 240 mg/dL as measured in blood samples.

Less than two percent of the participants were being treated with anti-cholesterol medication. Anti-cholesterol medications and diets as well as risk factors such as smoking and alcohol consumption were controlled for statistically.

Cholesterol is important for brain development in infants and plays a role in how neurons work in adults. High blood cholesterol level is still considered a risk factor for stroke and heart disease, however, and physicians may decide that those risks outweigh any modest benefits for cognitive function. Scientists have not yet determined whether lowering cholesterol with medication will influence mental functioning.

“The result of lowering cholesterol with current medications may be very different from naturally low cholesterol,” said Merrill Elias. “We certainly need to evaluate what effect lowering cholesterol with medication will have. We can’t yet generalize the results of our study to people treated with cholesterol-lowering drugs.”

The authors emphasize that these findings do not provide a justification for people to disregard their physician’s recommendations with regard to medications for high cholesterol.

Researchers next must consider individual elements of total blood cholesterol, such as LDL (low-density lipoproteins, commonly referred to as “bad” cholesterol), HDL (high-density lipoproteins, or “good” cholesterol), and triglycerides, and whether one or more of these elements is responsible for the results.

The Framingham Heart Study began in 1955 and has followed three generations of participants, measuring the incidence of cardiovascular disease and stroke and determining the risk of various associated factors. The study, based in Framingham, Mass., started before cardiovascular risk factors for heart disease and stroke were well understood and before patients were routinely treated with cholesterol-lowering medications.

The Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Boston University offers a strong research environment in algebra, applied statistics, dynamical systems and their applications, geometry, mathematical neuroscience and biology, mathematical physics, number theory, partial differential equations, and probability. The department includes the Center for Biodynamics and the Statistics and Consulting Unit, which provides statistical support and consulting services for Framingham Heart Study investigators and for research projects and clinical trials in the United States and elsewhere.

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About: Boston University
Boston University has a well-deserved reputation for excellence in research in a wide range of disciplines and a demonstrated commitment to fostering innovative interdisciplinary research. The Office of the Associate Provost for Research and Graduate Education supports the University in facilitating research at the both the student and faculty levels.

Our mission is to enhance and encourage research at Boston University and to provide a climate conducive to maintaining the University at the cutting edge of research and scholarly activities.

We work with the Boston University community to plan and coordinate interdisciplinary research and represent the University in research matters related to Inter-University consortia. To encourage new, innovative, and cross-disciplinary efforts, this office administers the Special Program for Research Initiation Grants (SPRInG).

We showcase graduate research at Science & Technology Day. This annual event features nearly 200 research posters by graduate students from both the Medical and Charles River Campuses working in a wide range of disciplines.

Our annual research magazine, Research at Boston University, informs a wide audience about a selection of our significant research findings and ongoing studies at Boston University. We also maintain a strong presence on the web through this site and through the Science Coalition’s website, which brings our research successes to the attention of Congress and other policy makers in the federal government.

To assist Boston University researchers, this office oversees the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program and coordinates with the Office of Sponsored Programs on the Charles River Campus , the research administration on the Medical Campus, the Office of Research Compliance, and the various graduate programs. For the development of commercially viable ideas, we administer the Provost's Innovation Fund and work closely with the Office of Technology Transfer. We also coordinate proposals where there are institutional limits to the number of proposals that may be submitted, cost sharing requirements, significant laboratory renovations, or other special circumstances.

This office assists departments and centers to achieve a diverse faculty and graduate student body through our membership and activities with the Northeast Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate and through our affiliation with the Clare Boothe Luce program of the Henry Luce Foundation.

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