Race and Gender Factor into Lipid Levels

In a key measure of heart disease, researchersfound that African Americans andwomen typically have better lipid profiles, comparedwith Caucasians and men. The studyinvolved 285 inactive and overweight men andwomen with no history of heart disease or diabetes.Although there was no differencebetween African American and Caucasian menregarding low-density lipoprotein (LDL; "bad")cholesterol, the researchers discovered thatAfrican American women tended to have largerLDL particle sizes with lower amounts ofsmall LDL particles, compared with Caucasianwomen.

Examining high-density lipoprotein (HDL;"good") cholesterol, the researchers learnedthat women not only had higher HDL levels, butalso had higher amounts of the large HDL particles,with a greater percentage of their totalHDL being larger, compared with men.